United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I'll extend my welcome also. The Boards are full of excellent advise and experiences.

Your daughter is right to start thinking about a future career and you are right to encourage her to do so. I was about 17 when that same realization came to me. I was working part-time after school as a janitor and noticed that I couldn't do the overhead tasks that my fellow workers could. Also, they could complete them faster because they didn't need to find a ladder. So I figured that college might lead me to a career that didn't involve a lot of physical capability and one where I could compete on an equal footing. I worked as an engineer in the aerospace industry for 36 years.

Tell her to consider her current interests as a starting point but, if she can, further her education in a 2 year, 4 year, vocational school, whatever fits. I think education and training are very important for us BPI's.

John P.
(ROBPI for 67 years)

There are many, many careers that can be done by someone with BPI. It just depends on the limitations for each individual and what they are able to do and willing to adjust. I even know a midwife who has a OBPI that has left her with a 90 degree elbow contracture and much limitation in her arm movement, but she can still deliver a healthy, uninjured baby!

Tanya in NY
Amber's Mom, ROBPI, 4 years old

Hello Lindsey's mom and Lindsey!
I am Amy 19 years old and ROBPI. Like Marieke mentioned I am currently in school to become an occupational therapist. I am sure there are things I wont be able to do in this profession but that has never stopped me before, why should I let it now?

Lindsey you have so many options!!! Any thing you put your mind to you can find a way to do it, it just might not be like the rest of the world, but then if we were all the same we would live in a very boring world!

Shriners is still an option as long as you can get her in the system before she is 18 she can be seen up to age 21. Thats where I am at, I am almost 20 years old but I am still able to go to Shriners because I have been seen there since before I was 18. Actually, I have been to Shriners since shortly after I was born. There are more and more advanced surgeries today than there were a few years ago so Lindsey probably has some pretty good options.

Please check out my personal website for more info on my srgeries and treatments, I keep it updated at least once a month. www.freewebs.com/bpimn
there are some pics and a journal.

please either write me here or email me personally if you have any questions at all! Hope16_05@hotmail.com
Also if Lindsey ever wants to talk, I am open to that!

Amy 19 years old ROBPI from MN

Hi,
My name is Angela and I am Mom to 3. My youngest, Jill was born severe Left OBPI in 1984. She did not have any surgery. In the beginning I had to BEG for therapy, she was injured so badly. The specialists I saw at 3 different hospitals, by the time Jill was 6 weeks old, all thought she was a hopeless case. NOT SO. My begging won out at hospital #2, and I did get therapy lessons for years and years.....and I DID DO therapy for years on end (way into her double digit years). SUCCESS for Jill.

Jill is now age 22 and got married on July 8, 2006. She is in her 5th year at college (double major) and will graduate with her degree in May 2007. She was talented in ART so I took her to private art lessons every week, for 5 years, as she was growing up. So......all these years forward, she is going to be a K-12 Art Teacher.

I do believe an education (college)is key. Your daughter should just think about what she enjoys best. That is what my Jill did. At first she wanted to be a doctor like her older siblings, but then she changed her mind, when she was a junior in High School. I believe she made the right decision, to be an ART Teacher.

Welcome, and I wish you and your daughter well. I don't post very often anymore, and only pop in every 6 months or so.

I know that this is a little late to respond, but I've just become involved in this site. I'm 17 years old and am scheduled for a humeral osteotomy on Dec. 14th. I have BP from birth and was also told that there was no surgery or anything that could be done. Just this summer I found Dr. Nath. Although he has explained that I'm too old for triangle tilt (The surgery that I really need.), he has said that a humeral osteotomy will give me the most range of motion. I'm still a little skeptical, but I trust Dr. Nath and Dr. Davino's decision. Let me know if you or Lindsey has decided any thing surgery wise.

Looking for Lindseysmom.
Your e-mail isn't posted I wanted to e-mail you. I have a 17 year old son who is about to have his humerus lengthened.
You can contact me at tessie258@yahoo.com
Thanks,
Teresa (mom to Jameson)