NEW INJURY AND SCARED

[admin]

HI ALISON,
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE DOC'S NAME IN TORONTO. I SEE MY ORTHO ON WEDNESDAY. IF HE IS GOING TO TLEE ME TO SIT AROUND AGAIN FOR ANOTHER 3 WEEKS HE CAN FORGET IT. I HAVEN'T EVEN HAD AN MRI YET. I WANT ANSWERS. THANK YOU AND I WILL LET YOUKNOW HOW IT GOES. KAREN

[admin]

HI MIKEY:
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ADVICE. I DO SEE MY ORTHO ON WEDNESDAY AND I DO HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS FOR HIM. LIKE GETTING AN MRI OR CT SCAN. YES, THAT IS HOW I AM FEELING TOO. I FEEL LIKE MY ARM IS GOING TO ROT AWAY AND FALL OFF. I HATE THE NIGHTS. I CAN'T SLEEP AT ALL. THE BURNING SENSATIONS AND THE ITCHINESS DRIVE ME UP THE WALL. I DO MASSAGE MY ARM A LOT BUT IT DOESN'T SEEM TO DO ANYTHING. I WILL WAIT FOR WED. AND TAKE IT FROM THERE. I APPRECIATE YOUR INPUT.
REGARDS, KAREN

[Henry]

Hi Karen,

I am a patient of Raj Midha and can vouch for him. He is a very good and compasionate doctor.

Henry

[admin]

HI HENRY,

WHAT WAS YOUR INJURY? SIMILAR TO MINE? I SEE AN ORTHO HERE ON WED. AND I WANT TO REQUEST AN MRI OR CAT SCAN. SOMETHING. I DON'T WANT TO SIT AROUND AND WAIT FOR SOMETHING TO HAPPEN. DOES RAJ MIDHA REQUIRE YOU TO HAVE HAD THIS DONE FIRST OR COULD I GO TO HIM AND HE TAKES IT FROM THERE? I AM DESPARATE. I AM STAYING WITH MY PARENTS NOW IN THORNBURY. I FEEL COMPLETELY ISOLATED OUT HERE. I JUST WANT TO GET SOMETHING HAPPENING WITH THIS. YOU CAN E-MAIL ME AT MY OWN ADDRESS: kggunns@hotmail.com

I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU.
THANKS KAREN

[ronin]

Hey Karen --All I can tell you is what's worked for me and what I've
heard from others. It's been pretty much across the board that alcohol is the WORST thing for it. Alcohol is a very potent neurotoxin. Same with caffine and nicotine to a certain extent. Your body uses b-12 as a building block to repair nerve damage (to my understanding)--I know that it helps me feel better and I seem to have more energy.ALSO if you have problems eating--buy a good brand of amino acids. Aminos are the 'building blocks' of muscle tissue and taking them as per directions will also help pick your appetite up.it's been a long 10 yrs of trial & error for me, but I was a pretty hard-core body builder and I had a little knowledge about supplements ect so that seems to be paying off now.
Now-- about your mental frame of mind... you could be in a wheel chair or strapped to a back-board taking your meals thru tubes for the rest of your life. Your brains could be scrambled eggs and you might not remember your own name. You could have wound up in a lot worse trouble-- no matter how bad we feel-- how much pain we have-- whatever we've lost forever-our bodies, our careers, lovers, family ect., there are many many more who lost more-- who suffered more. The fact that we are here--typing and talking to each other--HELPING each other-- is a miricle. Because there are many, many more who are shut away, lost forever, those who will never be on this forum because they simply have ceased to be participants in life.
Karen, PLEASE try to remember that we are the lucky ones.Chris Reeve, you, me---we can ask questions--seek help. There are many more who can't. Hang in Babe--I think you're gonna be a-o.k.
As far as pain goes--I'm on 20mgs methadone/day and 15-30mgs restoril at bed time BUT I have a worst case scenario injury. Try tylenol 3 or ultram. 10mgs oxycontin/12 hrs works fair. But remember I try to take just enough to be able to function. Morphine sux for me. But Benzodiazepines taken sparingly work well but Drs won't prescribe those. A WORD OF ADVICE: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TREAT PAIN SYMPTOMS WITH WITH S.R.I.s such as PROZAC-PAXIL-ZOLOFT. These drugs are not for pain and you MUST treat the PAIN BEFORE you treat the chemical depression. YOU WILL BE SUSEPTABLE TO A CONDITION CALLED 'A PSYCOTIC BREAK' and you will wind up in the nut house. S.R.I.'s ARE not miracle drugs and they can be VERY dangerous.
OK--THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED HERE ARE MINE GATHERED THRU PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND I DO NOT CONDONE OR CONDEMN ANYTHING HERE. SOME WORKED FOR ME--SOME WERE HELL. CONSULT YOUR DR. Please remember--you are going to be 0.k. I still ride my motorcycle 1-armed, I have a beautiful able bodied woman who loves me--I'm looking for a job and I'm hoping to get that trophy turkey ths season.(I'm a minor celeb round here bein' the one armed biker)--life's good.--please contact me via my e-mail adress anytime you want. Ronin
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[admin]

HI RONIN,

WELL I THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR MUCH APPRECIATED HELP. MY DAD ALSO THANKSYOU. I AM SO GRATEFUL THAT I CAME ACROSS THIS WEB SITE BY FLUKE. I HAD NO IDEA THERE WAS THIS KIND OF HELP OUT THERE. I AM GOING TO MY G.P. THIS AFTERNOON. I NEED SOME MEDICATION FOR THE PAIN. IT IS UNBEARABLE AT NIGHT. DURING THE DAY IT ISEN'T TOO BAD. I SEE MY ORTHO TOMORROW. I WANT A CT DONE OR MRI TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS. I WANT TO KNOW THE EXTENT OF THE DAMAGE.

