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10 days!! It seems like we have been in that hospital forever... And the food is not getting any better either... I guess I should not complain at all because when I look at and talk to Tori I can feel her pain. I pray and hope so very much that she can heal and return to us!!

This morning between 10:00 am and noon I saw firsthand some joy in her eyes and face and it was inspiring. Tori was completely wide eyed and aware like we haven't seen her before. She actively scanned the room with her eyes focusing on whatever she could and she even turned her head at times. Maria and I then noticed a little bit of a facial smile as we talked to her. You couldn't quite see it with the tube in her mouth and the tape on her face but it was there. Then Maria went to take a shower and I began to really talk to Tori and when I asked her to give dad a big smile to which she actually responded!! I was initially quite astonished. I continued to ask her to smile and each time her cheeks would rise into a great grinning position. I am being so completely genuine and honest here with this description and when I called the nurse over to observe and witness it she simply stated "Wow!! That definitely appears to be a reaction." I basically said "Yeah nurse, no kidding - do you notice how she does it on cue when I ask her???" I would think at this moment we are definitely out of the total comatose state once predicted for Tori by the doctors... Don't get me wrong, I love and greatly repect our doctors and nurses and I wouldn't trade them for anyone else but they are very trained to keep you grounded and aware of the worst possible outcomes or scenarios. Just keep fighting Tori!!

I felt so amazed and invigorated during and following my interactions with Tori this morning!! It truly was beautiful to see and quite inspirational to witness and I am hoping that many more of you can experience it in the near future. I know in my heart that there is a great glow inside Tori just waiting to reappear and I am praying and hoping that it indeed will for all of us.

Tim called around 11am this morning to tell me how excited of a morning Tori gave him. He said that she was very alert and responsive to his stimulation. This is of course very encouraging and we all hope she continues to show signs of progress.

Sophie and I were fortunate to make it to the hospital tonight and see her for a few minutes. I am quite convinved that Tim wore Tori out today because she appeared tired but peaceful.

From 7pm to 8pm while Tori is unavailable due to Nurse shift change, six of us went to dinner at Bangkok Thai tonight. It was quite good. Everyone one of us enjoyed their meal. I recommend the Honey Ginger Duck.

I wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge Tori's nurse tonight. Judy is quite simply awesome. Her 19 years of experience establish her as one of the most competent nurses in the nation and I would not trade her for anyone.

Last night I was able to re-configure one of my wireless router and drop it on the Schmanski's doorstep. Everyone was asleep by the time I got there.

Today turned out to be a much busier day than I expected it would be. It's now 11.20pm and I just getting ready to leave the office after starting my day at 7am. Of course Tori didn't leave my thoughts for one minute but it hasn't seemed to prevent me from being productive.

I wasn't able to make the much needed changes to the site today, might get a chance tonight or tomorrow.

Surfing around tonight, I ran across something pretty funny. I will let you guys figure it out. Click here to discover it. The counter was at '008' when I first visited that page...

Hello again to all of those friends, family and all those who care and want to hear about Tori's status and progress.

Today Tori's seemed to rest quite a bit and she was alert only a few times during the day. I just left her room however and Maria, Aunt Lorrie and the triplets seemed to be keeping her awake and observant.

Tomorrow is the currently scheduled day for Tori's breathing test. The doctors will examine her in the morning and determine a time to try the test. We are anxiously awaiting it are hoping for the best. Please pray for Tori to muster all of the strength she can for this test. We have dicussed the next possible steps with the doctors whether she passes this test or not. If she passes we will monitor her and try to get her to the 3RD FLOOR!! This is the place you want we really want to get her to :-) If she doesn't pass the test, we will determine a time for another opportunity and seriously evaluate giving Tori a tracheostromy which is a breathing tube surgically inserted into her neck.

