frustrated

[admin]

hi, 2 days ago my mom came home and told me about this site. I was so excited. i am 18 yrs old and have left OBI. ever since i remember pt's have been trying to tell me what they think is wrong with me. ya i go and it does help but then i am in constant pain until i can't take it anymore. nobody seems to understand it hurts. one pt even brought me to tears because he strethced it so far and told me to buck up. I don't like how it makes me shoulders look slouched. people are always telling me to stand up strait but when i do my arm still looks funny plus my arm flings out and i can't put it to my side. friends know i have it and think it's funny or cool. they seem to get a kick out of how i can't put my arm above my head. i've even had the nickname "dumb arm". when i started PE at school i told the teacher i couldn't do all the push-ups required because of my injury. he just looks at me like i am stupid and tells me to "just do it" i feel like everyone thinks i am making it up or it's not that big of a deal. where i work i have to dump big buckets of ice into the ice machines for the pop. i can't do it with one arm and i tried to explain it to the manager and they just seem to go oh whatever. i fill the buckets and they dump the ice but they kind of just act like im being lazy. i also hate that when i type my right arm goes much faster than the left and i constantly have to go hit the delete button just as often as any other letter key. I always got c's in typing because of my inability to be as fast as the others. thanks for letting me vent,

tiff

[njbirk]

Hi Tiff,
Welcome to the message boards. You will find lots of support here and people who understand. I am left OBPI too and am 48 years old.
Nancy

[francine]

Tiffany - thanks so much for coming on here and posting. There are a lot of moms here who have little ones who are injured. Me, too, my daughter is 3 1/2 years old with a left arm injury.

I just want you to know that what you have written here will help many, MANY parents understand their children a bit better. We will welcome anything you want to share with us. Like that advertisement on tv - "A post from an 18 year old with a brachial plexus injury - PRICELESS!"

I am wondering if it would be helpful for you to give some our awareness materials to your gym teacher and to your boss. Sounds like they need a little lesson or two in what the injury is (and also in compassion).

Take a look for yourself....

http://ubpn.org/awareness

click on birth injury button

Good luck to you, God bless and I hope you post more!

big hugs,
francine

http://www.injurednewborn.com
http://www.injurednewborn.com/maia/homepage.html

[Tessie258]

Hello Tiffany,
I'm glad you found us. My son is 12 and I know what you mean. He has been harrassed at school too. I always tell the teachers something really stupid if they are being stupid...like....why don't you turn your head all the way around like and owl? The answer is because I'm not built that way or it's impossible....Well, duh!!!! If you can't do something, then you can't do it! I really want to tell people off(I'm usually pretty nice but I have a button and hopefully no one pushes it!!!)

Welcome to the boards!

T.

[Kristie]

Tiffany,
Welcome! I am looking forward to your input! I have a 13 month old son who has a left OBPI. I am sure you will be able to give tons of advice to us, the parents of OBPI kids! Feel free to jump right in. Most parents post on the general board so if you want to look over that and give your thoughts on stuff I am sure other will be grateful. We are all making decisions that our kids have to live with and it would be nice to hear the thoughts of another with this injury. We have a great group of Adult OBPI and they share a lot with us and I think adding your opinion will be wonderful.
Blessings,
Kristie

[CW1992]

Hi Tiffany, Welcome! You sound like you've had it with people who do not understand! You have found a great place to vent with others who are living with BP injuries too. I am sorry that you have so much pain. There are others here that either are about your age or they have children that are about your age. My daughter Brittney is 10 and also has a left BPI. She gets aggravated too when she's asked about her arm over and over, or why is it that she can't do certain things. She has the attitude, "Some people just don't get it no matter how many ways you try to explain it to them - poor things, they're pathetic...." Seems like with these injuries - people seem to assume things until you explain it to them in a way they can understand. Brittney's teacher's aid a few years back thought she was born with some strange disease that made her left arm grow slower than her right arm. I told her that Brittney suffered nerve damage to her arm and shoulder when she was born - that her nerves were damaged at birth and that is why she carries her arm that way and can not lift it as high as the other, etc... After I explained it to her I do think that she understood. It doesn't sound like your boss at work understands your injury at all and he would hopefully be nicer if he knew more about it. There is info on this site that you can print off and give to anyone that needs to know how this injury affects your abilities. I'm sorry that you've been hurt by comments. These people just do not really understand your injury and how frustrating it can be when you want your arm to do something and it just can't do it. Do you like to swim or get in the pool? I know that Britt always feels looser - not so stiff - after swimming a while and it is great therapy. We have noticed too that not all doctors and therapists even know what a brachial plexus injury is and Brittney - just like you - teared up before when a doctor stretched her arm back way too far. It hurt her for a couple days. Kind of makes you want to grab THEIR arm and twist it backwards and wrap it around their neck a few times and see how they handle it:) I do not know what to tell you about the pain but there are others here that are living with BPI's who are dealing with the same issues that you are. This is a great place to ask questions. To me it is a safe place where people/friends listen to your feelings and really understand because they live with either a BP injury themselves or have a family member who has an injury. Again welcome, and I hope you find some friends here. Take care, Christy

[Kathleen]

Dear Tiff

I am so glad you & your Mom found this board. I really thought things had changed for people who are injured like us. I am right obpi. I had the same experience in school and reading yours just made my blood boil... first of all...it is against the law for your teachers to made you feel foolish and/or to penalize you on your grades because of your disability....
Just a word about the word disability I never admited that I had one until I was 60... I just did things differently. I thought I was the only one with this "rare" birth injury. There are lots of adults and some young adult posting to this board who are birth injured and we share many of the same experiences you have had. We also have learned from each other about the ways this injury effects our entire body...
I understand how difficult it is not to raise your arm up over your head or turn you hand palm up and the elbow... my kids learned when they were very young to watch out for it... there are reasons why we hold things in our hands and are not aware they are there and we bump into others with our elbows... but lets not dump too much on you at one time... just post and vent all you want... anytime you want... nothing is silly... nothing is unimportant...

You mentioned that you hate needlesI was told since I was a small child NEVER to have a needle or blood drawn from the bpi arm... and no blood pressure One of the reasons for this is that our arms are smaller - we have smaller veins and the blood supply to the muscles are a bit different...that is the way it was explained to me... The human body has a map...and when we were injured the map on the bpi arm changed so you don't want a vein that nourishes a muscle that is working to be blown... I hope I explained it.... but not needles.... Many of us carry cards that are Medical Alerts so that we never have and IV in our bpi arm...
Please take the stuff off of this website to any doctor and your school nurse and also to your teachers... and if you have some really good friends share it with them... I really never talked too much about my arm till I found this website 2 years ago... and I am 62... When no one understands its hard to talk about it.

Welcome again Now you have a place to talk about it and share with people who understand
Kath