Introductions thanks to 20/20...lurkers welcome

[glenn]

Hello holly,

My name is Glenn. You've never met me before, but I just stumbled across the ubpn.org site and found all these other people who had posted and felt like I had to write and share my history with this albatross.

I am a 20-year-old college student attending NSU in Louisiana studying journalism, writing and taking pictures for the student newspaper and also editor-in-chief of the Argus, the student literary magazine. I say that not to brag, (well, maybe:), but to show how Erb's palsy has been a benefit in disguise--a really awful disguise--but nonetheless some good things have happened despite the fact that I was born with partial paralisys in my right arm.

I was 10lbs10oz firstborn three weeks overdue with a new doctor who had no idea how to deal with a complication like that. So he pulled my head and severed the nerves to my upper right torso. At first, they taped my right arm to my chest b/c they thought it would heal best if left alone. bad idea.

By the time i was 5 i had been to more clinics, specialists, doctors, reflexologists than I could list without the medical records right here--but they all said the same thing: you have %20 of the muscles doing %80 of the work.

So I did the physical therapy a lot when I was growing up--in the gym usually 3 times a week and doing those special workouts that usually get stares from strangers( you know what i'm talking about). that feeling when your face burns red b/c you feel inferior b/c your curling a 10lb weight and straining with all you got but it's humiliating to be sitting next to a kid younger than you doing more.

I cannot fully extend my right arm, nor lift it over my head. When I was little, it used to bother me that I could not put my hand over my heart to say the pledge of allegiance. I bite my fingernails down to the quick, and I shift the gears when I drive with my left hand. My right arm is 3 inches shorter and entire muscle groups or strands of them are missing. Like my triceps, back muscles, forearm...ect and my pectoralis major is entirely missing. Meeting people is tough b/c I have to fling my arm out to shake their hand and hope I aimed right. I can type ok, but my arm has to be supported at the elbow--otherwise it cuts off circulation--not that i feel it, but it'll start turning purple. I also get those electrical shock pains everytime the weather changes severely in my thumb, index and middle fingers--maybe the phantom limb pain, or carpel tunnel, i really don't know.

Well, anyways, I did therapy off an on, on and off till I reached college. The reason I wasn't consistant was b/c for about 3months in there I really, really pushed to try and make the difference(I was about 14 or 15) and I couldn't tell a difference.

But the good that came out of exersising was that the muscles didn't atrophy any worse than they already had--only now am I starting to worry that they might and that I might have to start going back to the gym.

But back to what I was trying to say--I used to get depressed b/c of this thing--so bad that I was suicidal at one point. It sucks to realize you won't ever be able to lift your arm over your head or reach out and grab something at shoulder level w/o swinging your arm or that you'll always get stares if you go to the beach b/c you look lopsided and bony--

but b/c of it i played high school soccer( i wanted to play football but failed the physical. of course!) And also started writing and taking an active interest in developing other facets of myself besides just my body. I guess I realized that i could never be that ditchdigger or painter or military personnel that uses his body to earn a paycheck and that I'd need to attain something else to gain a foothold in the real world. (a guy's work means a lot to him, trust me)

So in that aspect, Erb's helped me realize what i want to do with my life. I guess it be like the pain and heartache and depression did not go to waste.

I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but I'm glad there's a support sight out there for people like us that have to carry this burden.

love,
glenn

[admin]

Glenn, good job, you should be proud of yourself.

[Kathleen]

Glenn

Thanks for sharing your story too... It is so hard sometimes for us to talk about this injury because most people do not understand the full impact of this injury...

It looks like you are making peace with it and realizing that while obpi changes us and alters out path in life it is sometimes a better path we take

Welcome to the board
Kath

[jep98056]

Glenn:
Thanks for your story. It has a familiar ring to it.

I am a 63 year old ROBPI victim, the senior member of the forums so far (isn’t there someone else out there just a little older?)

When I was in high school, I realized that my injury would impact the type of work I could do as a career. So, I focused on going to college and ultimately decided on a career in engineering. I retired as a senior engineer after 36 very rewarding years in the aerospace industry.

As victims, we all strive to reach the maximum possible recovery from our injury with the help of our family, medical experts, and friends. This can mean surgery and years of physical therapy. However, I’ve concluded that maximum possible recovery for BPI victims should include an education and the training that allows us to lead productive, independent lives. I think that you’ve come to the same conclusion.

A couple of comments: It seems to me that there's nothing wrong with using either hand to greet someone. However, if you want to use your right hand, lift your arm as best you can and let them meet it. Either way, squeeze their hand as hard as possible because it’ll show that you really want to meet and know that individual. Also, it’s perfectly acceptable to support your arm when you pledge allegiance to our flag. It shows that it is more important to you to recognize the freedoms we have then to disguise your injury.

Best of luck and I hope to see you in the forums again.

John P.

[Kathleen]

John

You know it makes me feel so much better that you are the Senior member of our little group... LOL..

Thanks for your post.
When I was in school we pledged the flag by salute - That was a major problem for me and one the family always tried to work on... forgot about that.

I was taught the importance of a firm handshake even for a woman we would practice my older brother had me squeezing as hard as I could to get that hand to work

Kath

[Kathleen M]

I have seen so many new names I thought it was time to bump this up again...

Unless someone would love to start a new Introduction.....????

Kath

[Maka]

Ok here goes...

I am 27 (28 in October) and have LOBP. I have a degree in Child Studies and a PT assistant degree too. I have applied to do a B. Ed Kinesiology as well...still waiting to hear.
I play clarinet and compete in figure skating (starting to feel like an old lady in the sport!) I had surgery at age 14 (10 days before my 15th b-day), a tendon transfer to improve rotation, mobility.... I joke that for my birthday that year I got external rotation! The best gift ever. LOL the surgery was well worth it, even if all the PT was hard, long, and sometimes frustrating. I would do it again in a heart beat.
Anyone who wants to see me in action on the ice can go to www.cpadorval.com and look at our pics from competitions...
See ya around!
Marieke


I am currently teaching Pre-K and loving it.

[terri0320]

Hi,

My name is Terri. My daughter, TeNeisha has a ROBPI. She is 15 months old. I have not had much luck with any of the doctors so far. We did just get her an appointment at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital in May. She is doing PT and OT at the moment. She does have some use of her hand, her thumb she has some trouble with. She can bend her elbow to eat, but does not straighten all the way.

For the most part, it doesn't seem to bother her.

We try to make her use it as much as possible, but she gets pretty tempermental after a few minutes.

I was really relieved to have found this website. It has really helped me to find information that I did not know existed at the beginning of this long journey. I know that we still have a long way to go, and I hope that you will all be here in the future when support is needed as you have been here now.

Terri

[admin]

I have been here before I drive a Semi and I Scuba dive .I had Erbs in my left arm and fractured elbow broken from birth.My mom was 5'6" and I weighted 11bs 12ownses.I am 51 now.

[admin]

Try giving a ball to grab it will give her streagth to grasp and If you can make it fun like swiming or any action that streachs and isnt labled as theiphy you will not get so much resistants because its fun the bigist part of the problem to me was dealing with the focus on the disibity.It can give a power to the parent and the child if they foucs on what the person can do then cant.I drive a semi and a Master Scuba diver.See I try to forget to I have ERBS in my left arm and My left elbow was fracatured to at birth. GOD BLESS...