New injury, Unknown Diagnosis - similar stories???

[amyawood]

On March 6, 2005 my mom was injured in a snowmobile accident when she lost her balance and feel 20 feet into a river. When she landed, she knew that she had severely injured her right (dominate) arm as it was above her head. She is a nurse and was able to re-align the arm while waiting for help. After she re-aligned her arm, it was not significantly moved again in any way. At the accident scene and for about an hour after, she was able to open and close her hand, although it was becoming numb and slowing down. An MRI that night showed no nerve avulsion to the brachial plexus. However, she has had no sensation or movement in her arm below the elbow since.

Since then, a CT mylogram and a repeat MRI were done, both showing that the brachial plexus was intact as far down as the doctor could see although he couldn't visualize the axilary nerve. They have done 2 EMG tests and both of those have gone horribly and point to a nerve being severed.

We saw a specialist a few weeks ago who recommended we wait another 6 weeks and if there's no spontaneous recovery by then he recommends that she have exploratory surgery and possibly nerve grafting surgery.

It is so frustrating and disheartening to continue to not know what is wrong and what the future holds. Has anyone had a similar experience? Any advice on where to go from here?

[cbe411]

Hey Amy I am sorry to hear about your moms injury! im not sure what kind of doctor she has been seeing but she really should get to a brachial plexus specailist asap! You really dont want to wait with this injury. You can check the medical resources directory http://ubpn.org/medicalresources/ Doctors are listed by counrty then by state. Please keep in mind that the best doctor might not be in your state. I live in Michigan and go to Texas. A few doctors that i would recomend are the Mayo CLinic in Minnesota, Dr. Kline in Louisiana, and Dr. Nath in Houston. Read the infor listed about the doctor/clinic and see what best fits. If you have ANY QUESTIONS feel free to email me please.... courtney@ubpn.org Best of luck and let us know how you get on with it!

COurt xx

[admin]

Thanks for the info! We saw a doctor at University of Michigan and are trying to get into Dr.Kline at LSU. It's very frustrating not knowing!