United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I had the gracilis done, the week of Thanksgiving, not so great results! However, my leg is just fine! It has healed up nicely and I have noticed nothing different!!

I would do it again if I could!

Courtney

Dear Court,

This is Brandon from Waahington and we've talked on the phone before and I really would like to talk again about your most recent surgery. So if you can e-mail and let me know if and when its okay to call, that would be great
Sincerely
Brandon

Hi Sue,
My son (1 yr.) has not had a traumatic plexus injury, but his ortho is planning on doing a muscle transfer from his thigh to his biceps because he was born with arthrogryposis (stiffness of the joints) that affects his elbows because he has a minimal amount of bicep in each of his arms. I was just reading your post about the recovery process. I couldn't help but wonder how old your daughter was/is and if you wouldn't mind going into more detail about the therapy process, who did your surgery, and how successful you feel the surgery was. I'd be grateful for any insight you might have.

~Sarita


Message was edited by: Sarita

Sarita,
My daughter is 21 now. She had her surgery when she was 20 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN by "the Brachial Plexus Team", Drs. Spinner, Shin and Bishop. They are excellent doctors who specialize in brachial plexus injuries and treatment. Melanie's therapy after surgery was at first abduction of her arm and immobilization for the 1st 6 weeks while she had the cast on. After that, she would use a neuromuscular stimulator on her biceps muscle 3 to 4 times a day. She also did some ROM exercises mainly for her elbow and her fingers. They also had her practicing doing pursed lipped breathing while trying to move her biceps to retrain her brain to use her chest nerves to move her arm. It sounds strange but after she got some movement in her biceps, it moved more when she did this type breathing. She did these things up until she got movement in the biceps and then they told her to stop the neuromuscular stimulator and just pratice moving her arm on a table. At this time, (about 10 months after surgery), she can move her arm towards her on a table and flex it against gravity but she is not able to extend her arm on a table. This triceps movement should come before her follow up visit in June. All the PTs and doctors have been very straightforward and honest with us. The results have been exactly what they said they would be. Of course everyone wants to see the results sooner than they actually happen but it's worth it. Her shoulder looks almost normal now since it is in it's socket now and not subluxed like it used to be. This is very important for a 21 year old girl! She is looking forward to having the skin flap on her shoulder removed sometime in the near future but she does not let her injury rule her life which I am very thankful for.

What about scarring from the removal of the Gracilias? When Dr. Sanger took a sensory nerve from my right calve area, I ended up with a serious scar from the top portion of my calve to the heal of my foot. I guess scars should be no big deal since my body is covered with scars since my accident. Thanks

Fredrick,
Mel's gracilis scar is only about 5 inches in length on her inner left thigh. I think the part that bothered her more than that scar was the flap of skin they also transferred from her inner thigh and sutured to her right shoulder to monitor the vascular status. She keeps asking the doctors when they can remove it. They say it has to stay there for at least a year. Like you she has lots of scars all over her body from the accident and from surgeries but she is a 21 year old female very concerned with her appearance. We are looking into scar revision surgery down the line for her abdominal scars. Sue

Hey,

I'm going to Dr. Sanger for an evaluation. Didn't expect to see his name pop up today! Just reading for information...

-Erik