Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Big Mama had a good trip home for Christmas. We picked her up Sunday (23th) afternoon. When we got ready to leave Timber Ridge she cried a little because she said she was going to miss all her friends she has made. She had to give everyone hugs before we left. She has truly made an impression on lots of the clients (patients) and staff members at Timber Ridge. Everything went well while she was home. Big Mama & Papa O had Christmas lunch at Teresa & Freddy's house then we had Christmas dinner (pizza, we were all sick of turkey & dressing!!) at their house. The kids had a ball opening their gifts and playing with Big Mama. She enjoyed watching them open the gifts. She even said Papa O did a good job picking out the kids presents, except the purple lap desk thingy that he wrapped & put Asher's name on and it was suppose to be Andrea's, Asher's was the black one!! lol Some of the rest of the family came over also that evening. Including the newest addition to our family...Bryson Tyler...As noted by the picture I think that was actually her favorite part of her trip home!!! She did well going back on Wednesday. But as soon as she arrived back at Timber Ridge she was already counting down the days until she gets to come home again! We will pick Big Mama up again on Sunday December 30th early in the morning, she should be home by noon or so. And she will get to stay until the early morning of Wednesday Jan. 1st. If anyone would like to go visit her I'm sure she would love it. Papa O (Owen) just asks that you call first in case they go out to eat or something, that way they don't miss you. We should be getting the results of her MRI & Cerebral Arteriogram sometime within the next week or so. I will update again when we get those results and also again after New Years. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. We love you all!

Christmas Cantata

Big Mama got to come home for the first time in 3 months!! Papa O picked her up from Timber Ridge on Sunday afternoon. She got to attend the Community Choir practice and then come home for some good 'ole Pizza Depot pizza!! Monday, Big Mama had lots of visitors throughout the day from her fellow school teachers. She enjoyed every bit of it. Monday evening was the Community Choir Christmas Cantata. She had to wear her tennis shoes because she has a brace that she has to wear on her right ankle and she didn't have any other shoes that had a back on them. Even though she was wearing white tennis shoes with her black outfit she still insisted on wearing black socks. But for some strange reason we could not find any of her black socks so in the end Teresa letting Big Mama wear her black socks and Teresa wore a pair of white socks with her black outfit. Thank goodness she had on boots and you couldn't see them!! lol Big Mama did fairly well at the cantata. She did begin to tear up when she first got on stage, but that didn't last long. When she practiced with the CD's Mrs. Gibson had given her, she knew almost all the words to all the songs. But for some reason she didn't sing very much, she kept looking through her music book. Come to find out the book that they had given her didn't have the pages in the right order. But she couldn't have seen them very well anyway. Her eyesight is getting better but she still has problems seeing little words (and music). After the cantata we had to take Big Mama into a separate room because she was getting very overwhelmed. She got to see lots of people that she hasn't seen since her injury and she really didn't want to leave but we had to make her. Papa O had to take her back this morning (Tuesday). He said she whined a little about having to go back but when they got there she was fine because she knew she was going to get to come back at Christmas. Overall things went well and we were all sooooo glad she got to come home for a bit. Thank you to everyone who came to see her or called. She enjoyed it so very much.

PS. Please continue praying for Big Mama. She is having another procedure on December 11th. to look at the vessels and arteries in her brain to see if there is any further damage or anything else that might cause more damage.

Thanksgiving Feast - with Pickle Hors D'evours!!!!

