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Thinking of you today, as always. It was a tough day for you. Barbara the nurse sounds like a wonderful person. How proud you must be of Tori for the strenght she is showing people. Tomorrow will be better. It's the right thing to do to keep Tori where she is a bit longer - She's quite the girl isn't she! I so much admire your courage, and your kindness to the others at PICU. Take care of yourselves. Please give Tori, and yourselves, a hug for us. Rest peacefully tonight. All our love, Auntie Jill and Uncle Donny

Today I was able to see Tori! I wish you could all have this amazing experience! I went with Marilyn Lambright, Mckenzie, Bree Woolstenhulme, and Nate Decker. When we walked in she started crying, and Tim had to calm her down. Tori looked SO much better from when I first saw her, the day after the accident. She is sooo skinny and still tan! Her mom is so cute to her, shaving her legs and plucking her eyebrows...I'll bet Tori didn't like that one. Tori looked beautiful! When Nate walked in, she couldn't take her eyes off him! It was so funny! We told her memories and showed her pictures of herself and we got the biggest smiles that I have ever seen. I loved seeing her smile. I could see her mouth moving up and down, Marilyn said she was trying to talk but she couldn't...that would be so frustrating, I don't know how she deals with it. She kept trying to sit up. It was the saddest thing to see, but the happiest! This trip definetly made my day, and I can't wait to go visit her again! I love you Tori!...We all do!

I don't know Tori personally, but if she is anything like her mother I know that she has the spirit and the fight to pull through this and recover. I have known Tori's mom since I was in 6th grade and she was in 3rd grade. I lived across the street from her in Delta and Maria played with me and my 5 younger sisters almost daily for as long as I can remember. Maria was very strong willed and a very caring and loving person and I admire the mother that she has turned out to be. I hope to stay in touch with her better and actually get to know Tori and her siblings. My prayers and thoughts are with you all and I want you to know that if you ever need anything no matter how big or small, please let me know if I can help in any way. Until later.

Crystal Kelly Evans

Hello again,

Tori had another mixed day today - some good items and some bad items. I would like to start with the good tonight and state that Tori went 31 HOURS straight completely off the respirator over last night and today!! Great job Tori!! She is also now trying to actually sit up in her bed and today while her and I were watching the "Incredibles" I actually had to reach over with my arm and stop her from tipping forward... No more high sitting positions for Tori unless she is fully supervised for sure. That was my lesson learned for the day. She was aware and awake just like we have seen in the past and she also had a another nice sponge bath and shampoo again today. She really enjoys the shampooing with all of the head scratches and massages!! :-)

As far as the bad items go... Tori had another Myoclonus episode... I was present in the room when it started at 5:00pm and I had the nurse start with an immediate dose of Ativan primarliy because it was not near the extent of Saturday's episodes. The episodes continued to get worse and rapidly more frequent for the next 8 minutes and Tori's heartrate zoomed to 170 Beats per Minute. She was then uncontrollable, biting her lip, red faced and tossing her arms around so we had to go straight to the Haldol... It took about 45 total minutes before she was asleep. Much better than Saturday's two hour episode but none the less frustrating to witness again. So even without the Ritalin she is still experiencing the Myoclonus so there will be at least two to three more days here in the PICU... We are meeting with the neurologist very early tomorrow so both Maria and I are spending the night.

The PICU Doctors have now doubled her Clonidine through a new patch so we will test that dosage again over the next couple of days. I really, really wish this was more of an exact science but it unfortunately isn't...

Tim and Marie,
I was so saddened by reading about your darling Tori!!
The article in the Herald really caught us off guard. Living over here in Cedar Hills, we really are out of the loop. We are thinking of you and your family every day, and I am really feeling like Tori will come through this 100%. She has both you and Maria supporting her, and you are such teriffic parents!!
We will continue to pray for Tori! I will always remember when we lived by you how she would ride her bike over and just talk to Roy and Me.. Heck, we are old folks compared to her, but she conversed with us like we were her friends. She is darling, and is truly a special person! We know she will be blessed and each day will see her getting better and better.
You and Maria take care!
Roy and Jerolyn Beers

A long time ago in TV land there was a sitcom called the Waldens on Golden Pond. Some of us old folks might remember. The Waldens (hope I am spelling the name correctly) had a nightly ritual -- all of the family members would say good-night to each other, one by one. It dispelled all of the days trials and tribulations and embedded in their memories all of the happy thoughts and times. Having said this, I say good-night to my Schmanski Family in Utah. Good-night TORI, Tim, Maria, Whitney, Brendan, Paul, Sandy and all of Tori's wonderful and giving friends. Good night and rest well. All our love, Auntie Jill and Uncle Donny. Tori is going to be OK.

