I was looking at Aaron while he was sleeping. Like always I go into his room to put his arm down since he always holds it up by his chest. It looks so much smaller than the other I'd say 1 1/2 to 2 inches. Will it catch up to the other? How much of a difference in your babys arm? I just worry so much that he will be teased in school or by the neighborhood kids. I'm scared they will not accept him because he looks different. Kath and others, how was it like growing up with a bpi? What can I expect?
---Paula
smaller arm
Re: smaller arm
Okay so this is what I've been told. I just measured Atticus arm at 1 inch difference recently, he is 27 months old. It is not noticable to most people, but us and the docs do see, but then we're looking to notice. His ortho, and neuro both say that they don't expect the difference to continue to increase. His neuro says the difference is in the tricep, his tricep was not firing for the better part of his first year. However now it is and so it will start to grow at a more comparable rate as the uninjured arm. Also now that he's at a decent function, about 50% or a bit more I'd guesstimate, that will help in the growth rate. I guess that's the same thing. I've been told weigth bearing is important for bone growth. Atticus didn't start crawling until after he turned 1, and we haven't seen and increase in length difference since. In fact the crawling, other weight bearing, and increased function all came about the same time. No change since then. So that's just my experince there. I was very concerned that it would increase until the difference would become significant. However at this point I am not so worried about it in Atticus' case. Once he is an adult a 1 or 2 inch variation would not be noticable at all. in fact I've been told it's not uncommon for uninjured people to have slight length differences, simply due to the fact of using their dominant arm more than the other.
Pam
Pam
Re: smaller arm
Paula - have hope, he's still so young. It will change. Maia's arm actually looks bigger than her other arm... at first it was smaller and shorter and now it is shorter but bigger. She has edema (water retention) in her affected arm, so it looks bulked up. But on an MRI you can see the truth.
Re: smaller arm
Jameson is almost 13 and he has a difference of about 4-5 inches. The difference is most noticable when he wears long sleeves....If I was a good enough seamstress I would take up his sleeves at the shoulder, but since we live in AZ there isn't much call for long sleeves, even in winter.
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browning93
- Posts: 230
- Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2002 9:34 pm
Re: smaller arm
I think also the appearance of the shortness is exaggerated by the position of the arm. Michaela's is 1 1/2 inches shorter than the right but doesn't look nearly as bad since her surgery. She's not internally rotated so I gues it hangs better. You can see both of her arms from the back now whereas before if she was facing her back to you it looked like she didn't have a left arm. I never noticed it till a lady in Target asked me what happened to her arm and was surprised to see one when she turned around. The things others will notice that you never do !!! LeeAnne
Re: smaller arm
Size difference between the affected and unaffected arms is very common, from what I have observed and learned. The difference grows as the child grows.
My own son's arm is shorter and smaller. He has a moderate to mild injury. Like Jameson's mom, we live in Arizona and also notice the difference in sleeve length. There are different ways we deal with it, like rolling up the left (affected) side, looking for snug wrists (like on sweatshirts) so the sleeve will be long enough on the right but not slide down to cover his left hand. We've altered some sleeves to fit.
Sometimes it makes me sad, at odd moments, like when I sent my sister a box of hand me down clothes from Ian (her son is two now) and she commented on one on the shirts with the shorter left sleeve...I had just forgotten about that sort of thing.
But most of the time we just figure it out and adapt and it is not a big deal at all. Not sure what will happen in the teen years, but we are working on the self-esteem building now and I am just keeping my fingers crossed for a "normal" teen experience. Yikes.
Bridget
My own son's arm is shorter and smaller. He has a moderate to mild injury. Like Jameson's mom, we live in Arizona and also notice the difference in sleeve length. There are different ways we deal with it, like rolling up the left (affected) side, looking for snug wrists (like on sweatshirts) so the sleeve will be long enough on the right but not slide down to cover his left hand. We've altered some sleeves to fit.
Sometimes it makes me sad, at odd moments, like when I sent my sister a box of hand me down clothes from Ian (her son is two now) and she commented on one on the shirts with the shorter left sleeve...I had just forgotten about that sort of thing.
But most of the time we just figure it out and adapt and it is not a big deal at all. Not sure what will happen in the teen years, but we are working on the self-esteem building now and I am just keeping my fingers crossed for a "normal" teen experience. Yikes.
Bridget
Re: smaller arm
My arm is about 3" shorter... My mother took up the shoulder (it is smaller and slanted - no shoulder bump) that was on long sleeves- which I prefer because my right elbow is higher...I always wore no sleeves or long sleeves since it did not draw attention to the difference in length and how much thinner my arm was... Short sleeves fall the wrong way - I love roll up sleeves and 3/4 sleeves.
