Thursday, Friday and Saturday - November 2nd through November 4th

Hello again,

Tori's great sleeping trend has continued over the last few days and we haven't had to bring back the oxygen to this point. She is basically sleeping throughout the night outside of a couple of changing's. Tori has also been having some mild seizures each morning for about a week now and her dystonia or 'jerking' has been more prevalent as well. Her seizure on Friday morning was much bigger and longer than any of the others though... We finally called on her last blood draw and were informed that her valproic acid level was down to 73.8 which is far below the 95-100 that we seem to need. So we have increased her depakote intake from 2000mg per day to 2500mg per day. In a week we will probably raise it again to 3000mg per day. Early next week Tori will have another blood draw and hopefully the valproic acid level will have moved up.

Tori had some macaroni and cheese, squash and some more cheese sticks over the past few days. She has also had her fair share of Halloween candy from suckers to her favorite mini m&m's. Tori does very well with those and she can realistically eat an entire package if we let her :-) Grandpa and Grandma Schmanski also left for Mesquite, Nevada this weekend and we will miss them dearly until Thanksgiving.

This weekend was also the yearly 'Art for Heart' benefit concerts for the Shriner's Hospital in SLC which Tori is a beneficiary. The Dance Club and two other local clubs were involved in the Friday and Saturday performances. We chose to bring Tori to the 2:00pm matinee concert on Saturday. Maria, Brendan Tori and I attended while Whitney performed in numerous dances. We had great seats in the second and third rows and almost center stage. Tori did wonderfully watching all 30 of the dances and took a quick nap through 3 dances and the intermission. I sat next to her throughout and watched her actions very closely. She knows and recognizes Whitney when she is dancing and typically stays focused on her throughout the routine. I am convinced that she also knows when all of her friends and former dance team members are performing. She will watch them more intently than the others and she will often close her eyes for a short periods of time. I wish I knew exactly what she was thinking but I think I have a pretty good idea because there is another completely noticeable behavior I observed during the dances. Tori will move her ankles and feet much more consistently while the music is playing and the dancing is happening. I know in my heart that in Tori's mind she is dancing with them all once more. I am truly convinced of this because when the dancing and music stops, Tori's movement does as well.

Tori's presence was recognized in the closing concert statements amid cheers and shouts of "We love you Tori!!" by the hundreds of dancers who at that time were spread in the aisles throughout the theater. Some were directly in front of Tori and I and that moment brought on just a couple of controlled tears before we brought Tori out into the lobby where hundreds of people and all of the dancers were gathered. Tori was calm and collected throughout the concert but it was much harder for her and it was for us as well when her friends all began to gather around her. Many had not seen her in while and Tori's appearance was as beautiful and radiant as ever. All of them talked to her, gave her encouragement and gave her many hugs but Tori's anguish was often apparent while they surrounded her... Many of Tori's friends were crying and Maria and I comforted them and Tori as well. All things considered I think we did pretty well. Composure is extremely difficult in cases like this and about all you can do is hug all of those girls, tell them you love them just as Tori does and don't look into their crying eyes for anything longer than a moment. Otherwise you will break down right there with them... Maria ended up taking Whitney and Crystal to dinner along with Mark and Marilyn while Brendan, Tori and I headed back home to Orem. At least I was able to get Tori and Brendan into the van and heading home before I finally broke down... Tori was already asleep when a concerned Brendan asked "Are you ok daddy??" to which I replied "Yes, I just miss your sister Tori". "I miss her too" was his reply. I'm quite sure he speaks for all of us...

Sincerely,

-Tim and the entire Schmanski family