New Watertown Times articles

The Watertown Times recently ran two new articles about Natalie and her best friend Coleen. The articles appeared in the Sunday November 11th and Monday November 12th editions, and were featured on the front pages of each edition. The articles were promoted in advance with the picture and text shown below, which ran on friday and saturday. I scanned the articles themselves into 8 pictures, which you can link to here:

http://news.webshots.com/myphotos?action=refreshPhotos&albumID=561441673&security=XWMZvN

Pics

Here are a few pics from our trip to NYC. You can see more pics from this summer in a new album on Nat's webshots page at this link:

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/560933607lYRLfi

hello again

Hey guys! I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm doing great! The whole family went down to NYC this weekend and that was a lot of fun. Al got us a cheap deal on the hotel, which was good. Hope all is going well for everyone. Keepin touch. Love you all, and I miss all of you like crazy!

Nat

message from Nat

Hi guys! I hope everything is going well for everyone! I just got back from visiting our friends in Canada with my parents. It's not long now until we go to NYC with the whole family. Me, my mom, Becs, and Ashley are going to see The Lion King on Broadway, which will be a lot of fun. I can't wait for it! Love you all!

Nat

One Year Later

She believed she could, so she did! An appropriate theme as we celebrate Nat's determination, hard work, and survival. Thanks to all for your continued support, love and prayers for Nat. A special thanks to all of the rescue workers, doctors, nurses, and therapists who have brought Nat back to us. Most of all...to Nat: ONE YEAR LATER, STILL OUR HERO, WE LOVE YOU.

Love, the family (posted by Becca)

continues progress

Natalie continues to amaze her family, friends, and therapists with her improvements in all areas of recovery.

She is actually camping this weekend with Becca, Kyle, Al, and Ashley (Kyle's girlfriend). She was excited to be going away and shopped with Becca and Kyle for supplies at the store. I suspect she is glad to be away from her parents for the first time in almost a year!

We have just had a great visit from Marc's parents, his brother Guy, and wife Terri from England. They were here for 10 days and attended therapy sessions with Nat and were amazed at her strength and drive to improve. Natalie even read in church on the weekend they were here and danced to a band at one of the restaurants we were at. Grandma commented as they were leaving that Nat had improved since the begining of their stay.

Natalie continues with her therapy three times a week at St. Cammillus, in Syracuse. The big difference in her routine is now, whoever drives her to therapy simply sees her to the gym and leaves. Nat is working with her therapists to gain 100% independance. She works on daily living skills, (including baking, which we all get to sample!) problem solving and of course physical therapy.

Natalie still has a passion for running, and in speech therapy has devised a work out schedule and training program for our neighbor Stacey to train and run a 5K. Nat will be her trainer and track her progress on the computer to share with her speech therapist.

Physical therapy is where Nat's driven, determined personality shines. she is strengthening her core muscles, as well as her ankles, and is working on her gait. She rarely uses her chair now prefering to walk. Becca and I once again feel very short around Nat as her posture is so good she towers over us once again.

At the moment every day seems to bring another achievement in Nat's progress. As you all know she is an amazing young lady that has endured unimaginable pain and suffering. As we approach the one year mark I can honestly say "our Natalie" has achieved more than our family could have ever hoped or dreamed of.

Once again thank you for your continued support for Natalie and our family.
Tina (Mum)

New Update!

Father Marc has provided us with a new update on Natalie's progress. He has also included some pictures so you can all see her physical progress as well!!

Click HERE to view the update.

Thanks Marc!

SPECIAL DAY!

Allow me to use this post to say something to a very special lady...


HAPPY BIRTHDAY NAT!!!!!!!


I hope you have a great day that's full of cheer! See you soon!





ps - throw cake in becca's face :)

Just a brief update

Just a brief update for all of you bloggers:

Here is another post from Natalie!
Natalie said...
hi everyone. i'm ffeeling good I hope you had a nice easter
Nat
1:03 PM

Natalie's walking skills have improved a great deal. She is now walking stronger and more independently than before!