It was only after my Mom died that I realized how much she had to alter my clothes. I really noticed it when a my daughter had to model my wedding gown 2 years ago and when she put on my dress she started to laugh because it made her feel a bit lopsided... and she put her right arm in first and it was a bit tight on her. That is when we both really realized one side of the dress is actually smaller... I just never paid attention to it... My hand is a tiny bit smaller and thinner (even with all the weight I put on).
There were times when I would get frustrated because I could not do everything I wanted to do but I really don't think being OBPI ever held me back. I always thought of my self as normal and never once thought disabled or handicapped... Once they got my fingers to move I learned to do all sorts of things. Being bpi is a challenge! But hindsight is always 20/20. I think I developed in many ways I might never have, if I were not obpi. I learned to be more creative and also to be persistent and curious. I always seem to be trying to do something new just to see if I can. While this injury closed some doors, to me, it's opened doors that I might never have gone through.
My advice is always allow children to try new things and to learn there own limitations... We do learn with a few bumps here and there. My Mother told me I could do anything I wanted to do, all I had to do was keep trying and for the most part she was right. I just do things my way. I learned to use a potters wheel 2 years ago it was always my dream -- but one so many people told me I could never do... Well I can do it - MY WAY and I now own one! I don't open my pots at 6 o'clock but at 12 and with my right fist but I do it!! So much for not teaching an old dog new tricks...LOL
Your children can be all they want to be if no one is allowed to limit their choices and they are allowed to try everything they want to. There is no such thing as failure only failure to try!
I told my children it was better to try something and fail then never to try at all.
I rode bikes and fell - I played basketball, not well but I did it. I still love my first toy CLAY - Since I am obpi and I have three children and 4 grandchildren I still get to play with clay and playdough...LOL.. I never realized how all of my childhood games and toys were related to therapy.. So my children's first toys were fingerpaints... playdough.... and lots of other things that I now realize my parents had me play as a way of getting me to use and stretch my arm... I thought all children played the games I did ... Now I know it was all therapy.
The only thing I could never do was to play tennis! I took lessons ten times but since I could not serve no matter how hard I tried so I never felt as if I played... then I realized it was just one of those things that presented a challenge I could not conqure and I really hated to play but was forcing myself to prove something to myself... I proved I was wasting my time trying to do something I did not like in the first place.....LOL.. just to stubbron to give up!
Kath
It was only after my Mom died that I realized how much she had to alter my clothes. I really noticed it when a my daughter had to model my wedding gown 2 years ago and when she put on my dress she started to laugh because it made her feel a bit lopsided... and she put her right arm in first and it was a bit tight on her. That is when we both really realized one side of the dress is actually smaller... I just never paid attention to it... My hand is a tiny bit smaller and thinner (even with all the weight I put on).
There were times when I would get frustrated because I could not do everything I wanted to do but I really don't think being OBPI ever held me back. I always thought of my self as normal and never once thought disabled or handicapped... Once they got my fingers to move I learned to do all sorts of things. Being bpi is a challenge! But hindsight is always 20/20. I think I developed in many ways I might never have, if I were not obpi. I learned to be more creative and also to be persistent and curious. I always seem to be trying to do something new just to see if I can. While this injury closed some doors, to me, it's opened doors that I might never have gone through.
My advice is always allow children to try new things and to learn there own limitations... We do learn with a few bumps here and there. My Mother told me I could do anything I wanted to do, all I had to do was keep trying and for the most part she was right. I just do things my way. I learned to use a potters wheel 2 years ago it was always my dream -- but one so many people told me I could never do... Well I can do it - MY WAY and I now own one! I don't open my pots at 6 o'clock but at 12 and with my right fist but I do it!! So much for not teaching an old dog new tricks...LOL
Your children can be all they want to be if no one is allowed to limit their choices and they are allowed to try everything they want to. There is no such thing as failure only failure to try!
I told my children it was better to try something and fail then never to try at all.
I rode bikes and fell - I played basketball, not well but I did it. I still love my first toy CLAY - Since I am obpi and I have three children and 4 grandchildren I still get to play with clay and playdough...LOL.. I never realized how all of my childhood games and toys were related to therapy.. So my children's first toys were fingerpaints... playdough.... and lots of other things that I now realize my parents had me play as a way of getting me to use and stretch my arm... I thought all children played the games I did ... Now I know it was all therapy.
The only thing I could never do was to play tennis! I took lessons ten times but since I could not serve no matter how hard I tried so I never felt as if I played... then I realized it was just one of those things that presented a challenge I could not conqure and I really hated to play but was forcing myself to prove something to myself... I proved I was wasting my time trying to do something I did not like in the first place.....LOL.. just to stubbron to give up!
