Praise the Lord for He alone is good!!!

Praise the LORD for He alone is good. Okay...catch my breath. Here is how it went down. Last night, Jackie and I are in the room with our three boys eating some deliciuos Frito pie. Jackie leaves the room to go wash a bowl, and Nate starts fussing and acting aggitated. Jake is sitting in a chair near the bed and asks him what is bothering him. I was there, I saw it, he responds to Jake by puckering his lips and showing lots of effort...and out comes "MaaaaaMaa". I jump up off of the couch in the room, try to get him to do it again and he would not. Jackie comes back in the room, we all celebrate, and then I suggest we do something. So Jackie loves up on him, then leaves the room again. Bingo, he does it again two more times. Words can not describe how excited we all got. Y'all...some doctors believed he may not ever speak again...ever. GOD IS BIGGER THAN TUMORS, CANCER, AND DOCTORS!!! This is not at all to be disrespectful, because we are around a lot of really great people...but the key word here is just that...people. I believe from the bottom of my heart, that God is showing us these things to say...DO NOT DOUBT ME, YOUR SON WILL DO GREAT THINGS FOR ME WITH HIS LIFE, HE IS IN MY HANDS. Today he went to the playroom again with Jackie and played Wii baseball and bowling with the help Jackie, made me a Valentine (which he was absolutely beaming when he gave it to me), had two of the three feeding tubes taken out (so now all that is hooked up to him at all is the one feeding tube), took several wagon rides, gives constant hugs, started play jokes again, and tried to say some of his colors. Guys, his progress this week has been through the roof. Thank you so much for your prayers. PLease keep going, I see it working every day. Please pray for his continued speaking, for him to learn to walk again, and for the cancer to disappear...gone...nada...zilch. Jackie and I feel the love coming from you all every day and truly are appreciative for all of your hard work. GOD IS AWESOME. We love you all.

More Improvements!

Wes just provided this update regarding Nate. Please continue your prayers.

"Nate had a great day yesterday. He went for a wagon ride and visited the playroom where he made his mommy a valentine jar and decorated a sack. His cordination is improving a little each day, this is the main issue physically now. He can reach and grab things, but he is all over the place doing so. He did make a fist and punch in shapes into their correct spots on a toy and was able to start to show us the numbers one and two with his fingers. This morning he nodded distinctively for the first time to answer "yes". Also, yesterday they removed all of his leads (vital sign monitoring wires-the little circular sticky things they put on your chest to get our heartrate, breathing rate, etc.) to allow for increased mobility. The focus now is chemo, physical and speech therapt, chemo, physical and speech therapy...on and on until the cancer is gone and he gets back to doing what he can do physically and vocally. As far as vocally goes, he has not spoken yet, but is allowing them to swab his throat with lemon swabs to regain sensation in the throat and has hummed for us now some. This is promising, quite honestly, speaking may be a longer road. The doctors all feel great about him and like his recovery pace right now. Please keep praying that the tumors and the cancer goes away, and that he begins to start doing something new everyday physically and for him to become vocal again. We thank you all again for the prayers and the support, we are truly blessed."

The Lord hears our prayers!

Today and yesterday have been very eventful for Nate. He now does physical, occupational, speech, play, and music therapy in an attempt to get him back to where he was. It is truly amazing to see his advancements. We are still a long way from going home, but he is making strides toward getting there. We do know this, in the not so far off future Nate will be going back and forth between Baylor’s Our Children’s House and here at Children’s. This will probably happen early next week. Our Children’s House at Baylor University’s Medical Center here in Dallas is supposed to be one of the top inpatient physical and speech therapy rehabilitation centers in the country. It is a very cool concept. There are around 40 rooms at the facility and their primary focus everyday is getting the patient as mobile and speaking as well as possible after a trauma event or, as in Nate’s case, multiple tumors. The oncology team here at Children’s that is working with Nate has strong hope that Nate can get back to the active child he was before. They are making this move because they believe the program at Baylor can help him get back that way much quicker than they can since it is totally focused on the therapy side. He will be inpatient (living there), so it is a very active regimen involving gym and specialized room activities. Dr. Bowers and the other oncologists here at Children’s said they did not expect him to be able to bounce back from the paralysis and altered state of mind so quickly after he slipped into it the past couple of weeks. They said usually it takes much longer, if at all, to get to this stage…praise God for HIS power. The way it will work is he will go to Our Children’s House on the days he is not getting chemo, which is sometimes one day, sometimes two, and other times four or five. He will be transported by either by Children’s or Baylor’s mini bus which is about a 10 to 15 min ride from here. If something happened that required an emergency medical need, they could take care of him long enough to get him back over here. All chemo will be administered within Children’s and he will continue to do his physical and therapies here at Children’s also while here. In the next few days, prior to going over there, he will be taken off of all monitors to allow for more mobility. He is also swallowing better so as soon as he can get that down better, we can start to talk about removal of the feeding tube and going back to food by mouth. Of course, we are so thankful to The LORD and to all of you for the prayers. We are in the middle of a fight, and Nate is swinging more and more punches every day. Do not give up your prayers and efforts, this is going to bigger than we could have even imagined. We have so much faith right now. God is so good. Read Luke 18:8, I want to be found to have faith, choose me LORD, I will have faith in YOU, I will be persistent. May you find peace in the LORD that I serve, for HE is worthy of praise.