She is doing great in all of her therapy sessions at Saint Camillus.

Natalie is now aware of the accident and can even recall the events leading up to present time. Her short term memory continues to improve along with her comprehension levels!


Status report by Dr. Rebecca Foulger

Just a quick post

Just a quick post to let you all know...

If you have taken a look at the comments on the last post you'd have noticed this:

Natalie said...
Thankss everyone!

Nat

4:13 PM



That message comes directly from Ms. Natalie herself!!

Keep up the excellent work, Nat, we all love you!

New update + news article

I had the pleasure of visiting the Foulger family this past weekend. Although my visit was very brief I was absolutely amazed at the progress I noticed in Natalie. I can honestly say that Nat is starting to look and act like Nat again. The rate of her progress amazes everyone but this weekend really shocked me.

Natalie's comprehension levels have vastly improved thanks to the family as well as therapy staff at Saint Camillus. I was able to sit in a room with the family and have a conversation where Natalie was a contributer. I would ask Becca a question and Nat would chime in with "Why did you ask that" or something witty. She was also able to recall jokes she had heard days before without hesitation. This, of course, is a very big deal because she had been having such trouble with her short term memory. Her alertness was remarkable. The family would ask her to repeat long complex sentences which she was able to do with ease. This weekend really re-opened my eyes to Natalie's excellent progress.

Along with this wonderful news comes another article from Norah Machia of the Watertown Daily Times!

Thank you all for continuing to support Natalie and the family through the rehabilitation period!

An At Home Update

Natalie has been attending outpatient care at Saint Camillus Hospital. Three days a week she receives physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy.

Due to the wonderful weather in Watertown she had to miss a few of her sessions but has been attending whenever possible. She is currently feeling a bit under the weather which caused her to pass on today's therapies.

Please be aware the visitor policy remains the same because Natalie is currently adjusting to her new surroundings and will need to take her time and be around familiar faces.

I will update the blog with more news shortly - Keep up the great work, Nat!

Brother Kyle

Natalie is nearing the end of her stay here at Sunnyview. When she leaves here she will go home to our parents house on Dry Hill Road to continue her recovery.

Nat will recieve outpatient therapy at Saint Camillus and will see a doctor in Syracuse as well. Although Nat will now be staying in Watertown, visitors must still be limited as she continues to recover. Close friends of Nat's will of course be welcomed but we do ask that everyone call the family before visiting to set up a time when Nat will be free. Do not just show up at the house.

Also, for the few days, while Nat is adjusting to the new situation, we cannot have any visitors. Once we are all settled in we will let everyone know that we are back.

The biggest hurdle for Nat right now continues to be short term memory. She understands what happened to her each time we explain it but has trouble remembering it afterwards. Finally, I am happy to report that Nat's feeding tube was removed yesterday and she now gets all of her nutrition and medicine by mouth.

Thank you all for your continuing support and understanding.



Kyle

My Recent Visit

After this weekend I am pleasantly surprised, yet again, at Natalie's remarkable progress. Of all that I witnessed, I noticed the largest improvements in feeding and walking. I will elaborate on each:

Nataliie has been off the 7PM to 7AM nightly tube-feeding since Wednesday, January, 24 and has had to rely solely on her own oral consumption for nutrition. Not only is she taking all of her food orally but her medicine as well. Watching Nat eat was amazing because although she was able to feed herself last time I visited she did not have much of an appetite. The same cannot be said for this trip. Natalie has developed a bit of a sweet tooth since the last time I saw her late December. While I was there I think she must've eaten at least five brownies (which she made earlier in the week with her therapist)! I was so happy to see that she was able to recognize when she was hungry and actually eat most of the items on her meal tray.

