new to the board

[Joe1968]

"hi" everyone. my name is joe and i am a 33 yr. old male who sufferred a b.p. injury to my right arm 7 months ago. i sufferred this injury during what i thought was to be a routine surgery to remove a first rib causing a blood clot in my shoulder. well i wake up from a three hour suregery and realize i could not move my right arm. doctors tell me i suffered nerve damage during my surgery and were not sure i would get the use of my arm again without future surgeries. i was devastated. here i was a 32 yr. old w/a three month pregnant wife and in the process of moving into a new home. how would i ever be able to adjust? well, with the help and support of my family, we found a wonderful doctor in houston, tx, which i went to for my corrective surgery back in sept. 01. since then, with continued occupational therapy, i once again have movement of my right arm...not quite 100%, but well on the way. as of two weeks ago, i also started to move my fingers again, which definately gives me more hope and motivation. i can totally relate to any adult or parent with children who suffer from this injury. if anyone has any questions or would like more details to my condition and or progress, reply on the board or e-mail me at: wideglide98hd@yahoo.com i would be glad to help and or support anyone in any way i can. best regards, joe

[Andrea]

Joe,

Welcome to the board. Glad to hear you are doing so well! I have a daughter that has a left BPI which happen during birth. I was wondering who the wonderful doctor was that you saw in Houston? My daughter had surgery in Houston also which was performed by Dr. Nath and we were very pleased with him. I wish you all the happiness with the new baby on the way and continue success and progress with your arm!

[admin]

andrea,
thanks for your reply! that's funny that you mentioned dr. nath in houston, because thats who i went to, and am very pleased with the results! the best decision i ever made! he is a wonderful man and would highly recommend him to anyone who would, god forbid, ever need this type of surgery. i hope your daughter is doing well...keep in touch. joe

[m&mmom]

Welcome Joe,
I'm Cindy mom to Melanie and Matthew both were injured at birth. Melanie recovered at six weeks and Matthew had surgery in Houston in October. His injury was much more severe - he requires physical and occupational therapy and we also take him to acupuncture. Good luck on your road to recovery.

[admin]

hi cindy! thanks for replying. i'm glad to hear your daughter is doing well, and hope your son recovers just as well. how old are they? i always felt kids tend to recover or adapt quicker than adults to any injury, i know i had a very hard time at first being that i was right arm dominant when i lost the use of my right arm at 32 yrs. old. but i have not given up hope. after seeing dr. nath in houston back in sept. 2001, i have been very happy with the results, even though at times can be very frustrating as i'm slowly getting the use of my arm back, because i wish i could have it all back tomorrow, but as i've been told nerves can only regenerate at a certain pace, and just got to learn to be alittle patient and think to myself that this is only temporary. i am very determined and have a beautiful 11 week old son to give me my motivation. i ritually go to my occupation therapy 3 times a week and constantly do my exercises at home daily. hope your children are doing well, best of luck and keep me posted on their progress! joe

[bigsel]

Hi joe, i suffered my bpi in feb 99 & my wife was also pregnant with our first child, he came into this world on mar 9th. I missed the birth of my son(Mark) as i was still in the hospital at the time, so as you can imagine i was pretty devastated he iis nearly 3 now & growing like a trooper. I remember at the start i was worried about the things i would'nt be able to do, like "changing nappies(dipers) or put his clothes on, hold him properly,put his shoes on, & a hole load of other stuff, but i battled on & i was able to change his nappies with one hand no bother & put his clothes on, Mark lay still every time i changed his nappies it's like he knew what was going, he even kisses & cuddles my hand better just now so they are realy quite remarkable at this age & even younger. I'm pleased your surgery went okay & everything else seems to be going well for you, but anyway welcome to the site, there are a lot of good people here that give you a lot of good advice so please don'nt dissapear.

take care

bigsel

[Stephanie/OR]

Welcome to the boards!
You will find alot of support and great advice here. I wish you and your family well.

[admin]

hey bigsel, thanks for your reply. its comforting to see that i'm not the only one feeling the way i do about being able to take care of my newborn child. i know i can and will always find a way to do my best to take care of him, my main problem is getting my wife to trust my ability, one handed, to do the things she does with two hands. its frustrating at times but i know she just being the protective mother. hope your recovery is doing well... thanks
joe

[admin]

hi stephanie! thanks for your welcome and support! its nice to see so many people unite under such difficult curcumstances...its very comforting. hope your family is doing just as well!
joe

[Kathleen]

Welcome to the board Joe

I am so glad to hear you are doing so well... But really sorry to hear the way you were injured.

Best wishes on the baby... I am really happy to hear you are moving forward.

I am birth injured and raised three kids and so I am sure you will enjoy your baby... this won't hold you back just as bigsel said... only think is my kids kept wiggling...LOL...
I wish you continued healing
Kath