Starting Chemo again tomorrow

I wanted to provide this latest update for little Nate. He has completed his chemo treatment yesterday. Tomorrow he will begin another round of Chemo. The Dr's are concerned now about his lungs and the possibility of Pneumonia returning and his breathing. Today he had some physical therapy and speech therapy and these sessions will continue as Nate works to regain these abilities. Please continue in prayer for Nate's Chemo tomorrow and for the speech and physical therapy that these would help Nate to regain his ability to speak and walk. There has been a tremendous outpouring of love, cards, prayers, scriptures and testimonies shared with the Oxfords. Please continue these things as they have meant so much to them both during this time. Our prayer is that Nate will be completely healed and God will be completely glorified.

Out of the ICU! God is hearing our prayers!

Nate had a CTscan today to determine if the tube could be removed. Fortunately, the results of the scan allowed the Dr's to remove the tube as the swelling has gone down on his brain. They have also moved Nate from the ICU today down to the 10th floor. He will start another round of Chemo treatment tomorrow (Thursday). Please continue your prayers for Nate as he begins another round asking God to help him to continue to remain stable and to be able to flush the Chemo out of his system without incident. Nate also is making little gains each day with his ability to move, communicate and handle all that is going on emotionally and physically. Please pray asking God to help Nate to continue to gain back his ability to speak and walk and communicate. Nate has gone through so much in just the past weeks. Thanks for your continued prayers for Nate, Jackie, Wes, Jake & Luke asking God to comfort them and help during these days. Our God is faithful to hear the cry of His children.

God is Faithful!

Wes just provided this update and wanted to pass along. Let us continue our prayers for Nate. God is faithful.

"Nate had a fairly stable day today. Last night he was very restless and agitated, but today Jackie said he seemed better. I am here now, the boys and Jackie just left after our switch. He did get a blood transfusion today and is running a slight fever, but these are things that are expected with chemo. The nausea seems okay right now. He did wave his head to answer “no” starting last night with Jake (no one else could get him to answer anything for days) and Jackie said he did it a couple of times today again with the physical therapist. I know this is small, but when you have not seem him nod or wave his head for close to a week, it makes you excited. Now hopefully he will begin to talk again. They did clamp his brain pressure tube again to get a more true reading on his pressures in the brain to let them know if he is going to ultimately have to have a shunt. (Please pray that he does not and that the pressures stay within the normal range—a shunt brings in more possible complications). They are keeping him here in ICU indefinitely due to all of the complications he has displayed in the past. He still has a lot of things going that are very rocky, but right now seems to be more stable than in the days past. We know God is watching and listening to us all. More chemo is coming Thursday. Pray for the cancer to go away and for a complete healing. There are so many of you who have displayed so much love to my family. I want you to know that I truly am thankful and moved by what you have done. I pray that God will bless you in your life beyond imagination and show you the full extent of HIS love. God bless."

Praise God! The Chemo went better this time!

