United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hey Brooke!I am ruthie and im 14...you prolly know this if u got the e-mail i tried to send you ..i hope u got it! but if u didnt PLEASE tell me and i'll get it to ya! talk to ya lata! ~*~rUtHiE~*~
P.s.~its too cool to have some1 close to my age posting!

Brooke:
I'm a 64 year old who was injured at birth so I'm old enough to be your grandfather!! Frankly, I can't recall too many of the details of being 12 years old not because I have a poor memory at my age but because a lot has happened since then!! For me, my injury has been more of an inconvenience than a problem but all of our injuries are different and we adapt our lives and compensate accordingly.

Your injury sounds very similar to mine: I can lift my arm to about head level and have about half the strength of my left arm. I have pretty good hand strength but can't rotate it inward very far. I had lots of physical therapy when I was young also and surgery to help with my range of motion when I was 13. However, I credit the physical therapy with the recovery I have achieved. The surgeries performed now are much better developed and produce better results.

You have already gotten some excellent responses from others but I'll repeat the suggestion to talk to your parents about your concerns and show them the resources of the UBPN web site. You deserve answers to your questions and a knowledgeable physician is the best person to talk to.

John P.

Thank You Ruthie and John! I did not get your email Ruthie, maybe if you try again? I have talked to my parents about my arm but they don't know what to do.

Hi Brooke

I am Kath and I am right OBPI and 64. I am glad you found all this information about your arm.
Please ask your parents to read some of the information on the website share this with them.

If they have any questions they need help with I will be happy to write to them.So many things have changed over the years in the way that this injury is treated but not every doctor has had experience with this injury. Nice to meet you



They can contact me by e-mail KathM@ubpn.org
I am on the Board of Directors of UBPN and would love to hear from them.

Kath

Hey Brooke! its ruthie! alrighty...i hope this gets to u this time. LoL! i have a right obpi which is just a fancy way of saying my injury is to my right arm and it happened at birth. I have done all of the therapy just like you, but somehow it just has never done what i have hoped it would, which is why my mom and i found this site and looked into sugery. I am going down to texas childrens hospital over spring vacation, hopefully to get some surgery to give me the greatest possible range of motion. I TOTALLY know what you mean when u say ur scared cus i am too, but i also know that these doctors know their stuff and see tonz of BPI patients. Do u live in or near a town who has a specialist that could possibly look at your arm?!?! i have gone to several doctors in the past year and half. They all have different suggestions. Tell your parents that if they want some good advice and nice people to talk to, that they should give a call down to Texas Childrens hospital. ok thats it for now so please write me back anytime! talk to ya lata! ~*~rUtHiE~*~

Hello Ruthie. You are so lucky you are getting surgery! I know you probobly are very scared but your arm will be better! I am not going to get surgery anytime soon atleast but I still am scared for any srugery to come. I live in Ontario, Canada and that's no where near Texas. There might be some help close by but I am not sure right now. Well I gotta run! Bye bye!

Hey Brooke! ya...i guess it will be pretty cool if they can do something to help but there is no garuntee. Do u have any desire to have sugery?!? I didnt really until it started becoming an annoyance to me and it started to hurt me. LOL, well Onterio and Texas r pretty far apart there! haha. What kind of things feel restricting for u?! like for me its turning my hand over and raising my hand above my head. ok well ill talk to ya lata! ~*~rUtHiE~*~