hey man,
i have a lot of the same thoughts. i'm sitting at about 17 months from my accident, i've had 2 surgeries - one to re-enervate a muscle in my shoulder (supraspinatus) and one to re-enervate my bicep. only the shoulder worked. a lot of the time, i wish that i could go back and avoid those two surgeries, and the loss of the muscles they took those nerves from, and just have the arm off.
honestly, where i'm at right now is that i don't have to wear a sling just to hang out, thanks to the shoulder surgery (and you should look into it, i also think you should see my doc, Catherine Curtin at Stanford. She's awesome and closer than Mayo.) I can walk around all day with my hand in my pocket and no-one notices anything. i do use a sling for cycling, snowboarding, ultimate, soccer... the main thing keeping me from amputating is that i don't want to look funny in long-sleeved clothing for the rest of my life. seriously. it's vain maybe, but whatever. so, i'm not scheduling surgery... but i'm not getting any tattoos on that arm either right now, you know?
i think your doc is full of ____ about having to take it easy. you aren't at any greater risk of infection than you were before. you are at greater risk of hurting your arm, since you can't feel it, but it will heal just the same as always.
i ride and have a house in tahoe. i'm in the bay area, being unemployed, until i start grad school in january. shoot me a text if you want to go for a beer and gripe about being an angry cripple.
-brian
(510) 456-6637
taking my arm off
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thebrain
- Posts: 33
- Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 12:47 am
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: 6/12/10 avulsion of several roots due to motorcycle accident. So far I've
had two nerve transfers: intercostal to biceps and spinal accessory to
superscapular. The superscapular is working, holding my shoulder in place so I don't have to wear a sling all the time, and I can 'lift' that arm a few degrees away from my body. The bicep is firing but not enough to flex, yet. - Location: Palo Alto, CA
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Master DIVER TOM
- Posts: 759
- Joined: Tue May 05, 2009 11:51 am
Re: taking my arm off
To THE BRAIN!!! 
Keep the Fire It will be a good Friend Because I was call Stud arm as a kid with ERBS and Legal situation later in life ,its a good thing to Fight. There is a gift of Never giving up that has Served me well over my Life Time The incredible part is the Commission of others, I try to help, I learn to, BIG TIME:shock: KEPT Strong!!!
Tom
Keep the Fire It will be a good Friend Because I was call Stud arm as a kid with ERBS and Legal situation later in life ,its a good thing to Fight. There is a gift of Never giving up that has Served me well over my Life Time The incredible part is the Commission of others, I try to help, I learn to, BIG TIME:shock: KEPT Strong!!! Tom
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bjennings
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:39 pm
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: C5 thru T1 avulsed on 3/17/2011 in a motorcycle accident.
follow me on instagram @bjennings276
Re: taking my arm off
@thebrain yeah man i hear you about the sweater thing i kinda feel the same way. lol but yeah if your in tahoe i got a pass to squaw and alpine. we'll have to ride one day. i live in sacramento, about an hour 30 away