On top of Nat's improved self feeding she was also walking a lot better (and faster)! This was wonderful to watch because I was not aware that she was no longer using her walker (Becca says she told me but I beg to differ). Natalie is now able to walk with one person supporting her right side. She has a tendency to slouch to the left but I noticed an improvement in her posture by her walk with Al on Sunday. This Sunday was a very relaxed day. Tina brought Nat to a nearby church in the morning and then Tina, Nat, Al, Becca, and I went out for lunch at Panera. The family has no problems transporting Natalie - though the wheelchair can sometimes be a pain (it wouldn't fit in the Mustang's trunk). When we all returned to the facility we pretty much hung out for the rest of the day. Later on Sunday we all took Nat for a walk in the hallway. Al held her right side lightly and she was off. It was very surprising to see how fast she was able to move and like I said earlier her posture had improved greatly from the day before. She must have walked for about ten minutes without stopping for a break. Al asked her at one point if she wanted to sit in her wheelchair for a minute but she was having nothing of it!

All in all this was a wonderful weekend and I'm glad I was able to witness more of her miraculous recovery. As for the family's stay at Sunnyview - I, personally, believe they will be home by the end of February but I will update the blog as soon as a date is mentioned and confirmed.

Thank you all for reading and keeping up to date on Natalie's recovery! More positive news to follow...

A brief update

First, let me apologize for the lack of updates. I will do my best to post at least once a week.

Second, this will be a brief post as I will be visiting Natalie this weekend and can then leave a detailed account of her progress.

Natalie's progress has slowed a bit from the past few weaks due to a stomach virus that prevented her body from receiving any nutrition. She is now over the virus and is able to continue to move forward with her rehab. Therapists have been working hard with Natalie mainly concentrating on her posture and balance. The family is now able to take her away from the hospital more frequently. Recently they took a lunch trip to Panera and today they visited the apartment for some food and games.

I will be visiting the family this weekend for a few days and should be back by Monday to update the blog. I will try to be as detailed as possible because I'm sure this post does not answer all of your questions. Please feel free to leave questions in the comments section and I will do my best to answer them next Monday when I update the blog.

Happy New Year!

First off, I'd like to wish each and every one of you a happy and healthy 2007.

Secondly, I feel it has been a while since I've posted on Natalie's progress and I know today is the perfect day to recollect my personal experiences with her this past week.


Rebecca and I drove up to Schenectady on Christmas morning - the greatest time to drive, I believe we got there in about 2 1/2 hours. We drove directly to the Foulger's apartment where we met the family - Marc, Tina, Kyle, Al, and Natalie. We spent about 7 hours there before Becca and I left and the rest of the pack brought Nat back to Sunnyview.

While at the apartment we played games (the present game, hungry hungry hippos, battle of the sexes, charades, etc.), enjoyed a delicious meal compliments of Marc, and watched The Grinch.

I couldn't help but notice how much more expressive Nat seemed from the last time I visited. She was laughing a whole lot and telling jokes of her own. I was also very pleased to see that she is getting a little bit of her attitude back! When someone would ask her to do something she didn't want to she'd let them know - For example, Becca would say, "How about you eat some carrots?" - and Nat replied with, "How about, no!" This may have happened about 10 times while I was visiting and it cracked everyone up each time she said it.

Along with her increased expressions Nat is also feeding herself wonderfully. She holds water bottles to take drinks from straws or directly from the bottle. She can use spoons and forks and is very understanding, even when she doesn't feel hungry, that she must eat to get stronger faster. During her meals the family tries to get Nat to eat as much as possible because they all (including Natalie) want to have her feeding tube removed. Currently she is only receiving tube feeds at night.

The other improvement that I observed is Natalie's walking progress. This was so amazing to watch because I had never even seen her stand up with her walker before. I was able to stand in on one of her physical exams where therapists tested her ability to walk. First they stood her up (which she does on her own by pushing herself out of her wheelchair) and she grabbed onto her walker. They then asked her to walk for three minutes and measured her distance. The therapists were unable to help her because it was a test and were only allowed to stand behind her and 'spot' her from behind. This did not stop Natalie from walking an unbelievable 97 feet in the three minute period! I was shocked to see how fast she was able to move with the walker and both Becca and Tina were floored by her acheivement. After this test they asked her to walk from one line of tape to another (a distance of 5 meters). Before she started Natalie said she could do it in thirty seconds. The therapist started the timer and Nat was off. This test was repeated and Natalies times, respectively were 26 and 20 seconds! She managed to shock us all again! The final test was a little buggy and we had to have Nat re-do it three times because the computer measuring her steps was goofing up. Nat was to walk down a mat with sensors hooked to a computer that would calculate her exact steps so therapists could work on any corrections. It turns out repeating the exercise three times drastically helped Nat because she improved greatly in her last try. After this test was complete and we headed back upstairs to her room we kept hearing from different therapists of how surprised and happy the test givers were of her progress.

