United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I too had surgery following a fatal car accident.

Broken collar bone = Nerve root avulsions at C4, C5, C6 and C7. (one level was slightly still intact - I dont know which one)
Initially, nerves were going to be transferred from my ankle to the BP however, nerves were instead transferred from my hand (on the same arm).

The thumb and 1/2 of the forefinger (closest to the thumb) feel as if they have been given a shot of Novocaine. (My thumb ans finger still function however, feels "puffy" and is not as sensitive).

It took nearly A YEAR AND A HALF before I became even REMOTELY able to feel and use my arm. BELIEVE ME, I LOST FAITH / HOPE that my arm was EVER going to work again. (You will learn a GREAT deal of patients. Things you could do before will take longer and often require different approaches).

I was IN THE almost GYM EVERYDAY for about 5 months (on the ellyptical with the "arm thingys" and also doing "pull downs" beginning with 5# and now at 20#).
I can essentially do push ups however, I STRUGGLE to LIFT the weight of a can of soda. (I can PUSH / straighten but struggle to lift / pull / bend). I can only lift my arm about chest height and cannot "swing" mt arm away from my body (like a door swinging open). I can REACH OUT in front of my body far enough to grab hold of the steering wheel in my car. In fact, my car is a "stick shift" requiring BOTH arms to drive and, "LEFTY" can control the steering wheel well enough to turn corners (but not U-turns...almost though)

For 25+ years, I have ridden horses and, thought I would NEVER be able to saddle, bridle and / or ride again. That pessimism only lasted about 3 seconds. Essentially, I CAN do EVERYTHING I did before. I just approach it "differently". MANY daily tasks are accomplished by trial and error before I can do them with ease and efficiency.

Im currently back in college as a Chemistry major and, many of the labs require PRECISION. Often, I do MUCH of my labs on the floor because I cannot lift "LEFTY" high enough above the equipment on the work station. Its funny because people stare and tilt their head's in confusion but, I get the job done and, its done with PRECISION! (It just takes LONGER like pretty much everything else)

THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT but, I can ASSURE YOU that theres really NOTHING that cant be done. You just have to be more creative, patient and be confident and consistent. DONT EVER GIVE UP. DONT BE EMBARRASSED TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENTLY than you did before in order to "get it done".

3 years post op (currently), I do have random pain (both nerves and muscles) however, between the gym and my TENS unit, its "do able". My collar bone was never repaired and only in the last month has JUST NOW began to cause pain at the site of the break (maybe from studying for finals - in a chair with no arms for support)

Its human anture to adapt so, DONT GIVE UP

My accident happened 24 years ago, when I was 22, back when this type of injury was even more difficult to treat. I was lucky to have found some of the best surgeons for this type of procedure in the world at that time, the surgeons at Louisville Hand Surgery, Kutz and Kleinert (now called Kleinert Kutz). I lost most of the use of my right arm, but my right hand still functioned. I have gained more use through tendon transfers, but I never really "recovered" use of the areas affected. I have adapted well enough to carry on a decent life and have been happy to be able to raise my 3 children. I have, however developed a few problems because of my injuries. I now have a condition known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome which causes a sever neuropathic pain along the length of the brachial plexus. It has been very difficult to treat and I have had to endure quite a bit of pain. Also, as a result of the avulsion and the damage caused at the site, my body grew what is known as an arachnoid cyst. Luckily it grew down the length of my spine and not into my brain. This is something that I have to have regular MRIs on to make sure it is not growing and creating a stenosis of the spine. I first noticed this because I like to lie in the floor on my stomach and watch tv with my head propped up on my hands with my elbows on the floor. I would experience quite a bit of pressure inside my head when I would try to lie this way and could no longer bear to lie like this beginning several months after the accident. My life has been difficult in many ways, but I have adapted well and have had a good life in spite of my injuries. I was forced to adapt and found that it helped when switching to my left hand, for things I had always done right handed, if I would bear in mind that things were not opposite, but a mirror image. My left arm operates as a mirror image of my right. Bearing that in mind helped me to more quickly adapt to being now left handed. My hand works great, it is just sometimes difficult to get it where it needs to be in order to use it. I have a way of helping it get there with very subtle help from my left arm/hand. Most people don't even notice that I am helping my right arm with my left.

One more thing before I go back to bed. While we all have this truly horrible injury, we should all bear in mind that we are ALIVE!! Things could certainly have been worse. NEVER take that for granted. Life is precious, we should be glad to have what we still have and not dwell on what we do not have...

My husband has a similar injury in September 2009.. at the time they told us two of the main nerves ripped apart but one stretched and may come back on it's own. Since then he has regained some tricep movement, very little and he just started moving his thumb, when i say moving I mean twitch basically. Butwith therapy hopefully he will improve. He is having amuscle transfer in July so hopefully he will have a functioning arm. You should see Angela's video on what mvement she has gotten. You just need to stay positive and keep up with therapy.

just wanted to say hello and welcome to the forum <and sorry you are here [ha,ha, just kidding]> to those who have just joined. nothing like more input, whatever it is. and christopher, in reality i think i'm just as crazy [if not more] than you so when i go to get my bike out of storage and move it from n.c. to here in st louis no telling what will happen. being a old grease monkey do it yourself type tweaker i suppose this summer i'll be testing my limits of not finding a way just to 'try' it out again. i know i'll love hearing crank. oh well. some of never learn and then some of us share stories that tempt others. once again welcome to the club ya'all. have a great weekend.

WE SHOULD START OUR OWN MC CLUB AND CALL IT "THE ONE ARMED BANDITS !"

I'd like to join the motorcycle club too. Just started riding a modified 2006 Honda 750 Shadow Trike. My husband moved the throttle to the left side, installed an EFI auto-clutch, and the front and rear brakes are controlled with the right foot. It's totally bad-ass.

HI PAT E.
CONGRATS ON THE TRIKE I BET IT'S LOADS OF FUN,I HAVEN'T GOTTEN A CHANCE TO RIDE AGAIN YET BUT I'M WORKING ON IT...THANKS FOR THE INSPIRATION...BE CAREFUL AND HAVE FUN!