i noticed there weren't many of lindsey.. and i got my pictures developed... so.. there she is taken people money at the car wash!
mckenzie lambright

I put this on the back of my motocross helmet, then at the races when people ask who Tori is I tell them the story, then i tell them to pray 4 her. My Friends Jace Blickenstaff and Zach Sondrup also put it on the back of there helmets.

While being away for 3 days (Boston, MA), I found myself wondering a lot what Tim and Maria are feeling like. The questioning itself became overwhelming and I decided to try and not think about it as much.

Then came the time when I guessed what would help remind them what it is like to be strong together. Something came to mind:

This is a picture of Tim and Maria taken during Sophie and Guy's wedding in Paris, France. They arrived the morning of the wedding and despite that, they were both radiant! Their presence was a blessing and I never thanked them enough for coming.

Tim, Maria: you need to take care of yourselves just as much as Tori needs your help. That includes taking care of each other.

Tori, you have wonderful parents. They love you and it shows in everything they have done for you since your tragic accident and before that.

Love,
-Guy

I was overcome yesterday by your events, feeling helpless. No words of consolation seemed to be appropriate. Having read Tim's last entry, it appears my prayers were addressed -- give Tori a peaceful and restful night, and her Mom and Dad too. Thank you for giving us daily news; we really do appreciate it. Stay strong and take care of yourselves - Tori really needs you. We will keep our thoughts and prayers focused on you - as always - today and every day. Hope this is a good day for all. Love, Auntie Jill and Uncle Donny

Hello again,

Tori has made another move within the PCMC. She was relocated today to the CMU (Childrens Medical Unit) on the 3rd floor. This unit is a step up from the PICU and we hope to stabilize Tori during the next 7-14 days. Our main goals are to eliminate the E coli bacteria in her blood, get the minor Pneumonia corrected in her right lung and to get her digestive tract totally functioning normally again. If we can just get those three items done without ANY other backward steps, Tori could finally be in a 'stable' condition. Then we can focus on the Physical and Occupational Therapy at either the NTU or the Health South Hospital.

Tori's sleeping habits throughout the past few days remained intact today. I only had to give her Benadryl and Valium last night to keep her calm, relaxed and comfortable. Today, just as yesterday, she would open her eyes occasionally for about 10-15 minutes then close them again to sleep. We are quite sure the E coli is causing her severe stomach pain so we are giving as much pain medicine as we can to combat it. Nothing too strong, mainly Tylenol, Benedryl and Valium as needed. We also began a very slow feed today of Pedialyte through the NG Tube in Tori's nose. We stopped the feed late this evening to see how Tori will digest it and we are hoping for the best.

At times today when Tori was awake, she exhibited some agitation and as well as some mild cases of Myoclonus episodes. There would usually be one 1, 2 or 3 Myoclonic Jerks per episode and they weren't nearly as extreme as they have been in the past. We have found that if we try and talk Tori through them and keep her as relaxed as possible she can sometimes make it through without any facial grimmaces or observed pain at all. Keeping the vicious circle of agitation, anxiety and Myoclonus under control is the key goal here. Again, she never got even close to how bad this was in past episodes... Tori's legs appear to be the least affected by the Myoclonic jerks which is another great sign. They mainly effect her arms and torso at this point which do not appear to be as painful as her legs were. So either Tori is too tired and sick to really respond to the Myoclonus episodes at all or all of the medication to prevent them is having some postitive effects. We are of course greatly hoping for the latter to be true... We shall see.

Tim & Maria, We know you are going through one of the worse things in life to see your child so ill. May you gain even more strength also to help her. It's difficult to read about her bad days and then it makes us happy to read of the improvements-especially with this latest infection. So we can only imagine what all your ups and downs do to you both. They know so much more about e-coli now, thank God. She has to get well-she's fighting too. Our prayers,love,and strength to you all. Aunt Shirley

Good evening,

It was determined early this morning that the bacteria in Tori's blood stream is E coli. She more than likely was infected when she aspirated after vomiting which caused stomach or small intestine content to enter her lungs. As I mentioned in yesterdays update, two Antibiotics have been given to combat the E coli and they will be continued to be given for 10 days. Blood samples will be drawn each morning to check for the presence of E coli. The antibiotics are expected to clear the E coli up within 3-4 days.

