Fighting For Trish

My name is Taylor Wideman Gibbs and I am writing this on behalf of myself and Trish’s many friends. Let me start off by telling you a little bit about our dear friend Trish Roberson Barnett. First off, she is a wife and mother to 3 boys, grandmother to 7, soon to be 8 grandchildren, and a friend to many. She owns Remax Shoals in Florence! She is very passionate about her job, and she is very good at it. This past year she served as the President of the Shoals Area Association of Realtors. In her free time over the years, she has donated time and money to several different organizations. These include the American Cancer Society, Wilson Warrior Athletic Boosters, Senior Citizens organization in Petersville, and UNA football to name a few. She is also very active in her church at Underwood Baptist. She is a selfless person with a heart of gold. On the outside, she has it all together. She is a beautiful lady and very successful! On the inside though, she has been struggling with some major health problems. She tries to keep things as private as possible because she is a strong woman who isn’t looking for sympathy. Since December, she has had a constant struggle with pneumonia. She has a problem with her throat that causes her to aspirate. Because of this, she stays in and out of the hospital.On Sunday May 20th, she was taken to Helen Keller ER after she was having trouble catching her breath and was running a low grade fever. She was immediately admitted to Kellers ICU with a severe case of double pneumonia. Throughout the week, she was having issues with her blood pressure being very high for short periods of time, but her breathing was getting better. On Friday, May 25th at 7:45 am, the hospital called and told us that they thought she had suffered a stroke. Shortly after, she was flown to Huntsville Hospital where she was admitted into the Neurological Intensive Care Unit. She had suffered a major stroke on the right side of her brain, which left her with paralysis to her left side. As of May 31st, she has greatly improved her speech, and has gotten movement and some strength back in her left leg. Also, she had a PEG (feeding) tube placed to help with nutrition and to keep her from aspirating any more. She has been transferred to a regular room, and will remain there before being sent to an in-patient rehabilitation facility for an undetermined amount of time. All this took place, and immediately, everyone was wanting to help Trish and her family out. But they knew she would never agree to this. However, if I or any of her other friends were in need, she would be the first to jump in and try to help. As a matter of fact, she was preparing a meal for a family from church who had lost a loved one when she became ill and was admitted into the hospital again. I recently experienced just how kind-hearted she is just a little over a month ago. I was out of town at the beach and had my baby unexpectedly. He was a preemie born at 34 weeks. We were in the NICU, 7 hours away, for over a week. Trish called every day checking on me and Baby Asher. That meant the world to me. We also were getting ready to get our vacant house on the market with Trish as soon as possible, but our hands were tied. We were out of town for an unknown period of time, and it still needed a good cleaning before it hit the market. She called one day and said, "Let me handle this for you. You have enough on your plate." Little did I know she planned to do this all by herself. We made it home to a spotless and sparkling home, ready to be listed! With a preemie and a toddler to take care of, this took a huge amount of pressure off me by her doing this! Talk about a realtor going above and beyond. I’m lucky she is more than just a realtor to me though. She is also a friend. With all that being said Trish has a long recovery ahead with a lot of unknowns. You may be wondering how you can help. This is how...First and foremost we are asking for continued prayers for Trish and her family! Their whole life changed overnight. The thing about Trish though is she is a fighter. She is also very stubborn. If someone tells her she isn’t going to do something ever again she is going to try everything in her power to prove them wrong. With continued prayers from the community, she can pull through this. The second thing I am asking for is your help with a donation. There is no amount too big or too small, and I know Trish will be forever grateful! Everything will go directly to Trish, and the family can use it in whatever way they feel necessary as she starts her road to recovery. Again, thank you to all of you who took the time to read this. If you feel it in your heart to give anything, it will be very much appreciated!