Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. Prov 3: 5,6
　
The LORD has so directed our paths this past week in ways we never could’ve imagined. Many of you have heard what has happened in this past week, but I think it would be best if you heard it from me. On Wednesday I took Nathan into the Dunnville ER, he was complaining about sore lower legs especially the left one, he was also not feeling well. We thought it was just a virus, and they would give Nate some pain medication and send him on his way. The LORD had a different plan for Nathan. He deteriorated through out the day, and so they transferred him by ambulance to Hamilton General ICU. Immediately he was rush upstairs where they began to work on Nate. They sent him for a Cat Scan and gave him blood products en route. Within a couple of hours we were notified that Nathan had necrotizing fascitis an extremely fast acting bacteria that attacks (eats) the tissue and muscle, and had to be sent for surgery as quickly as possible. Before going in I was able to spend some time with Nate. The LORD allowed us to join in prayer and recite our wedding text. The Holy Spirit was at work in Nate and he was so at peace, his last words to me were "God is in control".

Aileen has asked me, (Stephanie, Nate’s sister) to take over as she’s not quite sure how to continue. I hope that I can relate things in proper detail for her.


At 10pm I had a brief conversation with Aileen who quickly updated me on what they had just diagnosed Nate with and told us that he was heading into surgery immediately. Nate went into surgery shortly before 11pm. Family and friends quickly gathered and waited. Shortly after 2 am the doctors were able to informed Aileen and then the rest of us that Nate had survived surgery but was in critical condition. Due to the extent of the bacterial infection the doctors had to remove Nate’s left leg above the knee. The right arm and right leg were also effected, a lot of tissue was removed, but surgery had to be aborted due to heart failure. They were able to resuscitate and stabilize Nate. We thanked our Heavenly Father for allowing Nate to survive and giving him more time here on earth with us.

In the morning the doctors informed us of how critical Nate’s condition was and that he would likely need further surgery to remove additional damaged tissue. We were able to give thanks again later that day that when the doctors did the daily bandage changes they were extremely impressed with how little extra tissue damage there was, especially considering how quickly they had to abort the procedure the night before. It was determined that surgery was not need that night as had first been expected. Our Heavenly Father has provided us with much to be thankful for once again.

God knew we all needed rest. We were able to see Nate before we went home to rest. All things considering, Nathan looked peaceful and was finally receiving the rest he so badly wanted the day before. Each of us were able to get a few hours of rest before we received a call at 10:30 am Friday morning that it appeared the infection had spread into Nate’s abdomen. Surgery would be necessary once again.

God graciously granted us a few hours to spend at Nate’s bedside in prayer and encouragement. At 5:30pm Nate was finally taken to surgery. While the situation continues to remain extremely unstable and critical we could be thankful that the bacteria had not entered the abdominal cavity. Further tissue removal was necessary on both the right and left side of his torso. Once again surgery had to be aborted when Nate began to become unstable. God once again showed His mercy and compassion in allow the surgery to be abort before Nate endured heart failure again. Together with family and friends we were able to pray and sing Psalm 121 and Hymn 49.

At the time of writing Nate continues to remain very unstable as the doctors try stabilize his blood pressure, heart and bleeding.

We continue to covet your prayers.
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1