Tori's mom

Forum for parents of injured who are seeking information from other parents or people living with the injury. All welcome
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Tori'smom
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 6:24 pm

Tori's mom

Post by Tori'smom »

I forgot to ask in my other post...Has any children had any hearing problmes? My daughter failed her hearing test when she went thru the screening process for Kindergarten, and I was wondering if she has hearing loss due to Erb's Palsy.
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marieke
Posts: 1627
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2005 6:00 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: LOBPI
no external rotation against gravity, can only go to 90 degree fwd flexion, no hand-to-mouth
1 surgery at age 14 (latissimus dorsi transfer). In 2004, at age 28 I was struck with Transverse Myelitis which paralyzed me from the chest down. I recovered movement to my right leg, but need a KAFO to walk on my left leg. I became an RN in 2008.
Location: Montreal, Qc, Canada
Contact:

Re: Tori's mom

Post by marieke »

The nerves that have to do with hearing are CRANIAL nerves. The Brachial Plexus are peripheral nerves that come out of the spine. There is no connection between these 2 things.

Severe BP injuries are often acompanied by Horner's SYndrome, which have to do with the eyes, but not the ears.

Hearing loss may be due to many factors in children. Did they not give you any indication of what the cause was? Or what you are to do next?

Marieke (31, LOBPI)
Marieke Dufresne RN
34, LOBPI
http://nurse-to-be08.blogspot.com
Tori'smom
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 6:24 pm

Re: Tori's mom

Post by Tori'smom »

The pediatrician did was thinking because of fluid in her ears, and may need tubes. Just thought I would throw my question out there to you all and see what kind of feed back I received. Thanks for the info.
User avatar
marieke
Posts: 1627
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2005 6:00 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: LOBPI
no external rotation against gravity, can only go to 90 degree fwd flexion, no hand-to-mouth
1 surgery at age 14 (latissimus dorsi transfer). In 2004, at age 28 I was struck with Transverse Myelitis which paralyzed me from the chest down. I recovered movement to my right leg, but need a KAFO to walk on my left leg. I became an RN in 2008.
Location: Montreal, Qc, Canada
Contact:

Re: Tori's mom

Post by marieke »

Yeah, the tubes are a common thing... many of my friend's kids have them, or kids I taught in pre-k had them. Seems like it is fairly common these days.

Have a great first year of Kindergarten Tori! :)

Marieke (31, LOBPI)
Marieke Dufresne RN
34, LOBPI
http://nurse-to-be08.blogspot.com
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bfaithda
Posts: 88
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2007 10:40 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: My name is Bridget, my son Brayden has a LOBPI. He was born 5-14-07 and weighted 11lbs 3ozs and was 22inches long and got stuck on my pelvis coming out. All 5 nerves were involved 2 ruptured and 3 avulsed, and also had Horner's Syndrome. He had primary surgery in St. Louis with Dr. Parks when he was 3 months old. He used synthetic materials to fuse the nerves together, because the nerves in his calves were not long enough. Brayden currently does aqua therapy, PT, OT and speech therapy. He has little movement in his arm and hand, but that does not stop him from having fun and being a normal boy!!!
Location: Owensboro, KY

Re: Tori's mom

Post by bfaithda »

Tori, I remember when I was a little girl I thought I was going deaf. I could not hear at all out of my left ear and very little in my right. This came on very sudden and lasted for a long time. My mom thought I was crazy, but took me to an ear speacialist anyways. Sure enough I had to have tubes put in my ears. It's a fairly simple and fast procedure, but once the fluid started to drain I gained my hearing back.

I am sure that is all it is. Sometimes it will eventually drain on their own and won't need tubes, and sometimes not.

Bridget Brayden's Mom (LOBPI) 3 month old
Kentucky
jennyb
Posts: 1183
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2001 5:24 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: January 1980 Yamaha RD200 vs 16 wheeler truck, result, 1 totally paralysed right arm. I was 21, now 54. I had no surgery, I don't regret this. Decided to totally ignore limitations (easily done aged 21) adapted very quickly to one handed life, got married, had 3 kids, worked- the effect of the injury on my life (once the pain stopped being constant) was minimal and now, aged 54, I very rarely even think of it, unless I bash it or it gets cold, then I wish I'd had it amputated :) Except for a steering knob on my car, I have no adaptations to help with life, mainly because I honestly don't think of myself as disabled and the only thing I can't do is peel potatoes, which is definitely a good thing.

Re: Tori's mom

Post by jennyb »

The informational leaflet from UBPN and The Brachial Plexus Palsy Foundation both describe hearing difficulties as being associated with obpi among the other 'weird' stuff that we apparently 'shouldn't' get but often do. Drs Spinner & co at the Mayo clinic have observed it in long term tbpi and have published a paper about this and other weird stuff that happens. Many of us also notice that we get a sore throat on the bpi affected side, & I get strange bubblings in the ear on my bpi side.
Of course, you can't assume that everything that happens on the affected side is down to the bpi, but it is an injury caused by trauma to the head and neck in both obpi and tbpi, and I believe there are many more effects than non bpi doctors, or even some bpi doctors who haven't had the benefit of studying patients long term are aware of. Doctors just know what they learn from text books and the cases they themselves see, they don't know everything. If you take the hearing problem further, check if it's just on the bpi side. I'd be interested to know.
Jen NZ :)
Tori'smom
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 6:24 pm

Re: Tori's mom

Post by Tori'smom »

Thank you for the info on the hearing issue. I also felt that since she had such a traumatic birth, with bruising all over her left side, that may have caused some injuries other than her Erb's Palsy. I will take a look at that brochure you mentioned, and do plan on asking the pediatrician, but don't have to much faith in him right now, and am planning on switching to a new one.
thank you so much
claudia
Posts: 1241
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2001 12:21 pm

Re: Tori's mom

Post by claudia »

Tori's mom:
I think there is a lot of "stuff" associated with the bpi that "shouldn't" be there.

Juliana, my bpi daughter, hears "differently" on that side and has been complaining of not seeing well on her affected side as well. (Eye doc appt coming up!)

As for fluid in the ears: I had this. My son had this. We had two very different kinds of fluid and different causes. His was onset early, caused by tiny eustation tubes. His fluid was puss-like and tinged with blood. It caused pain and constant ear infections. I, on the other hand, was not in any pain, but was deaf. I failed my 4th grade hearing test. My pediatrician was interested in allergies and thought that I might be allergic to milk and/or chocolate. So they took them out of my diet. Within 2 weeks my hearing had improved and by 1 month out, I was normal again. Of course I cried like a baby since I drank about a quart of milk a day then and LOVED oreos.

My point is that if there is fluid in the ears, don't run to do surgery. First check to see if there is an underlying cause for the fluid build up and see if you can reduce it with out surgery. I know tube surgery is common, but not all kids do well with it.

good luck,
claudia
Tori'smom
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 6:24 pm

Re: Tori's mom

Post by Tori'smom »

Thank you Claudia, Tori has had a few ear infections, but not cronic. Talked at a early age, and her speech is very clear. Tori does currently have a cold, clear discharge and not running a temp. Pediatrician told me not to worry, she would be fine by the time she is due for surgery, next thing I know, she failes two hearing tests, he did mention tubes and of course I want to rule out everything before we procede. Thats why I think this message board is such a great thing! Great info and alot of support. Thank you everyone for all the great input. We appreciate it very much.
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