United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi all,
Just got back from my checkup for my 2nd op i had 7 weeks ago.No movement in shoulder or elbow as yet, not even a flicker so its still a waiting and see prognosis. Ive got 3 more months to next visit where im having another EMG. Dr Biggs is still confident i will get movement in my elbow but its hard to keep my hopes up. its 11 months since injury so for all the people on this board who has years ahead of me with this injury i dont know how you all do it.
Its so frustrating and im sick of people saying how is your arm and what did you do when most of them dont give a shit. Sorry guys and thanks for reading. Has anyone got any suggestions on how not to get so frustrated all the time.
Thanks DEAN

Hi Dean,

Yes, the waiting game is hard. And for John, the first flickers of movement after surgery were so tiny we almost missed it (~6 months after surgery when he was in a swimming pool, he discovered he could move his arm).

The main indicator for the delay is the distance the nerve has to grow before it reaches the target muscle. Since they grow so slowly, around 1 inch / month, this can take quite awhile. John's last surgery was April 2003 and it was close to 1.5 years for the last two muscles to get innervated - since those nerves had to grow the furthest.

All that to say, keep doing your therapy in the meantime - and estim is very important to keep the muscles viable - and stay active on the boards to keep your spirits up.

Take care & keep us posted,

Ellen

As Ellen says the waiting SUCKS but it is the only thing that we can do! Do your physio, if you are doing it and your e-stim if you are oding it and keep your head up (unless it hurts). You will come through this with flying colors! Just an FYI, my last op was 22 months ago and I am STILL seeing signs of recovery!!!!

COurt xx

Hi Dean, I am almost 9 years post BPI and yeah, I reeeeeallllly got tired of all the questions about my arm. I would repeat my story probably 10 times a day. It got to the point to where I thought about making some pamphlets and passing them out!!! LOL So, I finally just took the sling off I wore, let the damn thing hang, and the questions stopped. The looks never will though. You just hafta look at it as people are just nosey. They see something different about someone and just hafta know what happened. Why, I don't know. Just human nature I guess. In time, you will learn how to deal with the questions, the looks, the pointing and so on. Just ignore it as best you can, and be grateful YOU are still able to share your story. If you're like me, that's a story in itself. Be strong Brother....

Dean..Amy is right.

If you are wearing a sling all the time, then you will get questions all the time. If you have no real medical reason for using one 24/7, then my best advice to you is get rid of it. It was the second best thing I ever did after I got the BPI. Not only did the questions stop, I got back some of my self eteem and didn't feel like a crip anymore.

Good luck with your recovery...it does take a long time for any results to show up unfortunately..it's the nature of the injury and what we and they (the Drs ) have to deal with.

Keep your chin up mate...:0)

Liz B

Thank You all for the support and well wishes,good luck to you all.
Its hard at the moment having to fill out insurance forms and trying to deal with money payouts etc. It just doesnt go away. Will take one day at a time and hopefully something will happen one day.
DEAN LAIRD.