15 months post op

[Kianas Dad]

Hey guys I wanted to make a quick post for those in the early stages of their injury;

My daughter on November 18th 06 of was in an mx accident where she was landed on by another bike and sustained a TBPI. She at the time still had slight response in her bicept, chest muscle, and lat (back muscle). A month in a half later, January 3rd, she and I were in a motor vehicle accident where we were hit by a drunk driver going 65mph down the freeway. After impact, the truck rolled violently a few times and then slid for 100 or so yards on the roof. My daughter was in the passenger seat wearing her seatbelt, and as a result she ended up with a global right TBPI to her right arm. She had her primary surgery 2 months following by Dr Broschell at Washington University in St. Louis.

She had a contralateral C-7 to median nerve, 4 intercostal transfers; 3 to bicept, 1 to a stability muscle in her back, and a spinal accessory to suprascapular nerve. During that time she was on Lyrica and a low dose anti-depressant for pain. While on the meds she had many side effects; sudden mood swings, lethargic, weight gain etc. 2 months post op she decided to quit all meds cold turkey, except for the occasional Tylenol. She has learned to use thought therapy to block out the pain when it happens. Currently she also takes vitamins that are though to assist in nerve re-growth; B-12 under the tongue, fish oil, vitamin c and a multi-vitamin. She does Estim 3 times a week for 7 minutes or so on each muscle group. Her physical therapy has dropped from 2x a week till 1x a month. She runs 2-3 times a week and plays tennis a couple days a week as well.

3.5 months post op she had her first sign of movement in her shoulder abducting her arm. She is now able to abduct it to 85 degrees and hold it for a few seconds. Last month after a run, she noticed that when she breathed in/out, her bicept would inflate and retract with her breath. A week or so later we would see movement every time she coughed. Now, she is starting to have controlled movement through breathing; the deeper her breath, the more it flexes. During deep breaths you can see it twitching slightly as it contracts. We have still yet to see progress from the c-7 but we know we have hope. As the nerve is growing, we are able to track it by tapping on the nerve. When you tap the nerve in certain spots in sends shooting pains to her good hand. At this point the tap is felt just above the elbow on her bad arm.

I am excited that she is having progress and she is actually able to start using it for things. She lifts her arm to shave the pit, abducts it to close doors etc. It has been a long road, and it is far from over. It is hard to believe that it has been 15 months since her initial accident. I am very proud of her and all that she has had to overcome thus far. It still hurts me to see her injured but she has learned to take it all in stride.

Good luck, and remember the only dumb question is the one you didn’t ask.

[ptrefam]

Woowhoo!!! Glad to hear things are coming around. Keep up the good work Kiana and dad!
Sue

[shaunnb]

So great to hear!!!

[peter1]

Great to hear. I'm not able to abduct yet, but I do use my left arm to put on deodorant and and wash my right side of my body.