All in all I can definitely say that Nat is progressing wonderfully at Sunnyview. The therapists are all doing a terrific job with her and she really is coming back to us. Again I'd like to wish everyone a happy and healthy new year and a strong recovery for Natalie and the family!

Sincerely,
Mike

Christmas Message

The following is a special message from the Foulger family...

We would like to wish everybody reading this blog a very Happy Christmas. The Foulger family has not mailed Christmas cards this year because we are all concentrating on Natalie’s recovery. However we would like thank all of you for all your help and support over the last few months, and particularly send our heartfelt thanks to:

All of the first responders who were at the accident scene in Watertown.

The Neuro, Orthopedic and Trauma teams and all the other doctors who helped Natalie at University Hospital in Syracuse.

The nurses and other staff in Neuro ICU, Neuro step-down, and unit 7A at University Hospital.

The doctors, therapists and nurses at Sunnyview Rehab Hospital in Schenectady.

The organizers and participants in the Benefit Run, the Irish Quilt and the Spaghetti Dinner.

National Vision Center and their employees for their incredible fundraiser.

All of our friends, neighbors, relatives and colleagues who helped in so many ways, with visits, cards and words of encouragement, financial donations, looking after our house (and Stormy!), providing meals, hotel accommodations, etc.


Best wishes for the New Year from all of us!



Marc and Tina, Becca and Mike, Kyle, Al, and of course Nat.

Foulger Holiday Plans

Some of you have expressed interest in the family's plans this holiday season. I will do my best to update you all on whats happening with them.

Al plans to drive up to Watertown this Christmas to be with his family. He will be driving late on Christmas day.

Rebecca came to visit me - she will be here for Christmas Eve and we will drive back to Schenectady early Christmas morning.

Kyle, Marc, and Tina all remained in Schenectady and will be there on Christmas as well.

Natalie has a 'get out of jail free' pass for the whole day on Christmas so we will be taking her to the apartment to celebrate the Day.

I hope that this brief post is informative enought to answer your questions. Let me know if there are any other questions I may be able to answer.

Happy Holidays!

-Mike

Spaghetti Dinner Summary

"The dinners went well on both Wednesday and Thursday nights. Combined we sold a total of 323 dinners. There were a multitude of concerned questions about Natalie and endless good wishes extended to the entire Foulger Family. Cindy Harnas, Mary, Terese and Barb from the H.S cafeteria all donated their time to cook, clean and supervise the kitchen activities. What a lovely and generous group of ladies they are!"

Thanks to Elizabeth Fralick for an explanation of that wonderful night!

A report of grand success!

Natalie has been doing very well lately. She has been exceeding in three key areas - walking, eating, and overall improvement.

Currently Natalie is able to stand up with the help of a special walker. This walker is taller than traditional walkers assisting Nat in keeping her body upright. Therapists stand behind her to observe she is standing straight and push the walker forward, and she is now able to move her feet on her own!

Typically, after every meal, Natalie would have a set amount in her tube-feed because she was unable to provide her body with enough nutrition during meals. She no longer needs a tube-feed after every meal because of her improvements in feeding herself! She does still receive a continuous tube-feeding from 7pm to 7am, however, so she is not yet completely eating on her own.

Starting this past weekend Natalie has been granted passes allowing her to leave the hospital for a few hours at a time. This week the family piled in Al's car and took her for a ride around Schenectady!

More exciting updates to come!