Hello again everyone,

Today started off a little rough this morning when Tori had a either a seizure or a myochronic reation. The nurses call them 'rodeos' and Tori was all over the place... It is definitely not very fun to witness but thankfully both the doctors and our favorite Neurologist Francis were present during the episode. The doctors believe it was a seizure but the Francis believes it was caused by myoclonus which can be treated with the correct drugs. So Francis decided that Tori was to be given a new drug called Keppra and I'm happy to report that she had NO seizures for the rest of the afternoon and through Monday night. The Keppra does seem to make her a bit more drowsy so the breathing test has been postponed until Wednesday so Tori can be without any sedation. She needs to be fully aware for that test.

Tori's neck brace was also removed on Monday!! She has even turned her head a few times which is something new for her. I also spent several hours with her today and tested her eye reactions to me moving around the room and out of her view. She definitely tracks the movement with her eyes but we don't know exactly what she is seeing at this point. I also tickled her ALOT and I can get reaction from her much more easily than last week and with the slightest touch at times.

Below is the text from a general update email sent to all of Tori's friends and family.

Hello everyone,

Today was a nice, sssslllloooowwwwww and well deserved Sunday for us. Tori seemed to even take it easy but she was alert during most of the day. She contiunes to move new areas of her body like her head, neck, arms, hands and shoulders. She has some more visitors today and she really perks up when people are around her and communicating. She tends to still get excited which increases her temperature and her body also shakes at times during this process. She will hopefully be ready and rested completely for tomorrows visit by the rehabilitation specialists and for her ventilator removal test. We are hoping and praying for another good day!! More news to follow tomorrow.

Below is the text of a general email update sent on Saturday afternoon, June 25.

Hello everyone,

I would first like to greatly thank all of you who are supporting Tori in so many different ways. I have seen pictures of all the 'Pray 4 Tori" signs plastered all over Orem, I have recieved soooo many positive and caring emails and phone calls, I have heard of the chat room conversations concerning Tori, I have read the logs and I may have even spoken with many of you personally about her. It is truly amazing how many lives Tori has touched and had an impact on!! My family and I appreciate all of this support more than any of you imagine and it provides us AND Tori a tremendous amount of comfort and confidence to continue on. Thank you all so much again and please don't stop!!

Below is the text of a general email sent on Friday, June 24th

All,

Just a quick update tonight because I need some sleep time... Tori continues to improve with her primitive brian functions such as opening and closing her eyes, avoiding poke and pinch pain, coughing, gagging, etc. which is all very positive news. We are now looking and praying for some purposeful brain functions such as her trying to pull the tube from her mouth which would be great of course!! The physical therapist also began working with her today and Tori provided leg and arm resistance to the exercises they provided.

Below is the text of a general email sent Thursday evening June, 23rd.

Hello again everyone,

Tori and the rest of us had a very promising day today!! It started very early this morning at approximately 3:00am when she began attempting to open her eyes. She continued to try off and on all day and improved each time but she eventually gets upset and frustrated which causes her heart rate to increase so we have to calm her down. I just left her room minutes ago and I am totally thrilled to report that she opened her eyes, focused them on me and calmly blinked them while looking at me for at least 3 minutes!! I'm also crying again as I type this... She also moves her jaw around as she is doing this and we are really anxious to see what she can do without the stomach extraction tubes that are down her throat at the moment.

Below is the content of a general email sent Wednesday evening on June 22nd.

All,

This is another message and update from Tori's father, Tim Schmanski. Today was Tori's MRI day and I wanted to inform everyone of the results. I would also like to state that this information is completely accurate and genuine and was also witnessed by myself personally.

The MRI was taken at 4:00pm today and my wife Maria and I had to wait until 7:00pm to meet with the doctors analyzing the results. We were preparing for the very worst news heading into the meeting and we were also wondering why the doctors were taking so long to meet with us. In the meeting the doctors informed us that the MRI was completely normal which was as astounding to them as it was to us. They also told us the Spectroscopy performed earlier was also normal and this confused them even more. They had originally informed us that Tori's brain damage would be great given the 25-30 minutes of total time her brain had no oxygen. The doctors are now totally perplexed and befuddled with the results and one of them even stated that if she had seen the charts without seeing Tori first she would assume the person could talk and use their hands.