Natalie – Status Update

April 6, 2026

This morning I visited Natalie before going into the office. She had her mask on and she was sitting in her chair. I didn't think much of her being in her chair, other than it was a bit early. Then, when I began talking with Natalie, she asked for her phone and typed in the message to tell me she had asked for the chair. this is huge on Friday, we were struggling to get her to accept sitting in the chair. There were times in the chair, she would point to the letter board, over and over, 'B' - 'E' - 'D'. Now she is asking to sit. This was the second best news of the day. The first best news was when I looked at her stats and saw them at 96. Yesterday, for most of the day, I saw her down between 93-95. I went home very nervous that she was regressing. I was excited to see her at a good place this morning.

The true excitement came after I went to work. When Dr. Libby showed up, the decision was made to focus on walking. Earlier, late last week, Dr. Libby referred to 'movement as medicine'. It was Natalie's turn to experience this. With lots of support, Natalie was able to get out of her chair and stand up.

Everything wasn't great for Natalie though, she is still dealing with many of the frustrations of being in the hospital. It is boring, and after spending so much time in bed, Natalie is experiencing much of the discomfort resulting from her 4 weeks of hospitalization. Nevertheless, Natalie is enjoying her ability to communicate with her iPhone. At one point, she sent a text message to me at work, to send a message back to her mom at the hospital to alert someone to the fact that she couldn't find the call button to get in contact with the nurse.