United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Liz,
What you our offering is a mixture of hope and reality. When I hear someone has gotten anything back it makes me cry with tears of joy for that person. It gives me the courage to still hope that maybe tommorow... On the other side of the coin when I hear of someone worse than me it makes me cry and pray that they have the courage to keep moving forward on hope's wings. They give me the strength to start looking at ways to fight this injury in a positive direction.
Before I found UBPN I was living in darkness... The only information I have ever seen has been from my own research. I have never even met a medical professional who has ever looked at a bpi and I know I am not alone. Your support group could impact thousands of lives and you would never know it.
Please remember that you are creating a voice that needs to be heard. In the US one small voice over a hundred years ago created this nation. Think long term about future generations and how your work today will impact them tommorow.
Please keep going forward for everyone who has no voice in this world because they are living in darkness....

Hi Liz, bigsel here, when i posted my topic about jelousy i did'nt mean to get anybodys back up, all i was doing was letting people know how i felt at times. When i read about other bpi's getting some recovery or even a lot of recovery, i think it's great, & it gives you a great lift, but other times it makes me a bit jelous, but that probably is my personality, everybody is diffrent, but as everyone else has said having a support group is a brilliant idea, & we do need it. I know it's been a great help to me since i found this site, even though i've not been here for that long, i just wish i had found it sooner, but i did'nt have acces to a puter. So Liz don't you dare have 2nd thoughts, you've put to much work into it, just think about all the people you will be helping, & not just us brits, so don't feel so down hearted, the quicker it gets off the ground the better, your doing a fantastic job.


take care bigsel

well I dont know shirt about adult bpi stuff and this may not be my biz but Im inputting..
I belong to a 12 step group-have for years and the support I get is good- there are guidelines and formats and it allows people to see whos recovering, who isnt,blah blah blah... it allows me to give support which is by far the best thing I can do for my own emotional recovery, give support to someone else- and in that, by setting up the realm wherein others can share their experience strength and hope, you are setting the stage for them to perhaps exercise sharing their recovery, or even perhaps their lack of recovery as it well may be- and by doing so, help another person, and when they do that, humans generally feel better about themselves~
My son has great recovery and Ive had many of the moms directly say to me, "you dont know what its like," and theyre right...I dont know what its like for them, they know they dont know what its like for me~ life goes on, pain,love ,tolerance~...whatever...
The stage where people exchange support is a sacred place...
As for other people, it will be up to them to get what they need out of it, you will be setting a stage, you will not be responsible for anyones recovery, just setting a realm wherein they have oppotunities to grow,heal, recover, or maybe in some cases, not~
do it Liz...its in your lap...you have great things to do, do them

because it is a good thing to do Liz. I'm a newbie......two years worth. If you had asked me to join a support group anytime within the first five months of my accident, I would have told you to put it where the sun doesn't shine.....you know why???......I was full of much anger, denial, and generally just depressed to a low I've never been to before......afterall, I only had use of one arm. Poor me.....I can't...I can't.......I can't. I think there is a time when a person may want to be left alone, but I also STRONGLY believe that that time is perhaps shortlived. We all have different personalities that pretty much dictate how we act, with regard our injuries.......not just the people here, but those everywhere with this injury. Some choose support groups, others don't, for whatever reason. But your initiative towards a support group in the U.K. will provide an outlet for those who will benefit from it. My bet is that you'll be pleasantly surprised. I mentioned earlier that I wanted no part of a support group early on. That WAS me. Now.......I honestly don't know what I would do without knowing your shoulders and ears were there. You see......I found out that I needed someone besides myself. And I wouldn't have that outlet had it not been for THIS support group.

Rock on Liz.....my opinion is that it is win-win.

George

Liz, Remember me? I'm very new to this site and it's my husband with tbpi, but even so, I have to agree with George. My husband (Jeff) didn't want support or to hear about anyone else's tbpi's until just a few days ago. I think because his reconstruction surgery is so close (Tues.) he wants to know how others made out with the same surgery. Without this site and the few people that took the time to email me, I wouldn't have been able to tell him anything. Jeffs accident was Oct. of last year and to say that it totally blew us away is putting it mildly. But without your support and being able to read what other people are going through, well, it really means alot to know that we are not alone. So I think your idea is a great one. Go for it! Debi