recently injured and need advice

Treatments, Rehabilitation, and Recovery
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Joshua B
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2005 2:02 am

recently injured and need advice

Post by Joshua B »

am 26 years old and was involved in a car accident on 10-9-2004, almost 4 months ago. the seatbelt i was wearing probably saved my life but caused a brachial plexus injury(bpi) in my left, non-dominant, arm. i recently had a an emg and my neurologist said that he would have liked to have seen more of a comeback by now. i think there is still a chance but he kind of bummed me out. i don't think the nerve disconnected, it was just stretched. i don't have the bicep or much of the shoulder muscles working. i have sent the results to dr. nath in houston and am waiting for a reply. i want to know if surgery is the best bet or should i wait to see if it will come back in its own like my hand did. also, i read a letter posted by "jess and kyle", where her husband went through the same thing i am going through currently. it would be helpful if they could respond to let me know how his injury is coming along. i have also read about the mayo clinic, what is this and can they help me?

thank you,
joshua
jennyb
Posts: 1183
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2001 5:24 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: January 1980 Yamaha RD200 vs 16 wheeler truck, result, 1 totally paralysed right arm. I was 21, now 54. I had no surgery, I don't regret this. Decided to totally ignore limitations (easily done aged 21) adapted very quickly to one handed life, got married, had 3 kids, worked- the effect of the injury on my life (once the pain stopped being constant) was minimal and now, aged 54, I very rarely even think of it, unless I bash it or it gets cold, then I wish I'd had it amputated :) Except for a steering knob on my car, I have no adaptations to help with life, mainly because I honestly don't think of myself as disabled and the only thing I can't do is peel potatoes, which is definitely a good thing.

Re: recently injured and need advice

Post by jennyb »

haha I just read and replied to your message on the gen board :0) It's mainly parents of birth injured babies posting there, not all trauma injurede people read that message board.
Hope my reply over there helped, anyway.
Jen NZ
cbe411
Posts: 1393
Joined: Sun Jun 01, 2003 8:27 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: MVA in 2001, nerve graph in 2002, Median Nerve Transfer in 2004 and an unsuccessful Gracillis Muscle Transfer in 2006. I am living life and loving it! Feel free to contact me :)
Location: Grosse Pointe Woods, MI
Contact:

Re: recently injured and need advice

Post by cbe411 »

Hi Josh... LIke Jenny said, glad that you have found the site. I got my BPI from a car accident as well, 4 days after my 21st bday, almost 4 years ago now! Dr. Nath is my surgeon too but it never hurts to check into many options. Ellen will post contact info for Mayo I am sure... they are in Minnesota, not sure where you live.... i noticed thant your email is yahoo.... Do you nave messenger? If so I am court1720 if ya want to chat...... keep us posted and please feel free to ask as many questions as possible! We have been there done that for sure!

COurt xx
EllenB
Posts: 604
Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2003 1:22 pm

Re: recently injured and need advice

Post by EllenB »

Hi Joshua,

I'll send you a direct email by end of day, about Mayo Clinic. I highly recommend them!

Take care,

Ellen
michael's parents
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 9:49 pm

Re: recently injured and need advice

Post by michael's parents »

Joshua,
I reccommend you go and see/ contact Dr. Nath in Houston Texas ASAP... you can do a GOOGLE search to get his office info I just don't have it here with me at work....www. Dr Nath Brachialplexus.com..The man is a SAINT and very passionate about what he does. In my opinion....he is the best in the business, definately the most experienced in the USA and probably in the world with BPI. There are other Dr.'s as well but I went to Nath because he is the best and proved it to me and my family...his bedside manner is second to none and he will NEVER rush you or ignore you as a patient / parent etc.... Good Luck!
EllenB
Posts: 604
Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2003 1:22 pm

Re: recently injured and need advice

Post by EllenB »

Hey - PS to the email I already sent you. Another thing that sets Mayo apart is that their bp clinic is actually a team of three doctors with different specialties (neurosurgery, ortho, hand surgery) who work together. This enables them to offer surgical options not available elsewhere.

Let us know if you have other questions.

Take care,

Ellen
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