Optimist turned Pessimist in 6 hrs

[admin]

Hello,
I spoke earlier today about my son Vance, whom was born three days ago (oct. 19) with LBPI. Frankly speaking, I am the ultimate optimist - that is until now. I have spent most of the day reading through 18 + message board pages....now to say the least I'm very pessimistic.

I've seen very few messages about full recoveries, with or without surgery. Should I forgo the thoughts of full recovery and start focusing on accepting the reality that 100% recovery is a unrealistic goal?

The day he was born I found and called Dr. Nath. The next day he called back and we spoke about Vance's condition. After reviewing what Dr. Nath and I talked about, with our pediatrician, I left with the impression that surgery should be the last resort.

Does everyone here accept the fact this injury, if acurred during birth, is a chance every parent takes when deciding to have childern?

[PeggyUBPN]

I don't know the extent of Vance's injury, but I would say 3 days old is not enough time to determine if it is a permenant injury or not.
The reason you don't see an abundance ofmessages about full recoveries here is because the majority of them don't feel they need support once their child regains function, or that their child regained function before they were told that it may be permenant.

I, for one, do not accpet that this is a "chance" we take when we decide to have children. In most cases, I believe this is a preventable injury of OBPI.

I'll go back and look for your previous post, but I would say to you...get into therapy and do Range of Motion as much as possible. If your son is still lacking movement at the age of 3 months, most certainly keep a BPI Specialist (or two or three...) following him and get their recommendations.
Educate yourself, as much as possible, on this injury and the options that are available to you and your son.

Ask questions here as they come to you...and medical questions to the specialist; they will answer.

All the best!
Peggy

[admin]

I'm really sorry to hear about your child's injury. I wanted to share with you a little incident I had. My son, Evan, was in a cast after his second surgery when this little girl at the park got very curious about it. I started to explain that his arm was asleep at birth and her mother immediately asked if Evan had shoulder dystocia and a bpi. As it turns out, she also was faced with the same complications during the delivery of her third baby. This baby girl was 11 months at the time I saw her and she had had complete recovery without surgery. The mother said she hadn't even thought about the injury since her daughter gained the use of her arm. So please don't loose your optimism. Keep optimistic but do your homework in the mean time. I hope your child recovers fully and this injury becomes a distant memory for you, too.

Sema

[admin]

I think this injury is very preventable and do not take responsibility for this happening to my child. The fault lies in the midwife who failed, repeatedly to do the right thing when presented with a shoulder dystocia baby.

I agree with Peggy, alot of the parents whose children have a full recovery don't post here. I've known a few and none have stayed after their child got better.

[admin]

Please don't despair; there are good recovery stories out there.

At three days my little girl could hold your finger, barely. After a week or two she could shrug her shoulder, by six weeks she could move her arm away from her body 90 deg to the side (while laying on her back). At 3 1/3 months she had bicep function. Now, she has everything except 100% supination and she is a little over a year.

She will have a 100% spontaneous recovery.
No surgery, she has no winging, she has no contractures.

Her specialist said that she is one of the lucky ones, and we feel very blessed.

Remember to enjoy your newborn, do you range of motion exercises, try to get some sleep.

[Tanya in NY]

Hello. My name is Tanya, and I'm the mother to Amber, almost 2 years old, ROBPI.

Do not give up on the possibility of a full recovery because it is way too early to tell about recovery for you son. There is a lot of time left for him.

Most of the people who come to this board (and I say most, not all) come here because their child or themself, have not had a full recovery. Therefore, I believe that you've stumbled upon a group that has had various difficulties that you may or may not ever encounter.

I personally do not believe that this injury is a chance parents take when deciding to have children. Keep in mind that not only am I the mother of an injured child, but I am a labor and delivery nurse who strives to prevent these injuries through alternative birthing positions and education for the staff I work with. Injury is NOT acceptable!

There are a number of children and adults who visit here who have not had surgery as well as a number who have. Get educated and learn as much as possible for your son's sake.

Get evaluated by a PT and/or OT so you can learn to do ROM exercises for you son throughout the day. Make sure his clavicle is not broken. Get an evaluation by a BPI specialist within the next few months. Touch your son's arm. Move your son's arm. You will not break it. And come here often to ask questions, get information, offer information, and get support from others like you and your child.

Feel free to contact me anytime if you'd like.

Good luck.

Tanya in NY

[cherie_hohertz]

Hi.

Like the other posters said, this injury is definitely preventable. Most of the time, the fault does lie with the delivering doctor or midwife. There are several maneuvers that can be done when the baby presents with shoulder dystocia. Unfortunately, most of the people who frequent this board did not have an OB or midwife who was either trained or up to date on performing these maneuvers.

That being said, I do think it is a chance that people take when delivering a baby. Unless you know to ask questions about shoulder dystocia and brachial plexus injuries, you never even know it's a chance. But, until we can increase awareness about this injury, expectant parents will never even know to ask these questions.

It just happens to be brachial plexus injury awareness week, so this is a "hot topic" this week.

As I posted in your other thread, I'm so sorry that your child has suffered this injury, and will be praying for a full recovery. Full recoveries DO happen all the time. I know of several families who have sustained an injury, and their children have full function in their arm. Unfortunately, most of us that frequent this board are the unlucky ones in which that is not the case.

CONGRATULATIONS on the birth of your child! What an exciting time!

Cherie Hohertz

[lizzyb]

Hi Guest,

Thought you might like to read this thread if you haven't read it already http://ubpn.org/messageboard/thread ... hread=8631

I thought some of the personal experiences of parents told in these posts were really inspirational. Don't get too down on what you read here. As others have said, parents whose babies have recovered from a BPI don't really need to come here anymore, thats why it is hard to find stories about complete recovery.

Many congratulations on the birth of your son. I bet he is gorgeous! :0)

Lizzyb

[JessicasMom]

I just wanted to say that I have personally heard of lots of kids with great recovery. My daughter Jessica is 13 months old, got biceps back at 3 months, and without any surgeries, has made an unbelievable recovery. She can do absolutely everything with her injured arm except for full supination, but she can get about 3/4 of the way. She can extend her arm straight up in the air (Equal height to her uninjured arm), out to the side, reach for something behind her back, touch her ear, back of her head and neck and no one can tell she has an injury.

Is she 100% recovered? No. I'm fairly certain that she will always have some pain or weakness and she may never be able to get to full supination, but I can honestly say that we couldn't be happier with her recovery to date, and she's even being discharged from therapy.

Try not to overwhelm yourself with worry and enjoy your baby. He has time for recovery. I thought the worst in the beginning when my baby couldn't move her arm at all and now I usually complete forget she has an injury.

Michelle

[admin]

Guest, At least I know one thing for sure about you. If youre new baby is only (3) days old and you are already searching for answers, especially by contacting Dr. Nath, you are really something else!!! I applaud you for reading so much and finding out all you have. You seem to be really "on-top" of things so early! Dont get pessimistic just yet! Stay OPTIMISTIC and you will find its only going to help you and the baby. It is SO early for things to be determined with your baby just yet. This is a really tough injury and it seems everyones case is kinda different, so therefore different people have different outcomes. I wish you and the baby all the best, and you are doing great by educating yourself so early on. By the way, I am Priscilla, mom to James, age 12 RTBPI. Accident last year. It took me almost 5 months just to find a specialist.