Hi everyone.  Steve (mine..lol) and I are setting this up for the Holmes family.  To quote Steve, 2020 continues to not be their year.  Tori was involved in a car accident on Tuesday,  11/24/2020.  She was fine on scene and had no complaints. By the next morning she could not stand without assistance and the strength in her legs rapidly diminished.  Steve had to call an ambulance to take her to UPenn Princeton for evaluation as he could not get her to the car.  They ruled out traumatic injuries from the crash and decided to do a spinal tap.  They discovered Tori has Guillain Barre Syndrome.  This is a rare autoimmune disorder that attacks the nerves in the lower extremities and progresses up the body.  The doctors are not sure what caused it--either an infection she had in the beginning of October or from the accident itself.  Currently her left leg is paralyzed and she has minimal movement in her right leg.  Tori is admitted to Princeton and has  started a 5 day course of treatment to stop the progression of the paralysis and to hopefully help her regain control of her lower extremities.  It will take a few days of treatment to see if it is effective.  How long she is in the hospital is dependent on her response to the treatments.  Regardless, Tori will require long-term PT  to help her walk again.  Steve just told me this morning that she will need 4-6 weeks of inpatient PT.

As we all know, Tori is an amazingly strong woman.  She was a rock during the last year while being pregnant and Steve was going through chemo.  We all thought they were finally going to be able to focus on the future and the positives--now this.    She is not one to ask for help--in fact, I had no idea she was in the hospital when I texted her the other morning.  I asked how things were going  and her response was "Okay...no complaints".  I am still shaking my head on her response knowing what I know now.  She is an awesome friend, mother, wife, EMS provider and educator.  While I know they both think "this is not our year" I know differently.  Steve beat leukemia and I know Tori will beat this and come out stronger on the other side.

I am asking for donations to help cover any medical costs they need to outlay as well as help ease the burden on them while Tori is getting treatment and recovers.  They plan on putting JJ into daycare full-time and we all know how expensive that is for one child, let alone two.  Any money donated will be used for medical/recovery, daycare/preschool costs, as well as for mortgage and utility bills so Steve does not have to try and juggle multiple jobs while taking care of the boys and Tori.  I always say it takes a village....let the Holmes family see how much their village is here for them.  I am hoping we surpass the goal I set.  Any little bit helps, even if it is $5.  Thank you so much!!