Monday through Tuesday, August 20th through September 4th

Hello again everyone,

Tori is now finally cast free!!!! :-) She had them removed last Tuesday and did re markedly well during the cast cutting procedure. Her feet look much, much more natural but they have really been hyper sensitive since the removal. But they are finally becoming less so at this time. She also had her new AFO's (Ankle Foot Orthosis) placed on her feet. They are basically plastic support 'shoes' that help keep Tori's feet aligned and prevent them from going back to how they were. She will need to keep them on as much as possible. Tori was in a alot of pain and discomfort about 3 days afterward and we finally removed the AFO's only to find some pressure sores.... So we have had to keep them off for a while now as they heal. We also put Tori in her wheelchair, leaned it way forward and placed her feet in a large bucket of hot water and Epsom salt. We soaked them good and Tori loved it!! Her dead skin was just layering off of her... She still has some sores from her skin being stretched so far as well but they are beginning to heal.

Other than that Tori is doing pretty well. She is eating plenty of yogurt and 'Dippin Dots' ice cream. She is spending her afternoons in her wheelchair as usual and is back to being rarely agitated. Meredyth continues to come and complete ST sessions twice per week with Tori who does well on the majority of exercises.

There was a great NBC news video on Brooke Barels trip to Hangzhou, China. It was really nice to see all of the friendly faces of of the SCT staff at the hospital and of course we wish Brooke and everyone else going through SCT the best. Here is Brooke's website as well. Here is an LA Times article on Samantha Palumbo which is another great and inspiring story.

I know it's been over two weeks since my last update but that is about all I have for tonight. I will get some new pictures posted of Tori tomorrow.

Thank you all as always and good night!!

The Schmanski Family