United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi, my name is Andrew,on December 7, 2001 i had a snowmobile accident with my brother in law i had a complete BPI.I am 15 years old.I have just had surgery to repair some of the nerves. There were two nerves taken from my legs and transferred up to the C5,6,7 nerves. It was a long surgery (16 hrs) Now I just have to keep hoping that they will take. I was very happy to find this website, it would be great if some one could talk to me about controlling the phantom pain in my hand, any suggestions? it feels like my ahnd is wrapped in tight rubber bands. Hope to hear from anyone soon.

Hello Andrew,

Welcome to our brachial plexus injury community, glad you found us. Where do you live? I'm guessing it is not in Arizona (where I am) given that you were riding a snowmobile I know of another youngster injured in a snowmobile accident (from Minnesota I think) that I can get you in contact with if you like.

Hope you are doing well, glad to see you online and I'm sure you will find lots of people here to help out with support.

Bridget

Hello Bridget,
Thankyou for replying to my message. That would be great if I could contact the person in Minnisota. To answer your question I live in Dawson Creek, British Columbia , Canada. Do you yourself have a brachial plexus injury? My biggest problem is dealing the problem right now, any suggestions? Have a good day.
Andrew

Hi Andrew,

I am the mom of an 8-year old boy, Ian. Ian was injured at birth. I will contact the family I mentioned earlier and see if they can get online and connect with you. If you like, please email me with your address and phone number and I will pass it off to them.

I'm sure some of the others who frequent these boards will be able to chime in on the topic of pain relief, it is a very common subject. Hope you can find some help soon.

Thanks,
Bridget

Hi Andrew, sorry to hear about your injury, 15 is young to deal with this stuff but it seems like you're doing great! i know another Canadian guy with an injury like yours, i'll ask him to mail you. The pain is a bloody nuisance at the best of times, it does fade with time (altho it's raining here today and my arm is stinging like crazy) but it's apparently worst during the time when the nerves are (hopefully) regenerating. Keep us posted with your recovery, I had no surgery so i can't be of much help there but i have lived with my bpi for a long time so any questions either mail me (you can mail anyone by clicking on their name) or post a question here, someone usually knows the answer. Take care :0) Jenny NZ

Hi Andrew, my name is Paul(everyone else calls me sel) & I had my tbpi in Feb 99 in a climbing accident up the north of Scotland, I have a paralyzed left arm & I'm in a lot of pain, (as have most other folk with this injury) there is a drug called nurontin that helps me a little bit but it does'nt work for everybody I had surgery aswell, it lasted 12 hours & they took nerves from the bottom of my arm(left one) but it turned out it was'nt succesfull. But it takes about 18 months to find out, but just because it did'nt work for me does'nt mean it won't work for you, about the pain, it is harder when the nerves are trying to knit together you have to try & keep yourself busy to take your mind off the pain. Try & do as many of your hobbies as you can, yuor aswell doing them sore rather than not doing them atall, you will get through the hard times, just keep everybody on the site informed you will get plenty of support here. Hope everything goes great for you & you have a great recovery.

take care
bigsel

Hi Andrew.....very sorry about your accident. You sound as if you have a great attitude though, and that will go a long way. I was hurt at work back in October 99. I havn't had any surgery, because the doctors were pretty sure I hadn't avulsed any nerves. But I still have lots of pain to deal with everyday, and you already know that it's not easy. I had the same tightening/burning pain you mentioned. Mine lasted a good eight to ten months before it let up a little, but it did ease up to some degree. I was taking three different kinds of prescription medication to help, and now it seems that aspirin and Tylenol help a bit to control the sharper pain. I hope that with time your pain will lessen to where it doesn't bother you as much. In the meantime, be sure to tell your doctor about your pain, and let him know you are hurting. He can prescribe something to help you out. Good luck with your treatment, and I hope your surgery is VERY successful. Nice to meet you,

George

Welcome Andrew, nice to have you here. I am a 37 year old left TBPI. I had my car accident October of 1991. I have had a total of three seperate surgeries. All gave back SOME use of my hand or arm. I still have limited use of my left side. The doctors were very clear with me that they were just trying to give me a few good days out of all the bad. I think we accomplished that.

Let me see...the pain... I am not sure if the pain gets better or we just get better at dealing with it! We all have little tricks that work for us. A heating pad works well for me when I really ache. Resting my arm on a pillow to take the weight off my shoulder is a good one for me. I do everything I can to avoid my shoulder getting cold. Cold is the worst for me!

If there is anything I can answer for you let me know. Either post here or email me directly. I have a son just a few years older than you. I "speak" teen! Or atleast I like to think I do! LOL

Joy

Hi Andrew,

welcome to the boards. I had an accident in Jan 2000, had exploratory surgery and luckily all nerves were in continuity. I would say my recovery so far has been pretty good. I just had a second surgery to restore finger and wrist extension.

I just wanted to wish you all the best with your recovery and pain management. I can't help u with the pain issue because I'm one of the few people here without pain (or very little).

Ciao, Athos

Hi Andrew, sorry to hear you've found one of the ways to get this injury (the snowmobile) mine was on a motorcycle. Of course no-one can make promises with this but you'll be pleased to hear my PT who is very experienced in treating tbpi told me the younger and healthier the patient the better chance of recovery, from the trauma and surgery - so teens have a better chance than 20's, who have a better chance than 30's etc. Every injury is different but i hope you get good recovery you've a long way to go yet! the pain is a difficult one, it can be masked a bit by some painkillers but there are side effects to ask about, almost everyone says it lessens in time tho. Good luck let us know how you go :O)