Roszetta Update Fall 2018
"I am writing to you about
my daughter, Roszetta Bibbs, who has been bravely fighting a brain tumor,
multiple harsh side effects, and new, unexpected medical events since 2015.
Roszetta was born April 11, 1999 in Nashville,Tennessee. She started playing basketball
at the age of four and developed a love for the sport. By her sophomore year in
high school, she was being scouted by colleges for basketball, while
maintaining straight A’s in her AP (Advanced Placement) classes. Later that
year, she started complaining about headaches. She was taken to the doctors
multiple times one day, given medicine, and discharged. The next day, she
passed out on the court while playing basketball. I took her back to the doctor
and they gave her more headache medicine, brushing it off. The headaches
continued to become more severe and she began missing school. March 12,
2015 was a day I will never forget- I heard the words no parent wants to
hear twice. After an MRI of Roszetta’s spine and further biopsy testing, doctors
confirmed my 15 year old daughter had stage four pineoblastoma brain
tumor, the same type of tumor as my oldest daughter had at age nine. My
heart was crushed again. We packed up and moved to Memphis for surgery and
treatments at St. Jude’s. During treatment, she had her lows, but appeared to
be getting better. Her progress was inspiring. In 2016, her high school
basketball team rallied around her and dedicated their championship win in her
honor, creating ‘Ro#25’ clothing and gear in support. After graduating
high school from homebound in 2017, she signed up for community college in 2018
and was motivated to further catch up on the knowledge she missed. Then, on
March 8, 2018, just before her 19th birthday, Roszetta took a turn for the
worst and unexpectedly went into a coma for a month. I constantly prayed my
daughter would pull through. When she awoke, we were transferred to Atlanta
Children’s Hospital, where she received extensive physical, occupational, and
speech therapy. She had lost 2 years of memories, thinking she was 17 years old
when she woke up, and had to learn how walk, talk, and do daily life activities
all over again. She was also left with extensive visual and hearing
impairments, thyroid issues, permanent hair loss, severe daily fatigue. She will
have to face additional surgeries in the future for her thyroid and vision.
My family is also
struggling. I am her full-time, primary caregiver and my oldest daughter has
also given up her life to take care of her sister. Her 12 year old sister has
had to give up so much of her childhood, and now also has to be
frequently monitored for this type of tumor. We are barely able to pay bills
and put food on the table, and, have to hide our struggles from Roszetta. When
Roszetta has found out we couldn’t pay our electric bill, even with all that
she has been through, she offered to use her life savings to help us. She feels
like this is her fault.
Despite all that Roszetta
has been through, she continues to want to help others. She continues to love
basketball and music, and although unable to play either like she did before
her brain tumor and coma, she strives to use them to make a difference in the
lives of other children who are hospitalized. She wants to start a
program to help put a smile on other children’s faces, whether it is by
delivering a signed sport ball or by encouraging other children to return to
activities they used to love, even if they can no longer do them in the same
way.
Please help my daughter in
any way that you are able to- helping her start her program to give her a
reason to get up and keep pushing, a postcard or shout out to make her smile,
or an opportunity to be at a show. I miss her smile and would be grateful for
anything you can do."
In : Families
Tags: roszetta pineoblastoma "family in need" "cancer fundraiser" ro#25