We all had a great time on Thanksgiving Day. We picked Big Mama up around 9am and made it back to Viriginia's (my mother-in-law) around 10:30. Big Mama walked in the door and said "Okay, I'm ready to cook. What do you want me to do?" She made her famous Pickle Hors D'evours. By the time she was finished she had cream cheese up to her elbows but she did a great job and they were delicious as usual! She also helped me make a pumpkin cheesecake and helped with a few other simple little tasks. She still has a lot of spontaneous movements that she has no control over in her right arm, hand and leg so things did get a little messy. But all in all she did very well. The food was excellent and I saw her eat more than she has in the past couple of months. The blouse that she was wearing was given to her by Sue Collison and we heard that SEVERAL times throughout the day because she does still have some short term memory loss. The one thing she did not forget was that she was going go to the Community Choir Christmas Cantata and stay overnight in her own house!! After lunch we all just lazed around and watched a movie which Big Mama really seemed to enjoy. All the way back to the ranch Tucker (my pug that she calls her granddog) laid in her lap and slept. We got her back to the ranch around 6pm and she was a little tearful. This was the first trip where she got to stay away from the ranch all day. It really wore her out but she really enjoyed it. She said to tell everyone hello and she loves them and to come to the Christmas Cantata and listen to the beautiful music!

Day Trip on Thanksgiving

Well, our family certainly has a lot to be thankful for this year. Our Big Mama, who was very near to death a couple months ago, is alive and is getting to come home for Thanksgiving. Well, not exactly home but close enough. Big Mam is actually getting to leave Timber Ridge and go to my in-laws home in North Little Rock for Thanksgiving day. Normally the entire family (aunts, uncles, cuz's & all) go to Big Mama's house Thanksgiving evening to eat and play games and just enjoy being together. And Big Mama always cooks. She is bound and determined she is cooking this year but she's not quite up to it yet. Although we will let her help with some things and she is going to get to make her famous pickle things!! YUMMY! We are going to pick her up Thursday morning and spend the day at my in-laws then she has to go back to Timber Ridge. But this will be the first time she has been on a day trip with us. She has been on small trips to Wal-Mart and things like that, but not all day.

However, she is going to get to come home and stay the night on December 3rd. She is determined to sing in the Community Choir Christmas Cantata. She has sang every year since they formed the choir and said she was not missing it this year. We discussed it with her doctors & clinicians and they said okay! However there are some stipulations that will be announced to the audience before the program. Big Mama still does not need a lot of people trying to talk to her at once. And the clinicians do not want anyone addressing her medical "conditions" when they do talk to her. They are sending a letter with us to read to the audience before hand so everyone will know what to expect.

Mrs. Gibson and Teresa have visited Big Mama every weekend and they have been practicing the music with her. The lodge at the ranch has a piano where they can practice in addition to the cd of the music that Big Mama can listen to. Just pray that everything will go okay and that she will still be willing to go back to Timber Ridge to finish the much needed therapy!!

Family Meeting with Timber Ridge Staff

On Wednesday November 13th we had a family meeting with the Timber Ridge Staff. Papa O (aka Owen), myself (LaTasha) and Pop (aka Louie, Big Mama's dad) all attended this meeting. The overall reports were great. Everyone said she has made great strides in her improvement since she arrived but she still need lots of rehab to get her back to functioning on her own and being able to take care of herself with minimal assistance.

Kerry, the Physical Therapist, said she has made huge improvements. She is able to walk on her own for short distances but gets to going to fast to ambulate safely by herself so therefore still needs assistance. To this Big Mama's reply was "they're just slow pokes and need to learn how to keep up". Typical Rhonda!! They tried to give her a regular walker with wheels but she would take off going 70mph so they had to take it away! Kerry said she is doing great, she just needs to slow down.

Christine, the Speech Therapist, said Big Mama's vision is still impaired which is hindering the progression of some things. She is still unable to read (which we all know is one of her favorite things to do) but she is enjoying some books on tape/cd that Teresa sent her. She is able to write her name very well now even it it may not always be directly on the line b/c she can't see it well. Sometimes when shown a picture and asked to name the item, she still needs a hint (like the letter it begins with) to get the word out. She knows what the word is but processing the information and getting the word out orally is still something she is working on. Christine said she is doing better but needs to slow down when trying to perform tasks.