Chemo went better this time so good news there and praise to God. Nate had been going through a couple of days of not responding and eyes rolling back into the head which led them to believe it was seizures. At this point they do not think it was seizures and say it most likely was either the tumors or the actual chemo doing it. I have been at home with the other two boys today and Jackie said that he was moving his arms today and seemed to be tracking with his eyes and did not see the eyes rolling back. I am here now, brought the boys up and we did our night to night switch. He seems to be resting peacefully now, that is until respiratory came in and did his every four hour treatment of sticking things down his nose and throat which he hates. These drugs and tumors can do things to you one day and something else the next day and go back the following day which leads all the different departments and specialists to different conclusions and theories. So you hear this might be permanent from one and another says it is temporary. This gets confusing and frustrating, and if we listened to what every one of them said we would never have a calm moment, but we have turned it all over to God because we know HE is in control and has got it all figured out. I appreciate all of the comments that say something to the effect about how well it seems that Jackie and I have held up. Trust me, we have many moments that we want to just lose it. This truly is the hardest thing that either of us has ever gone through and it just keeps happening, but keep in mind Nate is the one having to go through it. We hate this beyond comprehension, everything in us would take his place, or push some sort of magic button to completely heal him. We have prayed, had tons of people come up here and prayed over him, and people all over the world are praying for him. I will tell you right now, Jackie and I believe that he will come out of this. God has HIS own timing and plans. I will not pretend to understand it…but I have a peace about this and the prayers are what have done that. Without a doubt, I know that God is watching over Nate and our family. We feel so close to HIM right now. I know this may sound crazy, but we do. Please keep the prayers going…he will come out of this fully healed and cancer free. God sees all of the good things coming out of this and HE will prove Himself faithful. I honestly do not know how anyone could go through this without believing that God is in control. You would literally have no hope and would throw in the towel, because from the world’s view Nate’s situation does not look good. Read Luke 7:1-10. I desire to amaze HIM with my faith, HE can do anything, amaze HIM with your faith concerning the things in your life and watch HIM work..HE wants to. May God bless you all.

Benefit for Nate February 17th! You're invited!

We would like to invite everyone to a Benefit dinner honoring the Oxford family. 100% of the tips and donations, plus a percentage of the sales that night will go directly to the family. Please bring friends and family and enjoy a “night without cooking” to help support this treasured family. Please spread the word about this benefit night... the more the merrier! Loved ones have put together some ways to connect with the family. Please check out their Facebook group: “Pray for Little Nate” or their website: www.prayfornateoxford.com


When: Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 from 5-9 PM
Where: Joe Willy’s Grill on I-30 and 205 in Rockwall (next to Hobby Lobby).

We are also in need of a few volunteers to help earn tips that night. If you would like to get involved, please leave a comment.

Chemo Starts again today - Please Pray!

Wes just provided this update, please pray specifically today for the Chemo treatment for Nate to go well.

"They will try to administer chemo again this afternoon in ICU. This way if any complications occur he will be right there to get it resolved quickly. Today, he will get three new drugs in the chemo cocktail so the prayer would be that they are all able to clear his body once the time comes for that to happen after they sit in him for the 24 hour period. The problem on Saturday was that the chemo would not come back out and it is only supposed to stay in him 24 hours at a time, flush the body, and then go for more chemo. Since it did not clear, they had to double the fluids to flush the body and it wiped his sodium level out and came within moments of a coma, but if the chemo stays in too long, it starts to kill normal cells also and opens up numerous problems, so neither scenario is good. We know that God is watching and protecting him, so we ask for his healing and for the complications to not happen before the full healing comes. This has been such an emotional whirlwind dealing with all of the complications. In so many ways it would be great for him to start having day after day of improvements and no more complications. Our heart just breaks having to see him go through so much frustration, pain, and not getting to do what a little two year should be doing. We have been looking at lots of pictures and videos of him and oh how we would love him to throw eggs all over the furniture and walls, get into a fight with a bungee cord and get 32 stitches, or get on top of the refrigerator, lock us out of the house, or the countless other mischievous things he does. We long to see the day of his healing...we love our Nate."

Your Prayers are Being Heard!

A note from Wes:

"The prayers are working, do not give up--we are working on God's time and HE is faithful...please go out to all of your friends, neighbors, coworkers, or whoever and ask them to pray and join us here for updates. Also, ask them what you can pray about in their lives, and live to encourage others who are going through hard times. Use Nate as a way to help others by asking how you can help them and allowing them to release their pain, fears, and needs to you so that you can pray for them. Little Nate is making a difference in people's lives. Spread the word, the more the merrier, we want to show God how we can come together and we want to show Satan that he will not win. Jackie and I believe that God will use Nate to show the world how great HE is and what HE can do. God, give yourself glory. If there is anyone out there that you have always wanted to help, but never knew how to approach them, then show them Nate's story and they will see how great God is, I have faith in that. READ PROVERBS 2:1-11 and accept HIS words."

