United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I agree Momof2

If the doctors says so then I think you should do what he says.BPI are very complicated.

My son has some movement but i cant say he will recover on his own...he doesnt bend his elbow yet. So u do the right thing.

Take care and hope your little one recovers well and soon.

P

hi i gave birth to my daughter on march 4th 2008...my story is very similar to yours...i also want to contact a lawyer...my bf saw that my ob pulled her out very roughly resulting in which they told me temporary paralysis which i saw a specialist right away and was told it was a bpi injury...she was born with a limp arm though had movement in her fingers and wrist...she now can lift her arm up alittle off the ground but cant raise it or bend her elbow....i know how you feel and know what your going through...let me know how everything goes with your babyboy...maybe we can keep in contact through email?

mamaof2,
we are still going through the process of the lawsuit...it is not yet settled. We met with the attorney in March 2006, were notified in Aug 06 that they would take the case, had depositions cancelled twice, finally had my depositions (one in Feb and the other in April of this year). Now they will depose all the defence. It will take another few years until it is settled. It is a long process.-

Ladies, I wish I had better news about that elbow bending thing, but after 1 year and 1 surgery my son still does not bend his. He is wiggling his fingers and using his hand, raising his shoulder and all of the same things you said that you are seeing, However, I don't know if his elbow function will be coming back at all at this point. God willing your children's case will not be as severe as mine was, I pray that your children will all gain full motion.

Denae

We go to Barnes Children in St Louis for my daughters BPI. The team there is great. Maggie had nothing until Dr Parks did surgery on her, they used something other then nerves from her leg to do the surgery so she only has the one scar on her neck, and that seem to work awesomely.

We didnt even see a specialist till Maggie was 10 months old Maggie can bend her arm in but not out, she can raise up to her ears, she has no real wrist movement and very litle fingers.


We live in the Peoria IL area, about three hours from St Louis. Maybe we could meet up sometime while on one of our visits to the hospital.

Hope everything works out great for your child. If ever you want to talk my email is mommieinneed@aol.com

My son had his pre-surgery tests yesterday. They did an Ultrasound of the diaphram, a CT Mylegram, and an MRI. They put him to sleep for the CT and MRI. I was a nervous wreck! He is a little chubby baby, so it was difficult for them to find a vein and also difficult for the spinal tap. He came out just fine though. It took him a little while to suck for his feeding, but today he is back to normal.

Mamaoftwo,

I am an attorney in Boston, if you contact me I can assist you in finding a lawyer. These are very complex cases. You need to be careful and be certain the lawyer has experience in brachial plexus cases. I also suggest you read the information on finding a lawyer in the frequently asked questions section of this website.

Ken Levine
Klevine@Klevinelaw.com
617-566-2700
www.Klevinelaw.com

HI, Our daughter Katie is now 11. She has seen many specilaist. It is a VERY hard decision, one doctor says this, the other that. You have to go with WHAT you feel is best. You can second guess yourself forever. WE have been to see Dr. Nath in Texas, but the specialist's at Shriners are amazing. The Dr. there has been to camp and we really liked him. When Katie had her surgery Dr. Nath took only what the insurance would pay him and billed for nothing more. It was the hospital that was high, but yhey took payments for years.

Legally we did have an attorney, it took almost 5 years to settle the case. It was not enough to cover the bills. I think I would seek the advice of the attorney who always comes to camp. If anyone out there remembers his name??? ( I think his name is Kevin Levine)I say that becasue he has a lot of experience in BPI. If he can't help you he will reccomend someone. It's tough!

Good luck... The best piece of advice I can give you is to come to Camp. You will meet so may people who can help you and your child. It's the best thing we have ever done for Katie and ourselves.

Chris

The lawyer's name is Ken Levine. He posts on our message boards sometimes.

Joanie

So how did the testing go? My son is 6 1/2 months now and was also injured at birth. We too started therapy very early, he was 8 days when they got us in for his first session. He had hand function, but no arm movement. The arm just hung there and was turned in with the waiters tip. We have seen three different specialists, and continue to follow up with all of them. They told us at 2 months that he would probably need the nerve graft, but also they all wanted to wait till around 6 to 8 months to do it so he would have some time to recover on his own. Thankfully just after 3 months old he started to move his arm a little. The past 3 months have been amazing, he still has a long way to go, but has gained a lot of movement. Thankfully, now all the doctors agree that he doesn't need to have the nerve grafts. I did meet a little girl when we were at one of the specialists that has the nerve grafts, she was about 2 and doing great, so they seem to be amazing if you do need them. It's looking like my son will need to have shoulder surgery when he gets a little bigger. So if you do go thru with the surgery, it would be wise to get more than one opinion. Dr Kozin at Shriners in Philly is great. We drove all the way out there from Michigan so see him. It's worth the trip to have the piece of mind that more than one doctor agree on the procedures needed since this is such a complicated injury and the baby is so little.
As far a legal action, good luck, I hope you are successful, I hear it difficult to win. These babies have to go thru so much and they deserve to get everything they can from the doctor that injured them. We have found a lawyer for our son, so far the suit hasn't been filed yet. They need to know the injury will be permanent to be able to file the suit. Good luck, I hope your little sweetie is doing well.