Friday, October 14th - Day 117 Update

Hey there,

Tori put in a full 8 hours of sleep in for Guy Thursday night!! So either the new air mattress worked really well or Guy must have been talking to her all night since he typically puts her to sleep when he does so ;-) Thanks for spending the night with Tori Guy!!

Tori's continues to get most of her PT and OT therapies in the mornings. They always include the full realm of stretching on her legs and arms and various other forms of therapy. They had Tori sitting up in her bed once again but she didn't get into her wheelchair again today. Tomorrow we will get Tori in her wheelchair and spend as much time as possible in it.

Maria made it up by 10:30am this morning and she witnessed a small but evident smile!! If we could just get Tori to produce many more of them it would greatly help us all!! :-) Tori is still tracking and focusing very, very well. She knows exactly who is in the room and she also knows when you leave. When leaving the room while Tori notices, she will sometimes exhibit a frown and may even begin to cry. She KNOWS when we leave we are no longer in the room with her. We had Paul, Sandy, Whitney, Brendan, Maria and I in her room today and since we all were 'garbed' up I'm sure we gave Tori a challenge in determining who is who :-) Brendan hadn't seen Tori in quite a while because he couldn't go into the UVRMC ICU. Tori seems to fixate her eyes right on him when he is in the room. Brendan is becoming more comfortable around Tori as well and will now approach her, talk to her, touch her arm and even blow dry her hair. It is hard on all of us because Brendan doesn't quite understand why Tori can't just come home with all of us... Someday Brendan, someday.

Tori had a nice bath tonight and it was the first one she has had in a long time. About 18 days maybe?? She enjoyed it as usual but we had to try and keep a mask on her face throughout the entire bath time... She almost started to eat it at one point... We are all soooo anxious to get out of quarantine!! Hopefully on Monday which is the latest we have heard.

Tori's button trach was plugged for the entire day again and she continues to handle it well. We unplugged her tonight so she can sleep a little more comfortably but the time is probably now to let her try and sleep with it in. We are pretty encouraged with her progress and her ability to maintain her vital statistics while plugged. But we need more success on the next swallowing study we will attempt to do again next week. Please hope and pray for some positive results!!

The pin head sized hole in Tori's GJ-Tube section has been fixed!! There also does not appear to be any leakage at this time so we might have success!! Silicone and an extra tube wrap seems to have saved Tori from yet another GJ-Tube placement... Thank goodness!! :-)

I spent some of my day calling around to various HBOT (Hyperbaric oxygen therapy) providers within the Salt Lake City area. I have a meeting with one of them on Monday afternoon and I am awaiting pricing on another. My research has found that HBOT treatments for near drowning victims often has positive affects. I will schedule for Tori to begin them as soon as possible. I also spoke with a Neurophysiologist and I am trying to arrange for him to do some diagnostic tests on Tori. Again, the sooner the better now that Tori is in a healthy state.

Alright, that is it for tonight. Thank you everyone for your continued love, prayers and support for Tori.

-Tim