Ten yr old son with BP injury following road traffic accident

[Mary Beth]

hello,

Welcome to the group. Sorry to hear about your son.
I see your from the UK I'm giving you a link for support, TBPI in UK too. You will be able to find so much information out here. people are wonderful. The UK site is great also.

http://adultswithbrachialplexusinjuries ... /directory

Mary Beth

[hope16_05]

Nicola,
I just thought I would offer some encouragement. I have some tbpi friends that play sports better than I ever will and I have had my injury since birth. There is a guy named Joe who plays baseball like I cant even dream of. He is 22 years old and although his game is different than it was before his accident I am pretty sure he showed me up at the last camp.
If your son still has a desire to play sports like his twin, he will find a way. It will be different than the way he played when he had full use of both arms but he can find a way if he really wants to.
My favorite saying is "if there is a will, there is a way!"

Please let your son know that we are all here and he can email anytime. I am not a tbpi but I would still chat by email if he wanted. hope16_05@hotmail.com
I hope that the surgery goes great on the 7th and they are able to repair your sons nerves. Will be thinking about you and sending prayers for strength for the entire family.
Hugs,
Amy 21 years old ROBPI from MN

[Drake's Mom]

i know exactly how you feel. My son was 5 when this happened to him. none of his nerves were avulsed but the outcome doesn't look good. He has maybe 25 or 30% use of his right arm, which was his dominate arm, and it's been 18 months so we are thinking not much will come back and surgery is not an option for him. But what made me respond to your post was when you said that he was cheated out of life. i above anyone else in my family am positive about this situation but i am also the one who feels the most sorrow for my son as well. My husband says to be happy for what God has given us and like your son, our son could have very well died from his situation. So i am not ungrateful for the gift we have but in a way am just 'mourning' the loss of what was taken away, i know in my heart there is nothing that will stand in Drake's way but this injury is going to make things harder on him and that is so hard to deal with. So i just wanted you to know there are definitely moms here feeling the same way you are.

On a positive note Drake has a brother that is two years younger and is very active and loves to point out what all he can do better than Drake and i thought that was so cruel at first but all it does is push Drake to do things his brother can do and Drake feels so proud when he figures out how to do it one armed. He can catch a football almost every time its thrown to him, he can swing and hit a ball with a bat, and he is in the process of learning how to catch the baseball with the glove and take it off to throw all with the same hand.

This will be a long process for you and your son and i wish i could say that those feelings will go away but i still find myself having pity parties for Drake sometimes but then i see how amazingly resilient kids are and i know he will find his own way through this. Good luck to you and your family.

[Drake's Mom]

Drake's injury was caused from a virus. There is still debate on if his problem is actually in his peripheral nerves or if the problems are with the anterior horn cells. He truly was fine one day and woke up the next morning and couldn't move anything in his right arm except the shoulder. His left leg was affected as well and he had trouble holding his head up for awhile. These other problems lead the neurologist from the Mayo clinic to believe it's anterior horn cell. He has had three EMGs and four MRIs and two spinal taps. The Doctors where he was hospitalized when this first happened determined it was viral just wasn't sure exactly what it was. Drake has been to Dr. Nath in Houston, and from what i can tell he is pretty aggressive as far as surgery goes and even he said no surgery as far as the nerves goes, but maybe tendon transfers later down the line to improve the function he is left with. He has also seen Dr. Ezaki with Scottish Rite hospital in Dallas and she agrees. He has seen several Doctors over the last year and a half! Some are extremely puzzled by him, some just want to deal with what is left, some are more curious as to the cause, and some have flat out said he is a mystery. So very frustrating but i'm sure before it's over with (not that it's ever over with) he will have some type of surgery, just not nerve surgery.

Keep us updated on your son's progress.
Teresa

[PRISCILLA]

Hi Nicola,
Im Priscilla, mom to James. Hes 15 now, right arm injured, atv accident when he was 11 years old. He was right hand dominent before his accident, but has learned to use his left quite well. I can relate to you on so many levels as far as being a mom goes. Its a very hard thing to see our children go through this. It does seem so unfair. I have gotten so much support from the people here, and Im sure you will too. Feel free to e mail me anytime.....click on my name, my e mail addy is there.
Priscilla