If you’ve been lucky enough to know Nathan, you know he’s genuinely one of the nicest and most thoughtful people around. He’s incredibly funny, always willing to help someone out, and the type of person everyone naturally gravitates toward. From serving as a Marine, to supporting missions overseas, to his career in Diplomatic Security, Nate has spent most of his life taking care of others, keeping people safe, and supporting something bigger than himself. He’s built strong friendships everywhere he’s gone and has always been someone people can count on. Outside of work, Nate and his partner recently welcomed their daughter, Leona, on December 10, 2025, and officially made their dog Sito a big brother. They should be soaking in this chapter of life together, which makes everything happening right now that much harder. Update (so you don’t have to create an account): Nate was admitted to the VA Medical Center in DC on May 3 after doctors discovered a large mass on his liver. Following a biopsy, he was diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer). The tumor is currently about the size of a softball and has shown aggressive growth. The encouraging news is that, based on CT scans and MRI results so far, the cancer does not appear to have spread beyond the liver. Nate’s surgery is scheduled for June 1. He will undergo an open L-incision hepatectomy to remove approximately 75% of his liver. The procedure is expected to last 4–6 hours, followed by a hospital stay, recovery period, and additional treatment. Thank you all for continuing to send Nate-the-Great your prayers, positive thoughts, and support. It truly means more than we can express. UPDATE (JUNE 23): "Hello all, my apologies for the long delay in updating everyone on here. I'm getting better day by day. I wanted to share where things are at. If you don't already know, the surgery on June 1 ended up being 8.5 hours. The tumor was actually 3cm larger than what the imaging showed, so they had to do a T-incision instead of the planned L to get it all out - it ended up being 13cm. They ended up taking out about 80% of my liver, but it has been growing back. Recovery at the hospital was a little rough. The amount of pain meds I needed to get through it was pretty high - between the surgery itself and problems with the catheter. I had to go back to the hospital a couple weeks ago because I was peeing blood, but that's back to normal now, thank goodness. The amazing news is the pathology results came back the best I could have asked for. I'm Stage 2 and they were able to get the whole tumor out with clean margins - no cancer spread to my lymph nodes or anywhere else that they saw on the scans. We are beyond relieved to hear that and read it in the report. It is truly a blessing with the work the doctors have done with me - as well as having this tumor caught at the perfect time before it spread. But because the tumor was so large and aggressive, the doctors told us that there is still a high chance some cancer cells could've been left behind that scans aren't sensitive enough to pick up. So I did a specialized blood test called Signatera that looks for any cancer DNA in my blood using a custom fingerprint built from my tumor tissue - much more sensitive than scans alone. These results come back in mid-July. We are praying for good results with that too. If it comes back clean, I go on active surveillance with scans and labs every few months for the next five years. If it shows anything, I'd start therapy - not sure yet if that would be chemo, radiation, or immunotherapy. No treatment starts until I meet with oncology on July 21 and have results back. Before that oncology appointment, I have additional appointments at the hospital over the next month for CT scans, an MRI, getting more stitches on the incision, getting some stitches removed, meeting with the liver doctors, and a follow-up with the surgical team. I am out of the hospital, just healing and recovering day by day. I lost 22 lbs since this all started, but all is well. I transitioned from a walker to a cane, so I'm happy about that small win too. Thank you all for the continued love, prayers, and support. It really is carrying me through. Love, Nate"
We setup a CookUnity meal support through Give InKind so people can contribute toward ready-made, high-protein meals that are easy to heat and eat during treatment and recovery. Rather than sending a gift card, we’ll use Give InKind to coordinate contributions and meal support, and I’ll help manage the CookUnity account/orders so Nate and his family don’t have to worry about logistics.