Tori's day began to a little bit on the rough side as a new physical therapist arrived and pushed Tori quite a bit in her stretching. While she stretched Tori's hamstrings her face grimmaced with pain and turned very red and the tears followed closely after that. Maria and I could hardly stand to watch it... Tori obviously feels pain and the stretching and manipulating of her arms and legs is very neccessary to keep her muscle tone in place. But I am defintely not near as rough on her when I apply the physical therapy myself... The term "feel the burn" has a whole new meaning to me now.

Tori's breathing tube was removed from her mouth at approximately 11:45am today. This process is called extubation. About 6 doctors and nurses helped and observed her in the process. Tori did well on her breathing and coughing but she was lacking the consistent swallowing and ability to produce a gag. The medical team let her breath on her own for about 15-20 minutes as they watched her throat response. It was finally deemed that her upper respitory control was not far enough along to keep the tube removed. The risk of saliva getting down into her lungs was too great and the doctors really don't want her to get a pneumonia at this point. Her lungs have recovered to full capacity and they don't want to risk them getting 'sick' again.

Tori and I have only been aquantances, but through this whole thing I have learned to love her. She is an amazing girl and she has sooo many people praying, fasting and thinking of her. I have faith that Tori will get well soon. I plan on finally getting to know her bright character as soon as she gets well. We are all dancing for you tor. Hang in there babe, you are strong and beautiful and god is watching over you. I love you.
Love,
Jasmine

Tori's new pants!!

Tori, Whitney and Brendan rolling snowballs.

Provided the opportunity to invite guests to join me at the Lagoon theme park it didn't take me more than a split second to consider Whitney and Tori.

The date obviously interefered with their busy social schedule. Between dance and friends, they really were not sure that it would work out for them (plus they would have to deal with me for the whole day).

Whitney turned out to have dance that day. That might have helped Tori to decide to come at the time :-).

For some reason I can not remember, we had to drive Tim's 'Gym Locker' to get there. For those of you unfamiliar with that device, it is in reference to Tim's white BMW car which turns out to have many attributes of a... gym locker.

Tori's ability to introduce new topics of conversation is just amazing. It illustrates how smart she is and no one can argue that. We chatted the all way there and the whole way back. Actually, the way back is just a blur because we were both quite tired.

It didn't take Tori more than 30 minutes after we got there to hook up with friends of hers. After less than one hour, she was like a fireball leading a group of probably 8 people including adults.

I failed to mention that I do not like theme parks and rollercoasters. The only reason I chose to go was to spend some time with Tori and I am so thankfull for that day.

The weather was great all day expect for a slight shower in the early afternoon. She managed to convince everyone to get on their wildest rides and did so with an amazing ease. Honestly, I can't remember if we had anything to eat that day or if we rested for a minute. All around, it was a great day and I am hoping we can repeat it one day. Maybe next time we will go out clubbing instead...

Tori, get well and pick a theme park/rollercoaster anywhere in the world and I will take you there!

Love,
-Guy

Found on a VW bug in The Dance Club parking lot.

This pic was taken on the last day of school in 2005.

This picture was taken on the last day of school in 2005.

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.

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.