United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

For John, the contralateral C7 was to innervate his bicep. Right about now would be the soonest Mayo would expect to see anything - so we'll have to wait 'til the next visit/EMG unless we observe something ourselves sooner.

But at least I can tell you the good arm & legs haven't been compromised by the "donation".

Ellen

How realistic is it to think that such an operation will get the triceps working? And is getting the deltoid to work impossible?

I'm sorry for asking so many question. I still can't believe I have a paralyzed arm. It seems like all my hopes get crushed everytime I speak to the doctor. I think I'd be much more miserable if I didn't find this place.

Andre,

The options that can be offered to any bpi patient are based on a number of factors that make it impossible to take any comparisons too literally - such as length of time since injury, age & health of patient, any other injuries from the accident that might limit what a surgeon could do for the bp, what that particular doctor can offer based on his/her experience, etc. I can tell you what has been done for John & how it's working, but I wouldn't want anyone to make too many assumptions based on that.

Since all five bpi nerves were avulsed, John has had five functional & one sensory nerve transferred over: the contralateral C7, phrenic, 3 intercostals for function & another intercostal for sensory in his hand. Sural nerves were taken from both legs for nerve grafting, as well as the gracilis muscles. As I wrote earlier, there have been no problems w/the donor sites (good arm, lung, chest, legs).

The functional transfers were for his tricep, bicep, deltoid & the two gracilis muscles (which in turn give shoulder/elbow, and hand flexion). The C7 is for his deltoid & phrenic for his bicep, and these aren't yet working but it would be early for them to at this point. Everything is progressing on schedule - and John will go back to Mayo in June for his next checkup/EMG.

Based on some earlier posts on this thread, it sounds like a good idea to find some other doctors you could also see for other opinions - as well as ask for referrals. (Any chance you could talk to Mayo?) And keep up what you're already doing: asking LOTS of questions & learning all you can.

Take care & know we're all pulling for you.

Ellen

I don't think my parents can afford to go out of the Kaiser realm for surgery. We are trying to get a 2nd opinion from a widely respected neurosurgeon in UCLA who has helped people use their arms after it was mangled. I'm not assure if he will be able to give us any direction for bpi, but its worth a try.

Is there any BPI patient that has got their tricep back from a cross-neck surgery? And how long did it take to get the movement back. Also, was the numbness in the good arm fingers temporary?

Finally, is getting the "lift" back to the arm impossible after a c5,c6,c7 avulsion?

I saw the doctors a few days ago and they decided to try to save my deltoid. Has anyone had a cross-neck surgery for the deltoid? Are the chanced for it to work good? And can anyone give me some tips to control my sanity after the surgery? I'm really scared about this operation and I will probably be dissapointed after I wake up.

Hi, I know you are a young person from your prior postings. If it is very hard for grown ups to keep our sanity, maybe for young people is even worse. By the way, with this I don't mean anything bad. I think you need to talk to your family and friends and express your fears I think you will feel more comfortable afterwards. Like Ellen said every injury is different and nobody can tell you for sure what will happen. Also, is very good to ask lots of questions to your Doctors. God bless you.

What scares me is what my doctors don't know. They don't know how badly my arm will suffer from the "donation", how my legs will suffer, and if the operation will be successful. I guess you can say I'm scared of the unknown.

Of course you're scared, anybody sensible would be scared, but all you can do is what you're doing, ask questions. C7 cross lateral transfer has been done for quie a while now as others here have said, and age is on your side if that's any comfort. Can your surgeon put you in touch with anyone else who had this procedure? Do your parents know how worried you are about this? It's tough when things uncertain, but surgeons rarely make any kind of guarantees and if I met one that did I'd run a mile!
Let us know what you decide Andre
Jen NZ

hey

I have very little tricep. "one unit" the EMG guy said. they used the contralateral C7 (cross-neck) surgery to intervate bicep. I do not have any bicep yet, but we are not expecting to see any results until ~June.

As far as numbness goes. there is basically nothing- no problem. I have a tiny spot on the outside of each foot that is numb due to the sural nerves. the tingling in my fingers went away whithin a couple of weeks. I also experienced weakness in my good tricep, but that was easily compensated by lifting weights to make up in muscle what I had lost in nerves.

for me, I saw much improvement in my arm- a very good feeling- after surgery.

If you decide to have surgery, you should be over the hill and on the road to recovery.

john

before my first surgery, I was terrified. I didn't trust my doctors. especially since I only met them a few days before. Now I look up to them so much.

john