Motorcycle Accident, no arm movement.
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Aleman33
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2010 4:56 pm
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Brachial Plexus injury, 7/23/10, can't move arm.
Motorcycle Accident, no arm movement.
Hi everyone. About 3 months ago I had a motorcycle accident that left me with no arm movement. I had surgery on my wrist. I’m able to move my fingers and my wrist in one direction. I can almost make a fist and with the palm of my hand up I can make a wrist curl, I can also move my shoulder. Atrophy is obvious from my shoulder down to my arm. My hand looks normal, but it won’t stop hurting, tingling, nerve pulling, etc. I go to therapy 3 times a week. My doctor hasn’t told that I have BPI, but one of the therapists saw my arm and guessed it. I’m curious about why my doctor hasn’t told me if I have BPI. It’s been three months, I have an Electromyogram in two weeks Can anyone please give me some advise, I’m in the military, have 4 y/o son, I’m really worry. Thank you so much
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Christopher
- Posts: 845
- Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2003 10:09 pm
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Date of Injury: 12/15/02
Level of Injury:
-dominant side C5, C6, & C7 avulsed. C8 & T1 stretched & crushed
BPI Related Surgeries:
-2 Intercostal nerves grafted to Biceps muscle,
-Free-Gracilis muscle transfer to Biceps Region innervated with 2 Intercostal nerves grafts.
-2 Sural nerves harvested from both Calves for nerve grafting.
-Partial Ulnar nerve grafted to Long Triceps.
-Uninjured C7 Hemi-Contralateral cross-over to Deltoid muscle.
-Wrist flexor tendon transfer to middle, ring, & pinky finger extensors.
Surgical medical facility:
Brachial Plexus Clinic at The Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN
(all surgeries successful)
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
~Theodore Roosevelt - Location: Los Angeles, California USA
Re: Motorcycle Accident, no arm movement.
Aleman,
You're in the right place. Sorry to read about your injury.
LISTEN TO ME CAREFULLY
You are at a crucial time. Do not wait another day to find adequate attention. Most doctors, top neurosurgeons included, have no idea what to do about this injury, and are trained to sit and wait and see what happens. By then it is too late to make any repairs on your injured arm. You will have to resign to only a few options to get minimal return of function (like muscle transfers).
There are only a handful of specialists in the USA that have the training, skills, and facilities to handle this injury and get the best return of function possible.
Where are you located?
My first choice is the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota, that is where I went after an exhaustive search all over this country and to Europe as well.
Do a search on this forum and read what others have written about their experiences there.
DON'T WASTE TIME. They have a backlog of people trying to schedule appointments.
Read under the resources / medical directory link at the top of the site and ask here who recommends what (not many listed there). No one knows better than the injured patients what works and what doesn't. Most doctors unfortunately don't have a clue about what real options there are for surgical repair of this injury. It may not bring your old arm back to perfect, but it's better than waiting 6 months and then deciding you need surgery and it's too late to perform it.
Mayo prefers to operate at 4 months post injury and earlier (or later if forced by late appointment).
Best of luck,
Christopher
Mayo Clinic
200 First Street SW
Rochester, MN 55905
Phone: (507)266-0537 (507)284-2511
Fax: (507)284-8897
You're in the right place. Sorry to read about your injury.
LISTEN TO ME CAREFULLY
You are at a crucial time. Do not wait another day to find adequate attention. Most doctors, top neurosurgeons included, have no idea what to do about this injury, and are trained to sit and wait and see what happens. By then it is too late to make any repairs on your injured arm. You will have to resign to only a few options to get minimal return of function (like muscle transfers).
There are only a handful of specialists in the USA that have the training, skills, and facilities to handle this injury and get the best return of function possible.
Where are you located?
My first choice is the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota, that is where I went after an exhaustive search all over this country and to Europe as well.
Do a search on this forum and read what others have written about their experiences there.
DON'T WASTE TIME. They have a backlog of people trying to schedule appointments.
Read under the resources / medical directory link at the top of the site and ask here who recommends what (not many listed there). No one knows better than the injured patients what works and what doesn't. Most doctors unfortunately don't have a clue about what real options there are for surgical repair of this injury. It may not bring your old arm back to perfect, but it's better than waiting 6 months and then deciding you need surgery and it's too late to perform it.
Mayo prefers to operate at 4 months post injury and earlier (or later if forced by late appointment).
Best of luck,
Christopher
Mayo Clinic
200 First Street SW
Rochester, MN 55905
Phone: (507)266-0537 (507)284-2511
Fax: (507)284-8897
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Aleman33
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2010 4:56 pm
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Brachial Plexus injury, 7/23/10, can't move arm.
Re: Motorcycle Accident, no arm movement.
Thank you so much Christopher. I will definitely look into Mayo Clinic. Thank you
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Christopher
- Posts: 845
- Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2003 10:09 pm
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Date of Injury: 12/15/02
Level of Injury:
-dominant side C5, C6, & C7 avulsed. C8 & T1 stretched & crushed
BPI Related Surgeries:
-2 Intercostal nerves grafted to Biceps muscle,
-Free-Gracilis muscle transfer to Biceps Region innervated with 2 Intercostal nerves grafts.
