United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Kath, I havent been in that situation but you are right and I am glad that you were able to get past the anxiety and enjoy being there with your grandaughter! She will remember that forever!

Rachel, This post totally made sense to me from your perspective. I guess thats why it has taken me so long to reply. I just didnt know what to say, as I didnt think I had any thing to compare to. At school, we have a wonderful wellness center full of weights and stuff and yet I never go there. It always feels like some one is watching and thinking about why I would not be anle to do those exercises. I know I should go over there and not care what the others think but its hard to get past. And now, this year is over so maybe next year I can get over it.

But anyway Kath, I am glad that you had to opportunity to spend such a great day with your granddaughter!

Big Hugs,
Amy 20 ROBPI from MN

Thanks Amy & Rachel

It funny that you both bring up wellness centers.
For years I have joined gym's and swore I would work out and not be uncomfortable.
It did not take too long for me to walk away from my memberships.
I lost tons of money on these things but I became uncomfortable.
I joined a swim exercise group when I was a young mom and found I was uncomfortable once someone commented on the way I moved my arm.
I stopped swimming in the public pool.
We put an in ground pool and I swam all the time but not when we had company that were not close friends or family.

It is amazing how these things can hold us back.
Now of course I wish I could have just ignored the looks.
I could say it was because I had not met others with my arm and thought it was rare.
But as you can tell from my post even after all these years of exposure to others with bpi I still find I don't want people to stare.

Kath robpi/adult

I have the same struggle, court is the worse for me, I try to just hold the thing out for everyone to get a good hard look at, so they can get over it.
As a cop I have to swear in at court and they do not like you to swear in left handed for some reason.


We should start a commune!!! Nancy, can you get us some government grants to start our own reservation??

YES, "Smithy", let's start a one-armed ONLYCommune. We already have Security!!...Tee Hee

Kath,Amy and Rachel,
There were, and are, still B-A-D Scares that still open(not too forget B-A-D Memories) of being sent alone to YWCA Swimming class back in the early 1950's. It still is a nightmare time for me and sad how I missed out on the joy of swimming until 2 years ago when I went to a Women's ONLY Health Club and spent 4 months working in the pool by myself suntil now I can do a Baby float and crawl with the help from a noodle. To me that is swimming and brought tears of joy that I can relax and not tense up and sink anymore.

HUGS all around,
Carolyn J

Carolyn
I was lucky I learned to swim as a small child.
My older brother was a swimming instructor in the Navy when I was very small.
By the time I was 5/6 I was a swimmer.
I had no idea how I looked when I swam.
Unfortunately, when I was an adult and another "so called adult" made a loud comment about my stroke at a public pool.
In my mind I was using my right arm the same as my left arm.
It was after that comment that I choose never to swim in a public pool again...
I felt as if everyone was watching and before that I never even thought about it.
Amazing how one simple comment can do so much damage to a young person.
I was young and still in my twenties... now I think I would sit that person down educate them and expect an apology

Smithy... I am all for a one armed only commune!
Of course I would like to have two armed servers to prepare our meals and serve them!
My biggest fear as a kid was that I would have to go to court and/or get in trouble and someone would handcuff me.
I guess that is why I never got in trouble as a kid...LOL.

Kath robpi/adult

lol Kath, maybe that is whay we are all good kids. I never got into trouble either and I still have time but no plans here to do anythingthat would get me into trouble!
Amy

Well, I always doggie paddle or float in front of me. I try to swim swim...but only for a while and my arm is actually a lot better than it was after my surgery.

My big joke is that I am just floating around in circles.

The other night at Kayla's baseball game a ball came flying at me as I was sitting in my chair. I had to laugh and make my own joke. I tried to reach out and catch it and missed it by about an inch. I said to my girlfriend I would of caught it but it was my short arm. *L*

She looked at me in shock and said Rachel, why did you just say that. Then we started to laugh. I said why not laugh at some of the finer things in life, like myself.
Hehehe...Anyways, it was just kind of funny that it was heading right towards me and I missed it by an inch.

Rachel
You are too funny!

Kath robpi/adult

I can't swim, either. My mind knows how to do it, but my body won't co-operate. I can't open my eyes under water, or with water flowing down my face (I'm careful in the shower so that the water does not hit me in the face, or cascade down my face). I can't seem to release air while my face is under water. As a result, I have to exhale and then inhale while my head is up, but there just isn't enough time to do this. Also, of course, I can't stroke properly with my LOBPI arm, so I used to go in circles when I tried to swim. I learned to stroke with a diagonal motion. I was always a good kicker, though . Now I just float.

My mother used to get upset every time she thought about the money she'd spent on private swimming lessons for me at our local pool (when I was finally tall enough to go there ). Neither she nor my father could swim. She wanted all of us children to be able to swim. It was such a disappointment to her that I couldn't.

Joanie