Seeing Improvement

Wes just provided this latest update. Let's all continue our prayers for little Nate, God hears the cry of His children.

"Nate seems to be more alert today, his brain pressure levels and blood pressure levels have come down some. He will not be getting a shunt for now, praise God, the neurosurgeons and oncologists feel that another surgery is too big of a risk of lowering his white blood count and want to keep the chemo going on Thursday. Chemo will most likely be administered in ICU for now to be more closely monitored and make sure he does good with it this time. Thank you for the prayers, they are working. We still believe in a full recovery. The fact that a shunt is not having to be installed and he will just keep the drain tube for now shows us that nothing permanent has happened and he can still make a full recovery as if nothing had ever happened. We love you all, keep believing and do not give up. The world will be amazed by what God is going to do with this little boy."

Off the Ventilator!

Wes just provided this update and wanted to pass along. "Today was about the same as yesterday. He did get the ventilator removed which is good news. For now he will still keep a small tube coming out of his scalp to maintain a safe pressure in the head and will not get a shunt. The surgeons have decided that his white blood count would drop too low with another surgery right now and that chemo needs to move on by Thursday. They will watch him closely on Thursday to make sure he can clear the chemo this time. Thanks for the prayers."

I have received so many loving comments, testimonies, prayers and scriptures of encouragement for Nate, Wes and Jackie. I forward each one to Wes and know that these words mean a great deal to them, more than any of us know. Please continue to share your testimonies and words of encouragement for the Oxfords throughout this time. (2 Cor 1:3-4 NIV) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, {4} who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

Still in ICU, God is in control!

Wes provided this most recent update just minutest ago. "Nate is still in ICU indefinitely. We are finding out that due to the level of aggression and the rarity of the disease at his age, there are simply lots of complications that have occurred that the doctors have not seen before in patients. His blood pressure is up so he is on medicine for that, he still is on the ventilator for the lungs, they reinstalled the tube in his scalp to relieve pressure on the brain, he is still on a feeding tube down his throat and into his intestines, he has been sedated all last night and today to keep all of these things from irritating him, he is having difficulty clearing the chemo from his body, and they said today that the new MRI said the tumors are growing. We can look at things like this in life and take many different approaches. Jackie and I choose to have faith in God. I truly believe that this is so peculiar that only by a miracle of God will this be healed. Those of you who know Nate, know that he was an active and very personable little guy and then out of nowhere…boom. Please now more than ever cry out to our LORD, for with HIM nothing is impossible. God is good, He hears our cries, and we feel comforted by that. Read 1 Samuel chapters 1 through 3. Dedicate your children to the LORD and let HIM do great things with them, what better hands could they be in? Nate will be fine"
Please be in continual prayer asking for God's sustaining help.

Update from the ICU

I wanted to provide this update so that you can know what Nate's current status is and we can continue struggling in prayer for Nate and bringing this before the Lord. Nate is still in ICU. His blood pressure is an issue. He is still on the ventilator. Today they did an MRI and said cancer looks worse on front of his brain. Please be in continual prayer asking for God's sustaining help.

Urgent Prayer Request

Just received an update from Wes and they have had to move Nate back to ICU. He has not been able to flush the Chemo out of his body, his heart rate has shot up to 180 bpm and they have had to put him on a ventilator to help his breathing. Please continue in prayer tonight, on our faces before God, asking for God's help to sustain and to heal.

Chemo Has Begun

Wes just provided this update about Nate at 10:30. They just started the chemo; he will be on this first treatment for 24 hours straight. They are continuing to request no visitors at this time and through the weekend until further notice in order to see how Nate handles this. They continue to solicit everyone's prayers and will let us know when visits are needed."

