Well, Tori is now finished with her proton beam therapy. It is good to have our family all together again and to be sleeping in our own beds every night. Boo Boo, our little yorkie poo, is very excited to have us all back home as well. We are all still trying to catch up on our rest and get back in the groove of working our regular schedules again. Getting back to normal life is kinda hard because now we are not actively doing anything about her health, we are in a holding pattern again for a while. But from what I understand, the radiation will keep doing it's work for another 6 weeks or so.
Tori has several follow-up appts that will keep her hopping: She will have 5 labs done on Nov. 26, will see her GP on Nov. 29, will have an MRI and see her neurosurgeon on Dec. 6, and then will go back to see the radiation oncologist shortly after that. We will keep you updated with any results as we are informed.
Tori has been feeling pretty good since we moved back home with very little nausea and no headaches at all. She was even able to run 3 miles yesterday!! She is working very hard to keep all her function and not let the radiation take her strength from her. The only side effects that she seems to be struggling with right now is being sleepy all the time (from the trauma to the brain) and some emotional "craze" (from the medication). She begins to wean off of the steroid today. It should take about two weeks for that process to finish if all goes well and she does not begin having headaches again. Hopefully she will start feeling even better after she comes off of this medication.
Since the insurance has now kicked in, the Proton Beam Center has refunded the balance of the money that was originally loaned to Tori for her treatments. They paid it directly back to the family who loaned her the money and this was a huge relief to us all. Even though she still needs to pay them back for the portion that the insurance did not pay, we feel like a weight is lifted from our shoulders. She will be able to use your donations to cover this portion and she will still have money left over for some of her future medical expenses. Once again, we want to say thank you to everyone for their support. You have blessed us all beyond belief!
If you would like to donate to help Tori with her future medical costs, please make checks payable to:
Victoria Collins and send to: PO BOX 25
Sheridan IN 46069 Or click HERE to donate online
This is a picture of Tori when she was in Junior High. She was taking riding lessons at this farm (in California) and the foal here would make this funny face, sporting his cute little baby teeth, every time she scratched his back. At this same farm there were 2 chickens that played tether ball (its really true!) and a Llama that tried to "be your friend" by licking your lips. It was always alot of fun to go there. Great memories!
