United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi all....certain aspects of this injury have struck me as being weird, one of them is if the severity of it is linked to whether the injured person was unconcious during or shortly after the accident or whatever caused it. Aldo, whether the injured arm was previously the dominant one?? I'm sure these questions were on here before, but I can't find it...

Hello - just found this site after almost 1 year with a useless hand. Laughed so hard I cried at some of the old posts by the Brits, trying to figure out how to "use" their printless hand in a life of crime. Myself - C7, C8, T1 resected during surgery (told I might have some disability of the fourth & fifth digits) hmmm - surgeon forgot to mention the rest of my hand.

Hi,
Linsy from Northern maine. TBPI due to snowboarding accident 3 yrs ago.

Hey Linsy tell us more about it...... Paul

Thought I'd say hi to everyone. I'm very new to this and had no idea so many people had bpi. My daughter has left bpi from birth. She is 8 months old and we are in Cape Girardeau, MO
God Bless All of you!!!

just joined today after many weeks of denial - i was hoping for a surgical option that may result in quicker healing. so here it goes:

42 year old single mother injured 11-9-02.
LTBPI caused by my horse falling on me (story too long to type right now)

I live in Bayside, NY USA

Hi,
Well, I got run into while snowboarding 3 years ago. I had surgery July 23, 2002. They did a nerve transplant from my leg to my biceps and a tendon transfer in which they took flexors from my wrist and fingers and moved them on top so i would be able to extend. Currently, i can extend my wrist and thumb, and have started to feel a flicker in my biceps. Still waiting for my fingers to extend.

Linsy

The only surgery I had was to fix my fracture and dislocation on my humerous, which they put a rod down with 2 screws on each end. My fracture was a non-union for over a year. I started with only movement in my fingers but nothing in my shoulder, arm or scapula. I had an EMG that diagnosed my brachial plexis injury. I was told I would never regain the use of my arm. I got a frozen shoulder and my scapula (shoulder blade) was frozen also. After accupuncture and electrical stimulus of the muscles started I could bend my arm at the elbow, that was about 6 months after the accident. My shoulder and scapula took much longer. After the fracture healed they removed the screws which were impending on my axillary and radial nerve in my arm during that surgery he broke up my frozen shoulder. I went to acupuncture followed by physical therapy 3 to 4 times a week. The physical therapist would just do range of motion to my arm because I was unable to do that, expecially over my head. It took a long time and the pain was terrible but the acupuncture really helped the pain. I still have numbness in my forearm because the fracture is where the radial nerve wraps around the humerous and I still have weakness in the back of my arm and shoulder and scapula because of my axillary nerve damage but as long as I keep up my strength training I can maintain my strength. I lift weights 2 to 3 times a week. My right shoulder has taken a beating too just from being over used. I truly believe that the acupuncture with the electrical stimulus helps the nerves to take the correct pathway when regenerating and helps to stimulate the muscles passed the nerve injury to reduce muscle atrophy while the nerve is regenerating.
I am an intensive care nurse, I wasn't use to being taken care of and I hated it. I am so proud to say that I will be returning to work the first week in February in open heart intensive care. It has been over 3 years since my accident. If I could help anyone with there injury so that they could get the same result that I have I will.
Oh yea, last but not least, I have God to thank because with him anything is possible.

Gena

jim from texas - tbpi from bike (human powered) crash while training for race in jul'01. since then, in the words of jerry garcia, "what a long, strange trip it's been".

up to the top again......