Getting Ready for Chemo

This latest update was just provided by Wes, "Nate begins chemo today, we were moved to the oncology floor yesterday afternoon and he was administered his pre chemo flush/cleanse. By mid afternoon he should begin receiving his first round of chemo for four consecutive days, skip two, three more days, skip a day and then four more days, off around 5 to 7 days, and then repeat over and over again for four months before switching to a new regimen and schedule. All together we will be up here for chemo for 12 months straight going home on the rest days as long as there are no complications that would keep us here on those days. There will be other treatments during this time also, possible radiation, physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, etc. so more than likely even on a down day for chemo he will be busy doing some sort of treatment. The little man is a fighter though and we know that God is with us. Thank you all for the outpouring of love and for the prayers. I also appreciate how you have lifted up in prayer our other children, my business, Jackie’s teaching career, our spiritual and physical well being, and other things that relate to us. We are truly blessed to have such great neighbors and friends. My mother in law even said a nice gentleman from our neighborhood that we had never met before stopped by and got on our roof (very steep and high in some areas) and took down our Christmas lights because he had heard about Nate from some of you. We see things like this every day and blown away by your love and the love of God. Thanks again."

God is faithful to hear the cry of His children. Our prayers are heard by the Living God. Let's continue to lift up Nate and all the Oxford's in this time of distress.

Rough Day

Wes provided this update today on Nate's status, "Nate is on the Pulmonary (Lung) floor today trying to get his lungs and throat strong and get as much food into him as possible. He is on a liquid only diet (special kind of Pediasure, Pedialite, and Boost) that can only be administered through a feeding tube (nothing by mouth) controlled by a pump that passes through the nose, throat, stomach and into his intestines. He is currently holding the food much better today with this new style, so please pray that continues to happen. He has had significant loss of muscle and his weight needs to be brought up quickly. On top of that he is coming off of pneumonia caused by aspiration (foreign liquid in the lungs), shock from drowning off of his own food and going to the ICU, and his emotional state right now is shot. He bites his nails, picks his lip, and fidgets continuously. Needless to say, he has grown up quickly and his innocence has been lost to a certain extent. Please pray for his mental state(he is currently often aggressive toward us and refuses to do most everything without force, plus he will often just sit there and stare refusing to answer anyone—those who know him know that he is normally a very happy go lucky kid that will go up to anyone) as we go into chemo which we are hoping will start by Friday. We know God has His timing and will send us when He is ready. The Oncologist, Dr. Bowers, wants him now but knows that we have to get these other issues resolved first before he starts chemo just to be knocked down again. Thank you for all of the groups that have been meeting here not only in the Rockwall area, but literally around the world. We can never say that Nate is not loved by many, many people. May God bless you all."

Let's all continue to lift up the Nate, Jackie and Wes in prayer to our God of all comfort, who is able to comfort us in our afflictions.

Unplanned visit to the ICU

I wanted to provide this update with some of the latest information that Wes provided this morning. Nate was placed in ICU yesterday with a major situation being caused by the feeding tube. His heart rate had increased and he was struggling to breath. Thankfully he is now stable again. It was determined that the feeding tube was causing a drowning effect. They determined what was causing this situation and were able to resolve it. Now it looks like Nate will begin Chemo in the next 24-48 hours depending on his heart rate and breathing being under control.

The Oxfords are very grateful for the outpouring of love they have seen these past weeks. Please at this time, no visitors or calls except from immediate family. Many have sent email messages to them and they have been receiving these with scriptures, testimonies and prayers for them. They are thankful for these messages of love and want all to know how encouraging they have been and how needed these words are at this time.

Fighting illness

Please continue to cry out to God for Wes, Jackie and Nate. We just found out that Jackie has strep and is now on medication. She is resting at home. She cannot be around Nate while sick especially with Nate's treatment. Wes just provided this update today, "Please continue to cry out. Nate is now hooked up to a feeding tube due to his inability to swallow without it going into his lungs. We do not yet know whether this will be permanent or could get better with chemo. He has become weak in many ways. Apparently the cancer has started to affect more and more functions in his body so he needs the chemo quickly. He is still trying to fight off the pneumonia, hopefully all will be well to start chemo on Monday. Words cannot express the emotions we have been through. Please know that your constant and persistent cries out to God are what we need. It is only through this faithful crying out that we know he will be healed. Please do not give up, we know that we can all can obtain healing and peace from Jesus on this. I appreciate all of the other help, and it definitely means a lot to us, so we want to say a deep heartfelt thanks. Please read Psalm 20 and take heart, God can do anything."

Please read Psalm 20 and call upon God to answer in this time of distress " May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. We will shout for joy when you are victorious will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your requests. Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. O LORD, save the king! Answer us when we call!"