Taylor is Big Mama's Occupational Therapist. When Big Mama first began working with him she told us that he was a young handsome guy and she wanted to keep him around a while! Taylor also said she has improved. She now needs virtually no assistance with bathing, dressing and applying make-up. (They do have a female OT tech that helps her with this part!) When we arrived Wednesday Big Mama was dressed and had make-up on but couldn't find her mascara and really wanted it on. We went back to her room and found it for her. I was going to assist her with applying the mascara but she wanted to do it herself, and she did, very well actually. Big Mama is also still having some numbness in her left hand and fingers. Taylor said when they are assisting her in doing her laundry, she does not sort the clothes well because she is going to fast and she would do much better if she would just slow down.

Ken, the Psychiatrist, said the Big Mama's overall outlook has gotten much better. He said that she talks often and fondly of family, friends and her career & children at school. He said that he can tell that Big Mama normally has good morals and high expectations of herself and others. There are some things that other clients do and say that really bother her. He said they are working on helping her to understand that even though she may have control over what someone else does, she does have control over the example that she sets for them. He said that she is doing well and just needs slow down and think about her feelings and emotions before getting upset or angry.

Sarah, the Behavioral Specialist, said that Big Mama's overall affect has been much more positive and appropriate.She has improved and is participating much better in her sessions. She was having several "crying episodes" that would last anywhere from 30 seconds to many hours. In the last week she had a total of 5 minutes of crying. That is 5 minutes in the entire week!! She still has very limited safety judgment when it comes to herself. She does things by herself that she is not supposed to like transferring herself from her wheel chair to the couch or getting up and walking without assistance. She said they had a cooking session in which they made pb&j sandwiches. Big Mama got in a hurry and was trying to do everything to quickly and had peanut butter & jelly everywhere. Sarah said that Big Mama just needs to slow herself down and she will do fine.

Okay, did ya notice the common thread in all of these reports...SLOW DOWN... I can't remember a time in my childhood when my mother was ever taking it slow. She have some short legs but she still walked 90 to nothing & I had a hard time keeping up with her while walking through a store. She never sat still and probably never will! Even if she was sitting and watching tv she was crocheting, reading or something else. She was always going and it was never slow! This is her main area of concentration at the moment. All of them agreed that Big Mama has made great improvements and once her vision is better and if she would just SLOW DOWN then she would do even better!!

Neurosurgeon appointment

On Tuesday November 12th, Big Mama had an MRI and an appointment with Dr. Kirsht, the neurosurgeon who performed her surgery. He said that she was improving greatly. He also said that now that the swelling has subsided and the free fluid has reabsorbed and he is able to get a better look at her brain with the MRI, he does not believe the bleed was caused by a tumor as he initially assumed. (Yes I know that is a really bad run-on sentence but that is why I am in the medical field and not education!! lol) Dr. Kirsht now believes that Big Mama's bleed may have been due to a malformation of a vein which caused the vein to rupture and bleed. He wants to perform a angiogram in a few weeks. This procedure uses a contrasting dye to better see the veins and arteries. He will be able to look and see if there are any more malformations and also get a better look at the veins/arteries surrounding the area of the initial bleed. They will insert a catheter into a artery in the upper leg and thread it up into the neck/brain area then release the dye. After the procedure you have to lay completely flat and keep your leg still and flat for 2-6 hours. Even though there are risks with every procedure, this one is normally fairly painless, easy and is an outpatient procedure. The problem is that Big Mama still does not have complete control over her right leg. It is kinda like it has a mind of its own and is constantly in motion. The only way they are going to be able to perform this procedure on Big Mama is to sedate her and keep her sedated until the lying still period is over. So we are not sure quite yet what they are planning on doing as far as the angiogram is concerned. Dr. Kirsht did ask Big Mama what grade she taught. She replied "6th, 7th & 8th grade special education". Dr. Kirsht said that right there was enough to give someone a brain bleed!!

Up Until Now...

Most of you know by now that Rhonda Roberts, aka Big Mama, is recovering well from her brain injury. For those of you who don't know quite what happened, here it goes...