Kath
Re: smaller arm
Kathleen,
About tennis...maybe you could try again. Ian is taking tennis lessons now and he has done great! He throws the ball up to serve in a very different way (no supination), but he does it. He also learned a neat trick that he is very proud of, he balances the ball on his racquet and tosses the ball up from his racquet and then smacks it as a serve. Works great for him.
Try again! I've noticed you have mentioned the tennis disappointment several times, don't give up on this, it obviously is important for you. Come on down to Arizona and Ian and I would be delighted to hit the courts with you!!!
Bridget
About tennis...maybe you could try again. Ian is taking tennis lessons now and he has done great! He throws the ball up to serve in a very different way (no supination), but he does it. He also learned a neat trick that he is very proud of, he balances the ball on his racquet and tosses the ball up from his racquet and then smacks it as a serve. Works great for him.
Try again! I've noticed you have mentioned the tennis disappointment several times, don't give up on this, it obviously is important for you. Come on down to Arizona and Ian and I would be delighted to hit the courts with you!!!
Bridget
Re: smaller arm
Bridget
I mention it only because it beat me before I could beat it!!!!!.... I tried hitting the ball up on the racquet... and also a toss andwithout supination I just could not get the arm up enough... My friends tried to make it easy on me and tried to get me to use a bounce. I could hit the ball fine for years - I am a lefty hitter... had lots of power... both in bowling and in tennis... but I wanted to do the whole thing myself... I am so glad that Ian can... I am very proud of him... because without supination this is hard... I know --I did not give up until about 58 years old.... because of the secondary injury to my hands Ostio arthritis... I no longer have a grip on either hand.... no power or strength left... that is why I am so ticked off that I just could not do it before my hands failed me its one of those things I could not conqure and will haunt me. Not because I am sad but because I had to quit because of my grip... And I really don't like to play tennis...it was one of the things all my friends and husband did so I did it too!!! I just have a thick head and hate not doing something I set my mind to do... But thanks for the invite... Arizona sounds great to me... I have a cousin planning on retiring there within the next few years...
You are right I was disappointed in ME for not being able to serve! My friends always wanted me to play and it did not matter to them I could not serve...they thought so what -- why do you try so hard what difference does it make... they did not get it! It was my stubbron nature and my persistence that would not let me give up trying.... Talk about a sore looser... I am still complaining because that is one of the few things I tried that I just could not find a way to compensate and do it....!!!! So much for a future look at all those stubbron bpi kids... You guys are in for a ride... giving up is not something I do -- my hands gave out first! Or I would still be trying...
Kath
I mention it only because it beat me before I could beat it!!!!!.... I tried hitting the ball up on the racquet... and also a toss andwithout supination I just could not get the arm up enough... My friends tried to make it easy on me and tried to get me to use a bounce. I could hit the ball fine for years - I am a lefty hitter... had lots of power... both in bowling and in tennis... but I wanted to do the whole thing myself... I am so glad that Ian can... I am very proud of him... because without supination this is hard... I know --I did not give up until about 58 years old.... because of the secondary injury to my hands Ostio arthritis... I no longer have a grip on either hand.... no power or strength left... that is why I am so ticked off that I just could not do it before my hands failed me its one of those things I could not conqure and will haunt me. Not because I am sad but because I had to quit because of my grip... And I really don't like to play tennis...it was one of the things all my friends and husband did so I did it too!!! I just have a thick head and hate not doing something I set my mind to do... But thanks for the invite... Arizona sounds great to me... I have a cousin planning on retiring there within the next few years...
You are right I was disappointed in ME for not being able to serve! My friends always wanted me to play and it did not matter to them I could not serve...they thought so what -- why do you try so hard what difference does it make... they did not get it! It was my stubbron nature and my persistence that would not let me give up trying.... Talk about a sore looser... I am still complaining because that is one of the few things I tried that I just could not find a way to compensate and do it....!!!! So much for a future look at all those stubbron bpi kids... You guys are in for a ride... giving up is not something I do -- my hands gave out first! Or I would still be trying...
Kath
Re: smaller arm
My son, Michael, is 12. His affected arm is smaller, and his trunk is not quite symetrical but he has not experienced teasing at school because of it. In fact, I believe he is a much more resillient child because of the challenges he has faced. For example, we thought he would never learn to ride a bike, his doctor agreed. Michael never gave up. We went through three bikes, two sets of knee and elbow pads and many bumps and bruises. His determination won out over his limitation and two years ago and he rides like a pro now. He has about 80% usage in his right arm and his shoulder is affected as well. He's not great at push-ups, but other than that he has pretty much figured out a way to accomplish everything he sets out to do. Michael is much more limited in my imagination than he will ever be in reality.