United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

And Tiff,

You really shouldn't be getting shots in the OBPI arm.
That arm's circulation is slower, it is more prone to infection at the injection site, etc., and I've never had a doctor disagree about this. The people on this board are more knowledgable about these things than I
am, so if you want to discuss it further, put it on the board as a new post.

Take Cre,
Stephanie

Hi, I just wanted to add to your thought that it's comical. I am 23 and have BP in my right arm. Here's a story, now please no one inturpret this as anyone being mean. I got a laugh out of it.
I was at work and I was sealing envelopes on a table. Well only one arm reaching doen to the table on it's own. So I guess, my hand was in an odd position. Anyway, a co-worker looked and said jokingly: What do you have one arm shorter than the other? I laughed and said yes actually. He was so shocked. I've known him for 6 years and this is the first time he mentioned it and by his reaction, I am pretty sure after 6 years he never even knew.

LOL, please.

Traci

Traci, you will find as you get older that there will be many people around you on a daily basis that do not notice your arm. I've had several people that I work with that they never noticed it...bless their souls!
To me it is as noticible as it would be to be walking around with a pen stuck out of your nose! Some people have come right up to me in the library where I work and asked what happened to my arm?, and some people that I see every day swear that if I had not drawn their attention to it they wouldn't have noticed. So, to each his own. I think that the important lesson to be learned here is that we have to stop thinking that people are only seeing us as "the person with a damaged arm." Maybe then WE wouldn't be so shocked when they tell us they didn't notice!

By the way, that was a very cute story. Keep your sense of humor and all will be well!

-Stephanie

Brandi...I know how you feel...I used to feel like that too. I'm 24 and I even hate to wear short-sleeve shirts. Last year, I met a wonderful guy and slowly started to change my way of thinking. I even wore short-sleeve shirts last summer! It had been 10 years since I did that in public. I found that sure some people would stare...but I stare at other people too! If someone has a problem, then big deal...they're the ignorant jerks! Be confident, be strong, have a sense of humor, and people will look at YOU...not your arm. Most of my friends even forget that I'm different. The "why me" thing gets old. We're not going to wake up "healed". But I figure that life could be worse. We could be in wheelchairs. We could be dying of cancer. We could be mentally challenged. But we're not. If you think about it, we're really lucky!

Hang in there....feel free to e-mail me anytime. Oh...and if you DO catch someone staring at your arm, do what I do....look them straight in the eye and say "Problem???" That usually embarasses THEM!!

Erica DeAnn