Very thankfully, Tori had an uneventful, peaceful and restful day without ANY Myoclonus activity. This was a far cry from the events yesterday afternoon and evening. Tori was also NOT given any additional drugs outside of the standard set of Melatonin, Clonidine, and Valproate. She was given some Tylenol and Codine for pain relief throughout the day since every muscle in her body was extremely sore after being tensed up for two hours straight yesterday...

I was very fired up this morning when I awoke at the hospital and since some of the PICU doctors actually visit this site, I won't say that I TOTALLY ran their daily meeting in Tori's room but it was pretty darn close. I basically set the precedence that Tori's Myoclonus treatment will NOT be in reactive mode anymore and that it would be in full proactive mode moving forward. If I or anyone else begins to see the onset of Myoclonus there WILL be some fast action. No more Ativan for 30 minutes, more Ativan for 30 minutes, some Clonidine for 30 minutes, then finally totally paralyize her with Haldol... Not going to happen again!! I've seen that procedure twice and I already know it doesn't work and it surely isn't healthy for Tori. There must be more reasoning and thought behind the treatment whether that means more Clonidine, more Valproate or bringing back Keppra. I also requested a meeting with a neurologist on Monday to reassess Tori and the drugs that are being administered.

The doctor's final thoughts on yesterdays fiasco were that the Clonidine patch placed on Tori did not saturate her system quickly enough to prevent the Myoclonus. The patch is designed to provide one weeks worth of steady Clonidine into Tori's body. The Ritalin was given because there were no Myoclonus signs at that point but about one to two hours afterward, the Myoclonus went into full gear and the Ritalin kicked in as well. Not a good combination... We will now hold on all Ritalin or anything like it until there is NO Myoclonus activity for two to three days straight. When the Ritalin or equivalent is given again it will be in a very minute quantity.

i didn't really know Tori that well either. But i knew a lot of her closest friends. And whenever they talked about tori it was always these positive stories and great things that she did or said!!! Tori was the sweetest girl ever. she would always say hi to me whenever she saw me at school and just was always smileing. she is such a CUTIE!!! i love her. she is an amazing dancer omg! but way to go nicole, annie, abi, mollie and the wrest of you for winning in new york!! that's awesome. you guys are the sweetest friends. i love all of you. and im praying for you tori! :)

Tim, Maria and whole family,
Not a day goes by that someone in the family asks- "have you heard the latest on Tori"? One day when Dick called from 'on the road', he asked for latest news on Tori and I couldn't get on online, where I was that day, but luckily Janine told me what happened. Janelle and Jonathan have been reading the entries about her on their laptops and next week will be able to send their own message. Jonathan was on his skateboard last week and he said Tori showed him some kind of flip or manuever on it when they were here a few years ago and he remembered.She is constantly on our minds and in our hearts. If ever there was a time for her to be stubborn,(as her address says, it is now. All our prayers and love, Aunt Shirley

I feel like I am living in the Arizona desert. It has been above 90 degrees F for 9 days in a row. Enough of my whining. Thank you for your updates. Morning, mid-day and evening reports may take a bit of your time but I think it is efficient and gives all of us so far away enough information. Guy can fill in details if needed. THANK YOU! Tori needs time to get a regular routine in place - which may make things difficult for all of you for a while but she is doing her best. Keep the faith, baby! (That's a 60's phrase but you probably don't remember that). And always, if there is anything we can do for you, just ask. All our love, Auntie Jill and Uncle Donny -- Love to Grandpa and Grandma Schmanski, Whitney and Brendan.