Tori's temperature remained in the normal 37 degrees Celsius range all day today which is a good sign. She is obviously using all of her energy to fight off the E coli because she is resting and sleeping quite a bit. She will only open her eyes for 10-15 minutes before returning to sleep for a few more hours.

During the last few days since the E coli infection, Tori has not been getting enough fluids so she was very dehydrated. We have been pumping fluids into her as fast as we can today and she is looking much better tonight. Her input and output of fluids is pretty much back to normal again.

A CAT Scan taken at 4:00am this morning has narrowed Tori's digestive issues down to an inflamed Duodenum. She has recieved medication to help with this issue and the fluid coming from her stomach then out of her G-Tube is no longer dark green or black colored as it was yesterday. The fluid is a much more normal looking light green. Based on this improvement Tori will begin getting feeds again later tonight and she is in dire need of them. Her weight has dropped to around 100lbs...

I am deeply grateful to all of you hard working girls for doing this for Tori. And look at Brendan - workin' just as hard as anyone! I just finished the wonderful car wash photos (Guy, if you are responsible thank you so much -- I felt like I was there with them!) You are doing so much for our family, I don't know how to thank you enough. Tori is going to be OK. My daily prayers ask that she have peaceful and restful days and nights, as well as Tim and Maria. Good night to all and God bless. All our love, Auntie Jill and Uncle Donny

As I reported in my Afternoon update it has been a hectic day for Tori as well as for Maria and I...

The blood culture taken from Tori this morning shows a definite but undetermined type of 'bug' in Tori's system. The blood culture data is showing the 'bug' or Virus more than likely came from her stomach so now the surgical team will have to evaluate her and see if there are G-Tube issues or anything else. The other possible source could be her PIC line so it is being removed tonight. She was given two different Antibiotics tonight to combat the virus. Cultures taken on her lungs have not shown any other viral growth but her lower right lung is quite inflamed according to the X-Rays taken today. Tori has had a high temperature all day and it has been around 39 degrees Celsius. She has been lethargic and sleeping almost the entire day as well and I'm sure she is just feeling horrible...

More X-Rays are being taken as I am typing this to determine if Tor has an intestinal blockage as well... The fluid coming from her stomach is a dark green or black in color and it certainly isn't normal. Yet another issue they are now trying to figure out and she is NOT being feed anymore at this moment.

I'm truly sorry but today there really isn't much positive news to report unfortunately... It has been another frustrating day to say the least and both Maria and I will be staying at the hospital tonight. I guess the only good news for the day is that her vitals stayed consistent and low throughout the day. Her Heart Rate and Breathing Rate stayed low and relaxed. We will see what tonight brings us since she basically slept all day today.

Please hope and pray for Tori to have better days to come and to get her through this difficult stage in her recovery.

Thanks,

-Tim and Maria

Tori's morning was somewhat rough today as she vomited again at 5:00am or so... This time she definitely aspirated into her lungs so they checked her back into the PICU coincidently into room 8, which was her very first room in the PICU. The PICU doctors and nurses have explained to us that patients coming back into the PICU is quite common but it is just frustrating none the less...

Tori's feeds are still not digesting and even though they are going through the NG Tube she had installed on Saturday. X-Rays have shown the NG Tube is indeed inserted into her intestine so it is correctly bypassing her stomach. The main goal now is to determine why her feeds aren't staying down as well as they should be. She is having proper bowel movements so from that perspective everything seems to be working fine. The Morphine she was given earlier seems to have majorly disrupted her system and now we just need to get it functioning normally again.

She did sleep pretty well last night from 11:00pm until 5:00am after she had her Valium. She is currently sleeping as well without the use of any sleep inducing drug. We did witness one other positive sign today when Tori became agitated. She actually calmed herself down on her own without intervention. We are certainly hoping to see this more often as it makes life much easier not only for her, but for us as well.

Thanks again,

-Tim