Natalie – Status Update

April 8, 2026

Before leaving home for work, I received a call from Natalie's nurse. Natalie was awake and wondering when mom and dad were coming to visit. I was expecting her to be sedated today, before receiving her tracheoscopy. I was wrong. While I told the nurse her mom would be coming in later. I surprised Natalie on my way to the office. I spent about 20 minutes with Natalie, that she will never remember, unless we keep telling her about it. Whether she remembers or not is insignificant. What is significant is for those 20 minutes, Natalie knew her parents cared for her.

At work I got the call from Sue that Natalie would receive the tracheoscopy at 5:00. It was 4:00 when I got the message so I hurried to the hospital so I could be with Natalie before the procedure.

After the procedure, Natalie kept talking but there were no words because of the trach. THe oxygen wasn't passing through. We assured her this was a temporary 'mute button' that would be resolved relatively quickly and she would learn how to speak with a trach. Like my morning visit, she won't remember this tomorrow. It was funny, before going to surgery, she took great pleasure holding my Mountain Dew bottle. After surgery, she kept signing 'Pop' wanting to have something to wet her whistle. We told her that sadly, we wouldn't be able to give her what she was asking for.