Where to go from here

[catchatrain]

Hello Everyone,
I'm new to this,so if i'm doing it right let me know.I live in a small town in Georgia (u.s.a.).
In Oct. of 2005 I had about one or ten too many beer's
and decided to go for a walk down by the tracks behind my home.After about an hour I was on the way back and heard the train coming.
At that point I had the brite idea to stand beside it and watch it go by.I had my hands up in the air as it was doing about 60 mph past me.I was just close enough that as my left arm decided to drunkenly get tired.
The rest is pretty much history.My left hand touched the train at full speed.It spun me around 360 like a top straight into the ground right were I stood.
I woke up two day's later inthe hospital,with an external fixator in my lower arm,and enough pain to pay back for everything I have ever done wrong in my life.I broke three fingers,shattered all the bones in my hand,blew the large arm bone that connects your wrist to your arm thru the side of hand.It completley desidegrated as it came thru the skin,broke three ribs, partially crushed my elbow,spent 9 days in the hospital,and to put the icing on the cake suffered a critically sever brachial plexus.
Fast foward to know.I no longer have the external fixator.Evidentally I must have done alot of bad things,because I havn't had a day go by that hasn't been pure F@!!$%& Hell!
My doctors have both said that I should give it a year before I think about offing the arm.They both agree to 99.9% chance of no function at all below my elbow.It's been six months since it happened and no movement at all below the shoulder.
I'm not trying to unload on my first post;and thanks for putting up with me,but are my doctors quacks or does it sound like they may be right.
I have nothing but all out debilitating pain since this has happened.Does amputation help or would it just be another nightmare waiting to happen?
Thanks for listening.Promise next post wont be as srawn out.It's just impossible to go deep with the people around me. Not thier fault,they just don't have a clue.
Thank you all!!!!!
catchatrain

[spinkydee]

has surgery been considered to transplant avulsed nerves? If not, look at other postings here to obtain information. My son just had surgery for 5 avulsed nerves. It will take time to see any results. He is still in severe pain but we have been referred to a surgeon who has a surgical proceedure that may help. do educate yourself as much as possible and don't give up. Many doctors are ignoranant as to what is available. Michele

[EllenB]

Hi Marshall, and welcome to the club nobody wants to join. I live in Atlanta & am happy to help you in any way I can. Angie (Chris' mom) might also be helpful re the bpi doctor they use here in Atlanta - Dr. Allan Peljovich (404-255-0226 The Hand Treatment Center). My son John pretty much went straight to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota once we figured out it was a bpi.

How far from Atlanta do you live? I expect Dr. Peljovich might be the only bpi doctor in Ga. He doesn't do nerve transfer surgery at this time but can be a good first point of contact, & refer you on if necessary. Do you have insurance? You can call me if you want: hm 404-843-4453

Also - I see you've already posted on the Roll Call thread. Periodically Jen will tally the results (last time was in January) and I have a feeling you will be unique with the cause of your bpi. Whoa, what a story - guess you've sworn off beer, huh?

Take care,

Ellen

[Hwee Yong]

Hi Marshall,

Hang on... Don't give up... I heard in the news that there might be a procedure for patient of bpi to undergo for treating the pain.

As for hand movement, it is as what everyone here mentioned... nerve transfer, nerve graph etc.

All my best wishes...


Cheers,
Hwee Yong

[admin]

i know the feeling of wanting to just chop your arm off,but unfortunatly that will not get rid of the pain.firstthere is what they call phantom pain,even if the limb is not there you still have pain and you will still have the burning from nerve pain.the only thing that gets rid of the pain is medicine.morphine,etc.. i injured my arm in 1988.it is totally paralized i had about 5 operations on it,including nerve transplant surgery.i lived in atlanta for 5 years(1999-2004).i was treated at the hand treatment center, i saw dr.gary laurie, he is awonderful person and doctor.however,when iwent to the hand treatment center iit was not for the initial bpi .the bones in my arm are so fragile from not using them that i broke my wristand then 3 years later i broke my hand,both from minor falls. I will tell you that i have been dealing with this for 18 years and NEVERdid any doctor advise me to amputate my arm. i know when i moved to atlanta i had a hard time finding good medical care and no one knew anything about bpi, or the extreme pain thataccompanies it.Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions you might have or call 303 815 4637 good luck and don't give up

[admin]

i know the feeling of wanting to just chop your arm off,but unfortunatly that will not get rid of the pain.firstthere is what they call phantom pain,even if the limb is not there you still have pain and you will still have the burning from nerve pain.the only thing that gets rid of the pain is medicine.morphine,etc.. i injured my arm in 1988.it is totally paralized i had about 5 operations on it,including nerve transplant surgery.i lived in atlanta for 5 years(1999-2004).i was treated at the hand treatment center, i saw dr.gary laurie, he is awonderful person and doctor.however,when iwent to the hand treatment center iit was not for the initial bpi .the bones in my arm are so fragile from not using them that i broke my wristand then 3 years later i broke my hand,both from minor falls. I will tell you that i have been dealing with this for 18 years and NEVERdid any doctor advise me to amputate my arm. i know when i moved to atlanta i had a hard time finding good medical care and no one knew anything about bpi, or the extreme pain thataccompanies it.Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions you might have or call 303 815 4637 good luck and don't give up

[EllenB]

Hi Ronnie,

Dr. Laurie was the first to see John in the emergency room after he was hit by the car. I took a picture of him checking John's arm that ended up on the Discovery Health Channel segment that aired on the Mayo Clinic. We've seen both Laurie & Costas at the Hand Treatment Center. Chris (more recent bpi) sees Dr. Peljovich since he specializes more on bpi.

Re pain, just my two cents: John lost all five bp nerves in his accident but has some movement/function from the Mayo nerve graft/transfer surgeries. He was able to go completely off all his pain meds around 2 years after the surgeries. His brain says 'move' and the arm does, even if powered differently - so the pain signals have stopped. Not everybody gets pain relief but some do & we realize how fortunate John is.

Others have written about finding ways to manage the pain, including staying busy/distracted & not getting overly tired. Some have had pain relief from amputating, and I think that's primarily from not having the weight of the arm putting stress on the back & other secondary problems that can result over time. There are several threads on this board about pain that might help...

Take care,

Ellen

[EllenB]

PS - regarding treatment for pain. As you've read on these boards, people respond differently to different pain meds - what works for one person might not for another. For that reason, it's important to see a pain specialist if you haven't yet. The more experienced the better, since there's a good bit of trail & error to figure out what works best for you. John couldn't tolerate the codones, so ultimately he was on daily dosages of 3600 Neurontin, 200 Topomax & 100 Eleval (amitriptyline), before he was able to get off them. I can refer you to our Atlanta doctor but you might want to first look in your own area since it might take some trial & error to find the right treatment for you.

Ellen

[catchatrain]

Thanks everyone for all of your insight.I also senn dr.lowery? He is a bone specialist at Floyd medical center.Prob. not the same dr.I am desperate at this point to get medicaid (sorry) started.Without that I have know way of getting any treatment at all for my tbpi.Dr.s cant work for free ya know.Thanks all and good luck!!