-2 Sural nerves harvested from both Calves for nerve grafting.
-Partial Ulnar nerve grafted to Long Triceps.
-Uninjured C7 Hemi-Contralateral cross-over to Deltoid muscle.
-Wrist flexor tendon transfer to middle, ring, & pinky finger extensors.
Surgical medical facility:
Brachial Plexus Clinic at The Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN
(all surgeries successful)
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
~Theodore Roosevelt - Location: Los Angeles, California USA
Re: Motorcycle Accident, no arm movement.
Where are you located?
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Aleman33
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2010 4:56 pm
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Brachial Plexus injury, 7/23/10, can't move arm.
Re: Motorcycle Accident, no arm movement.
I'm located in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
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Christopher
- Posts: 845
- Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2003 10:09 pm
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Date of Injury: 12/15/02
Level of Injury:
-dominant side C5, C6, & C7 avulsed. C8 & T1 stretched & crushed
BPI Related Surgeries:
-2 Intercostal nerves grafted to Biceps muscle,
-Free-Gracilis muscle transfer to Biceps Region innervated with 2 Intercostal nerves grafts.
-2 Sural nerves harvested from both Calves for nerve grafting.
-Partial Ulnar nerve grafted to Long Triceps.
-Uninjured C7 Hemi-Contralateral cross-over to Deltoid muscle.
-Wrist flexor tendon transfer to middle, ring, & pinky finger extensors.
Surgical medical facility:
Brachial Plexus Clinic at The Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN
(all surgeries successful)
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
~Theodore Roosevelt - Location: Los Angeles, California USA
Re: Motorcycle Accident, no arm movement.
Also look into John Hopkins in Maryland. Dr Belzberg is top notch too,
but I'm not sure if he is offering as many options as the Mayo is.
Or Dr Scott Wolfe in NYC at the Hospital for Special Surgery.
Also the Mayo specialists are a team of 3-4 doctors that all work together on each case!
Dr Allan Belzberg:
CONTACT INFORMATION
The Johns Hopkins Hospital
Department of Neurosurgery
Meyer Bldg, Room 5-181
600 North Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21287
410-955-5810 (p)
410-614-9830 (f)
abelzbe1@jhmi.edu
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurolog ... n_Belzberg
Dr Scott W. Wolfe
East River Professional Building
523 East 72nd Street
New York, NY 10021
Tel: 212.606.1529
http://www.hss.edu/conditions_brachial- ... vances.asp
http://rheumatology.hss.edu/physicians_wolfe-scott.asp
but I'm not sure if he is offering as many options as the Mayo is.
Or Dr Scott Wolfe in NYC at the Hospital for Special Surgery.
Also the Mayo specialists are a team of 3-4 doctors that all work together on each case!
Dr Allan Belzberg:
CONTACT INFORMATION
The Johns Hopkins Hospital
Department of Neurosurgery
Meyer Bldg, Room 5-181
600 North Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21287
410-955-5810 (p)
410-614-9830 (f)
abelzbe1@jhmi.edu
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurolog ... n_Belzberg
Dr Scott W. Wolfe
East River Professional Building
523 East 72nd Street
New York, NY 10021
Tel: 212.606.1529
http://www.hss.edu/conditions_brachial- ... vances.asp
http://rheumatology.hss.edu/physicians_wolfe-scott.asp
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Aleman33
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2010 4:56 pm
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Brachial Plexus injury, 7/23/10, can't move arm.
Re: Motorcycle Accident, no arm movement.
Wow thank you so much. I didnt think I would get such good information here. I definitely making some moves. thank you.
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cristinam
Re: Motorcycle Accident, no arm movement.
Chris-
I noticed you put in an e-mail to contact Dr. Belzerg, Do you know if he minds recieving e-mails to get a brief opinion before traveling all the way there? I have also exhausted a lot of options and doctors to no avail, and i don't want to go somewhere else to hear i don't know, there's nothing I can do, etc.
I noticed you put in an e-mail to contact Dr. Belzerg, Do you know if he minds recieving e-mails to get a brief opinion before traveling all the way there? I have also exhausted a lot of options and doctors to no avail, and i don't want to go somewhere else to hear i don't know, there's nothing I can do, etc.
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cristinam
Re: Motorcycle Accident, no arm movement.
Aleman:
Also, I am very sorry to hear about your injury and wish you the best of luck in recovery. Just keep your head up and keep pushing on! Everything will work out for you
Also, I am very sorry to hear about your injury and wish you the best of luck in recovery. Just keep your head up and keep pushing on! Everything will work out for you
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AimeeMorera
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 4:43 pm
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Husband has Brachial Plexus injury as a result of the a motorcycle accident on September 30, 2009.
Re: Motorcycle Accident, no arm movement.
I suggest you also contact Susan MacKinnon and Thomas Tung in St. Louis. They gave me an appointment within a week and work to accomodate any insurance you may have... their office no. is (314) 362-7388. We were also recommended by Tung to get second opinions at Mayo and with Belzberg....they are the main Brachial Plexus surgeons in the nation.