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You are an amazing family and are an inspiration to Whitney(Vest) and I. Tori has fought for 54 days and we pray that she will continue to fight, so that she can return home.

I thought a quick, early update today would be good for everyone following yesterdays update. Tori had a very long night and early morning but she is overcoming tremendous odds against her once again. Her vital statistics are still improving at this point and she is continuing to just FIGHT!! I don't know how else to explain it because she was truly in a very dire condition last night but she is still with us today. She is just amazing!!

I will post an update later today that will explain everything we have went through during the last couple of days.

Thanks once again,

-Tim

Hello everyone,

It is extremely difficult for me to give Tori's update tonight and to be perfectly honest I debated heavily whether to provide it or not. Maria and I finally decided that all of you have the right to know of Tori's current condition.

I am so deeply saddened to report that Tori has been moved back into the PICU with a bacteria that has caused a Septic Shock condition and she is once again desperately fighting for her life. She will need all of your prayers and thoughts tonight.

Thank you so much and we love you all,

Tim, Maria, Tori, Whitney and Brendan

Yep, I want the book as well. Your story has been such an inspiration to both of us. I get frustrated with folks who ask questions and want to hear Tori's story but don't want the truth. Perhaps they are afraid of the reality. Hold steady on your battles with insurance and other entities; stay strong. Fight just as hard as Tori's fights - she too has inspired both of you as well. Thoughts all day and prayers every day. All our love, Auntie Jill and Uncle Donny.

Hello everyone,

I have been wanting to send this introduction out for many weeks now and tonight is the night. A few days after Tori's accident a book was given to me by a family who knew Tori. They had received the book from the daughter of the author, Ann Stephens. "By Believing, One Sees" is truly inspirational and in all honesty has been one of the great, guiding forces behind all of our efforts. The book chronicles Ann's personal experiences with her son Camron's Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

I read it the first time after I received Tori's 72 hour Glascow score of 3 which indicates the most severe brain damage possible and still at that point, Tori was not supposed to survive due to her extremely damaged lungs. The impact that Ann's book had on me was immeasurable at this very critical juncture and without a doubt, it is one of the primary reasons we are even at this point in Tori's recovery.

I have read the book numerous times since then and the parallels
of Ann's experience and ours is amazing. I have personally witnessed many of the positive and negative scenarios and discussions Ann describes and I was prepared for many of them just because I read her book. Tori has even had several of the same PCMC doctors that Camron had. Ann's personality also matches mine in many ways as I am stubborn, impatient, focused, extremely driven and I never like to give up!! Thankfully, Tori shares many of these characteristics as well.

"By Believing, One Sees" truly has made a huge difference
to me personally and to my family as well. I would like to encourage everyone to visit Ann's website http://www.bybelieving.com/default.htm and to perhaps order her book. It would greatly benefit and prepare everyone for the challenges ahead of us concerning Tori.

I have also personally conversed with Ann since Tori's accident and will continue to do so and she is a frequent visitor to http://www.pray4tori.com as well. She would be happy to know how you discovered her book so please let her know if you end up ordering a copy. Ordering instructions are available on her web site and the book itself is only 112 pages long so it is a quick read.

you dont know me but my thoughts and prayers are always with you and your family! I know kinda what you are going though although i can't imagine how you are feeling. I have a lil 12 yr old sister that has spineabifita she has been in and out of the PCMC hospital her hole life but this last time she was in (6-15-05 7-8-05) there 3 1/2 weeks thats the longest shes been there since she was born.. i went down as much as i could to see her between work and school but every time i pulled into that parking garage at PCMC there was always at least 10 cars that had pray4tori on them!! i didnt know what it was but i thought i would check it out, and now i cant go a day with checkin how shes doing and whats the lastest news on her.. Tim and Maria, Tori has no idea how lucky she is to have parents that have stood by her bed all this time and have done the things you have done, finding new meds that eliminate others, meeting with all the doctors as much as possible to see what the next step is. i think its one of the greatest things i have ever seen.. im not one to do this kinda stuff but this one really kinda hit home and i can see what your going through in away. your hole family is in my prayers i have told everyone i talk to at work, home,school, friends and everyone i meet about this site... you guys are doing a great job keep it up!!! TORI KEEP FIGHTIN! were all behind you!! :-)

I have a little baby bro. w/ Downs Syndrome,who has had many problems and when my family and I went to see him @ Primary Children's Hospital, I saw writing on 2 cars that said, "Pray for Tori" and I just had to come check the site out! I will pray for Tori, because I know how it feels to have a family member up there, its not fun.

I wish you all the best of luck!

I am so glad that Tori had a better day for her birthday. and to have lots of visiters had to show her how much we all care for her. I hope and pray that all her days will keep getting better. may God bless your family and keep them strong. Tim I am so inpressed with all of your research into Tori's care and Medications you are doing such a great job. and Maria I can see what a great mother you are. you two are the best. Love you Aunt Emma Lou

Hello again,

I found out today through email and phoen calls that there are many, many people who depend on their morning Tori update just as much as their Starbucks!! ;-) I was a little late on my daily update yesterday because Tori actually slept through the night and didn't wake Maria or I up. Usually I can depend her for a wake up between 1:00am and 5:00am so I can then go post an update but yesterday she broke the trend so I'm actually posting tonight BEFORE I go to bed :-)

Tori did very well again today as she was awake and rarely agitated. We upped her Keppra dosage a bit more after our meeting with all of the doctors today. Tori's Myoclonic tremors are still evident but they are definitely not as strong and again, they do not seem to agitate her nearly as much. Tonight Sande, a technician who was assigned to Tori a week ago, is back watching Tori and she is amazed at her progress. I had the opportunity to demonstrate for her my calming techniques on Tori and she watched as the tremors just disappeared!! In reality, it's pretty much ALL Tori doing this rather than me...

Tori was again placed in a standing position today by the physical therapists. She did well and this time stood for 30 second intervals rather than the 10 second intervals of yesterday. You could easily tell it gave her a workout because she was breathing very heavily when resting.

We added 5 milliliters of water to Tori's 80 milliliters of feed for an 85 milliliter per hour total input. Not much of a residual appeared on her G-Tube venting and she had 3 bowel movements today so her digestive system is responding pretty well. We will cut off the laxative type medications at this point though...

Maria and I met with the following doctors today: Adam and Chad from medical, Teresa and Ethan from rehabilitation, Josh from neurology and our case workers Cathy and Susan. We discussed Tori's current condition and outlined the next set of steps. Tori's digestive system is mostly back on track but we will evaluate her for an GJ-Tube in her stomach so we can rid her of NJ-Tube in her nose. The GJ-Tube will replace the G-Tube and allow us to place feeds into her stomach or small intestine from that single position. We still need to start placing feeds into her stomach at some point. Tori's Keppra dosage has been upped and her Zanaflex will be reduced to only one dose at night to help her sleep. No doses will be given during the day. Melatonin and Bennedryl will also be leveraged to make Tori sleep at night. We are trying to ween her off of Valium doses. I believe Tori's total drug count is now at 10 and I will break those down tomorrow for everyone. We will also complete a Intrathecal Baclofen Pump test on Tori next Monday when we will directly inject Baclofen into Tori's spine and monitor the results for a day. The results of that test will indicate if the Intrathecal Baclofen Pump will be beneficial to Tori or not.

Happy Birthday Tori!! We are sending all of our love and prayers with you today (and everyday). You are a beautiful, strong girl! Keep fighting!
Love you - Kirra