New here

[tk]

I have a three year old son Masen who was hit by a truck while he was in a crosswalk, a neighbor was babysitting him at the time. Among other injuries he suffered a brachial plexus injury to his right arm. The MRI shows that from C3 to T1 are avulsed, torn ect..There may be a thread as he has some involuntary movement in three fingers. He has already been to Mayo clinic for an evaluation and Dr. Chin says he definitely needs surgery, but first he has to have a CT Milogram, they say this will show exactly what nerves are avulsed, torn ect.. this is happening on Jan. 17 and then a consultation and then surgery on Jan. 18th of 07. My question is does anyone have any idea if he could have somewhat of a functional arm? I am scared, I have to try anything I can to help him. Thanks TK

[ShellyE]

You are in great hands with Dr Chin at Mayo. He and Dr's Bishop and Skinner did my surgery in October of 2002 after a motorcycle injury. From what I've read recovery is very individualized. I had an excellent recovery..........twice the range on motion they predicted. Physical Therapy and massage therapy were very instumental for me.

[wazza]

Hello. As said many many times in here "Welcome to the club nobody wants to join". As said, each injury is very personal on how it is - affects the person and same with recovery. One thing I would like to add, do not take predictions from medical people as gospel. When I had my motorbike accident in March this year (2006) I was told I'd never move my arm again and all sorts of doom'n'gloom. This scared me initially for obvious reasons and after speaking to family + friends about this I heard lots of stories of similar things and they all "healed better than was expected". Example, a friend broke his back at age 16, was told he'd never walk again. He was walking within 6 months after being told that. So never "lose the bundle" with anything you are told. It's good to treat injuries with a day to day basis. Having dates for recoveries/milestones that don't happen can be very depressing.

I wish you and your son the best for the upcoming times of healing/recovery etc. You should spend a lot of time doing background reading to have more information at your disposal (it's great to see you found this website).Don't be worried to let your feelings/emotions out on here, many of us are-have been in same/similar positions as either an injured person or close family of someone injured. Don't rush into any thinking and do your best to be happy. No one is helped by being sad/depressed with any situation and being positive can go a long way with the overall situation. Be strong for your son!


Message was edited by: wazza

[tk]

Thank you. I have read alot of stuff on this website, is the pain really bad after you have surgery and it seems some people have alot of pain for a long time, what do you think about this. TK

[EllenB]

Hi TK,

Wanted to give you a heads up that tests (EMG, MRI, etc) are inconclusive and surgeons don't really know what's going on until they go in. Sometimes there is just a lot of scar tissue that needs to be cleared out to let the signals through, sometimes there is a break "downstream" from the spinal cord, and sometimes nerves are actually avulsed from the spinal cord.

My son also had surgery at Mayo four years ago. I never could get the doctors to be real specific about expected results and finally I realized to a great extent it's because the surgeon can do a perfect job, but if the patient doesn't do longterm, daily physical therapy, the results are not as good as they could be. So it will be important that you make sure your son does the physical therapy recommended, religiously, over months & months (since nerves only grow about 1 " per month).

Take care & keep us posted.

Ellen

[tk]

That should be interesting, he is three, and because of his brain injury not always cooperative as he should be, but he has been in therapy, pt,ot and speech since he was moved to Gillette, we got to come home sept. 15th and since then has been going to therapy twice a week, so maybe he will do well for them. It might be a little harder at home as he doesn't like it when we do stretches now, and sometimes he says his sleepy arm, that is what he calls it, hurts. When he first started saying this , I wasn't sure I believed him, since no feeling, or I thought maybe the shoulder area hurt and he just didn't know the difference, but after seeing this website, I think that it was his arm that hurts sometimes. TK

[tk]

Thank you, my husband and I are hoping for the same, we hope that since he is young he will heal faster and better, without alot of pain. His accident happened in July of 06, so we are almost six months out. He has so far been healing really well. He learned to walk, talk and eat again, he looks good and is starting to act like his old self, he is a little slow in processing information and is more emotional than before the accident, but we are so grateful that we have him and get a second chance with him. I am also grateful for this website. TK

[spinkydee]

So sorry to hear about the accident. I'm certain the babysitter is heartsick as are you. My son and I found a very inspirational movie called The Secret. It's kind of a new-ager typed movie but very inspirational. People's personal testimony about how they have succeeded despite poor odds and how one's state of mind truly determines our lives. One man had a very bad plane accident and should have died. He was told he would never walk or breath on his own. He did. It's a wonderful story. Michele

[ptrefam]

I too am so sorry to hear of the accident. My son though older had a TBI also. His was bad enough they weren't sure at what level he would be able to function. Dustin also had to learn to walk, talk, swallow, everythig from holding up his head, ect. Dustin was able to return to college about 9 mos post accident. Your little guy being so young has a good chance for a nice recovery. Dustin was also more emotional, which has now subsided quite a bit. He is mostly his old self but occasionaly I will notice a small thing. Like the other evening he asked for dip although what he really wanted was the gravey. It's not something that should affect his quality of life it's just different than pre-accident. Keep working with your little guy. Try to use games and play, that will help with cooperation. Best of luck and glad you found the boards, they are such a comfort and source of knowledge. As for pain I don't know as we seem to be in the minority there, Dustin is lucky and does not suffer from any pain other than when we stretch muscles that are getting a bit tight.
Sue

[tk]

Masen doesn't suffer from pain really yet, just on occasion says his sleepy arm hurts, but I know he doesn't have feeling there. I was just wondering after he has his surgery, it seems like alot of people have pain for a long time afterwards. Also wondering if anyone will be at Mayo around jan 17th or 18th? TK