On September 8, 2007, after a long day of SOS fund raising, Big Mama performed at the SOS gospel benefit concert. She wasn't feeling well and had a severe headache. Upon leaving the stage she stated to friends/family sitting nearby that she couldn't see and she thought her blood pressure was a little high maybe. An ambulance was called and Big Mama was taken to White County Medical Center. Her blood pressure was through the roof but she stable and vaguely lucid. After a series of test, a brain bleed was discovered and the WCMC ER team set to work on transferring Big Mama to UAMS where there are neuro-specialist.

On arrival to UAMS Big Mama was taken into the Emergency Room and more test were initiated. During this time her blood pressure continued to improve and the bleed was not getting any bigger. Although her breathing was fine the doctor's decided to intubate and place Big Mama on a ventilator to help maintain her breathing in case anything did change. She was admitted to a CCU room around 5am Sunday September 9th.

By 7:30 the doctor's had come out to tell us that another MRI showed increased bleeding in Big Mama's brain. She was taken in for emergency brain surgery where the neurosurgeon, Dr. Krisht, removed as much of the blood as he could and some surrounding tissue to send off for biopsy & pathology. They also drilled a tiny hole in the frontal area of the skull and inserted a tube to drain the excess fluid and monitor her ICP (inter cranial pressure). Big Mama was in a medically induced coma to help keep her vital signs stable to help provide her body the opportunity to begin healing itself. When the tissue test results came back the doctor's informed us that the mass was a benign tumor made entirely of blood that had burst. Yet they did not know what had caused the tumor to form.

After a few days, the doctor's began weaning Big Mama off of the ventilator and waking her slowly. Throughout this process her vitals signs and her ICP fluctuated but for the most part (and with medication) they stayed stable. A few days after being weaned off the vent, Big Mama was back to eating was began speaking a little. Her vision was still greatly effected. Sometimes she could answer questions correctly and could tell who you were just by your voice and other times she would think she was a kid living at home with her parents and siblings. She was soon moved out of CCU and to a private room where she continued improving both mentally and physically. The first day that she began speaking more than one word at a time, she actually began singing. And her song of choice was Amazing Grace, to which she could sing every word and on pitch at that.

On September 24th Big Mama was moved from UAMS to White County Rehab Center. Here she received intense physical, occupational and speech therapy from the wonderful people at our local rehab. Big Mama was alternately (a) in intense pain; (b) uncooperative; or (c) antagonistic and/or belligerent and at other times periods of near-euphoria wherein she sings -- on key and with every single word of the lyrics -- at the top of her lungs with carefree abandon. She slowly but surely began sitting on her own, then standing and eventually taking a few steps with assistance. She continued to improve and become more "herself".

On October 17th, Big Mama's 55th birthday, she was transferred to Timber Ridge Ranch NeuroRestorative Rehabilitation Center. Timber Ridge only accepts patients who have had a brain injury. They set individualized plans for each 'client' (patient). These plans include physical, occupation, and speech therapy, neuropsychological among other things. This place is on a beautiful 315 acre ranch and has several separate cabins in which up to 12 (patients) stay. So far things have gone good for Big Mama at Timber Ridge. She has had her ups and downs emotionally. She wants to be home with her friends and family but she also realizes that she needs to stay and continue getting well. The patients in her cabin consist of a few teenagers, a couple of people in the 20's -30's and then a few more around her age.

Big Mama is now walking across rooms on her own (although she is truly not suppose to without help). She is "more herself" now than she has been to date. She has even tried to discipline a couple of the teenage girls when they began cursing and were hateful to the other cabin mates! She does still have her sense of humor. When someone asked her if she had any pets at home she replied "Yeah, Owen"! She is most definitely doing better!

This is were we stand at the moment. We have a family meeting with all of Big Mama's therapist, nurses, and case workers on November 14th. She also has a follow-up MRI and appointment with Dr. Krisht (the neurosurgeon) on November 13th. I will try to keep this site updated with Big Mama's progress and I will also TRY to get some pics on here soon. If you would like to send emails to Big Mama, you may send them to bigmamasrecovery@yahoo.com and I will print them and take them to her. I would like to thank everyone for all the cards, gifts, calls and most of all the prayers for Big Mama and our family. We wouldn't have gotten through this without our friends, family and GOD!!