United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi there. Sarah is now 4 (oh boy!) and has a similar injury to your little one. I'm gonna answer your questions from our point of view.

My questions for people in similar situations are.
Did your child have difficultly in crawling?

Sarahs PT showed us ways to help Sarah to crawl. When she first started at around 5 mths, she crawled on a balled up fist on her injured side.

Did they become left handed ?

At first she would use her injured side to color. Her PT said it was because it was so steady. Now at age 4, she uses both to do everything, including writing. It's like she switches when her hands get tired.

Did there arms movements get better then worse because of the muscle imbalances.

Sarah has only improved over the years.

Did anyone not need surgery after all.

She has not had surgery to date and has not seen a BPI specialist. She no longer goes to formal therapy. We use playtime at home for the stretches.

What types of limitations do they have around 2 years of age?

Well, we never stop Sarah from doing what she wants (arm wise lol). I feel that she knows her body and what hurts and doesn't more then we do. We don't pick her up by the arms, but when we go to the park she does hang from stuff on her own.


Every injury and every child is different and every mother does what they feel is best for their child. Please use your own best judgement and listen to your baby.

I wrote an article about Sarahs story in the latest Outreach. I am sure if you ask Nancy she can get you a copy of that issue.

Any questions that you may have or just want to talk, please feel free to email me.

msoileau@charter.net

~Mandie

My husband and I, and as recently discoverd five other families in my community, have or had filed suit against a dr. here(not all for bpi) and 2 of us have already lost in court. We are afraid for the children he is going to be delivering. I know how fortunate my son is to have the recovery God has blessed him with and know for fact that not all of the other families effected by this man will see the same results for their kids that we have. Would it be okay if I shared my story here? Has anyone had a similar experience? Would ya'll be willing to talk to me about the birth of your children to see if there are any similarities in the process? I have felt so alone this last four years, and while it makes me sad why we are here, I'm glad we have each other. Thanks for letting me ramble, jd

Thanks. I don't know why that wasn't obvious.

jd