THANKS AGAIN RONIN AND I WILL EMAIL YOU AS WELL.

REGARDS, KAREN

[Dave m]

Hi Karen, to be honest i don't know how you are coping with NO pain relief????!! I clearly remember stopping all pain meds for 24 hours 1 month after the accident in preparation for surgery.. my BPI arm was torture at that time, even touching it was terrible, and they give you no pain relief?? Unbelievable.. Jacko is right that long term use of drugs brings its own challenges, but in the early days, hey if it helps it helps. Best not to get dependent on them though, very tough choices.
It is very early days for you and I hope you get to see an experienced specialist ASAP, keep posting and good luck!

Dave

[admin]

HI DAVE,

THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT. I ACTUSLLY SAW MY ORTHO DOC TODAY AND INSISTED ON SOME MEDS. ONE WAS NEUROTIN? I AM NOT SURE OF THE SPELLING. I AM NOT COVERED FOR THAT MED SO IT IS TOO EXPENSIVE FOR ME. HE GAVE ME ONLY 10 DAYS WORTH AND ALSO PERCOCET. I AM SCHEDULED TO GO FOR AN EMG AND GET PHYSIO NEXT WEEK. HE SAID THAT IF THE NERVES ARE STRETCHED THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE I WILL GET RECOVERY BACK BUT IF TORN, THEN I PROBABLY WON'T GET THE USE OF MY ARM OR HAND AND HE SAID THAT SURGERY WAS NOT A GOOD IDEA. NOW AFTER READING A LOT OF THESE POSTS, QUITE A FEW OF YOU HAVE HAD SURGERY. MAYBE I SHOULD SEEK OUT ANOTHER SPECIALIST? WHAT DO YOU THINK? THANKS,
KAREN MY EMAIL IS kggunns@hotmail.com

[Suzie]

Hi Karen!! Just saw your message--I am sure you are scared--remember that feeling well--but I am the wife of a wonderful guy who sustained a TBPI July 2003, not the patient!--while he didn't have tha pain you seem to be having, he did have a "dead arm" from above the elbow down, then within a week from above the wrist down---We are in Maryland and have a BPI specialist from Johns Hopkins who is great--our Orthopedic guy just kept saying "wait and see about the nerve damage", at the same time telling us how severe of an injury it was--safred the heck out of us--as did the specialist when I finally took the bull by the horns myself and got David some help!--(He is married to one stubborn RN, I'm afraid!!) I WILL tell you things looked pretty bleak about a month ago, but feeling and motion are slowly returning for David--the key I think is getting a specialist and getting--no DEMANDING, the best care you can from the medical community, and from yourself!!!--this is a life-altering injury-even if hopefully only a temproary one! As to your pain--I am a Hospice RN, and deal with symptom management in patients--pain of course being #1--you obviously have nerve pain (duh!)from your symptoms, and seems to me you could cope with everything a whole lot better and speed your healing if you were not fighting the pain and you were getting your proper rest---you have been thru a traumtic event, and it takes a toll--if your body says sleep, then do it!! I would suggest something like Neurontin, or even something as simple as Amytriptilline(eleavil), which is a tricyclic antidepressant that works great with nerve pain(we have different types of pain-visceral, bony, and nerve- and different meds work better than others on different types of pain)-those in conjunction with something like Percocet might just do the trick--ask your doctor--but don't let them say you HAVE to be in pain--you shouldn't!!! Also, I know David has been taking B complex vitamins every day, and I have been massaging his arm and doing range-of motion exercises daily--it is VERY important to keep your arm's muscles from tightening up--from the fingertips to shouldser!! Anyway, I hope this finds you improving, and that maybe some of this will help you--keep your chin up--I know it's hard--keep checking back on this website for enouragement and info--it's great!!

Suize

[KGGUNNS]

HI SUIZE,
WELL THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR ADVICE AND GOOD ADVICE AT THAT. I HAVE LEARNT A LOT IN THE PST WEEK SINCE I HAVE BEEN CHECKING INTO THESE POSTINGS. YESTERDAY, I SAW MY ORTHO AND HE IS GOING TO BOOK ME AN EMG. HE SAID BASICALLY THAT THERE MIGHT NOT BE A LOT OF HOPE FOR ME IF THE NERVES ARE TORN. I WON'T ACCEPT THAT. HE SAIUD THAT IF THEY ARE STRETCHED I WILL HAVE A BETTER CHANCE OF MY ARM AND HAND COMING BACK. WHAT HAS MADE THE DIFFERENCE FOR YOUR HUSBAND? DID THE BP SPECIALIST DO SOMETHING?

I AM GOING TO PHYSIO NEXT WEEK AND GETTING A SPLINT MDE FOR MY HND BECAUSE OF MY FINGERS HOW THEY CURL UP. THIS IS SCARY SHIT AND WITH THE TECHNOLOGY THESE DAYS, I WOULD THINK THAT SOMETHING CAN BE DONE. I WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED. THANKS.
KAREN MY EMAIL ADDRESS AT HOME IS: kggunns@hotmail.com