United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I was wondering what i should expect after surgery? Like what comes back 1st? How long before you see things happen? I had all my nerves from C5-T1 avulsed. My surgery is coming up on November 23rd.

Hi Tyson,

Since nerves grow about an inch per month, your expectation of movement will depend on the length the transferred nerve needs to grow in order to innervate the muscle. Your doctor can tell you. Once the nerve makes contact, at first you'll just see a little "twitch", but as you progress with physical therapy the signal & muscle movement can grow stronger.

Hope that helps.

Ellen

Tyson,
At Mel's first follow up visit at 4 months, the doctor did a "squeeze test" on Mel's bicep. When he squeezed her muscle she could feel it in her chest below her rib cage. That was a positive sign. At about 5 months her bicep contracted when she did some purse lipped breathing. Now at 6 months she can contract her bicep at will and move her arm slowly on a flat surface a short distance. She can't do anything against gravity yet but she sure has come a long way! All 5 of her nerves were avulsed also. You have a lot to look foward to. Stay positive!

Thank you very much for the responses. Another question I forgot to ask was Does your physical condition before injury help with better recovery? I know age does make a difference.

Yes, Tyson it does! The better shape your in (more physically active) and the healthier your diet is, the more your body is producing replacement cells from it's own adult stem cells. And the lower your stress (which exercise reduces) the more in balance your immune system is, so it supports your over all health. Read the post I just put up about fasting and nerve regeneration. Good Luck!

Christopher

My surgery was in Febuary 2006. I was told I was going to feel a twitch, but nothing. I went for my follow up in July. I was told everything was fine, but I didn't feel any better or any difference. Then when I was in the Carribean in the water, my arm moved alil.

When you get out of surgery, they'll probably put one of those uncomfortable casts for 3 weeks. Then when you take it off, they want you to do range of motion. Youre' arm will be stiff. Don't go nuts and hurt yourself. Do things little by little. Have someone help you stretch.

Can't help but compare and wonder. My son had a transfer surgery in March of last year (avulsed C5-T1). It seems he can move his shoulder better and has sensation down his upper arm but no movement. This seems much less than what other people are describing...I can't imagine he'll be ready for the gracilis muscle transfer 1 year later if the nerves still have so far to grow to his hand....any feedback? Thanks, Michele

Hi Michele,

Have your son do like Peter & get in a pool. Having to work against gravity can make those initial "twitches" seem nonexistent. With the weightleess environment of water, sometimes there can be a lot more movement than you'd expect. My son's experience was like Peter's. He was in a friend's pool at a July 4th party, and called me over. He had full avulsion of all five bp nerves, and he was sitting there moving his arm all over the place. That was the first we'd known he had any movement at all & I completely freaked out.

John's therapy (with professionals, that is) began to include one session a week in a swimming pool.

Take care,

Ellen

thank you or the reply...We'll go to the therapy pool today. Michele

Well my surgery went very well. It was just over 8 hrs. The Dr's got enough nerves from my chest/rib area to do the graft without having to take any nerves from my leg. They cut me from just below my ear to the middle of my chest. I got about 100 staples. The good thing is the pain I had before the surgery is gone but im sore around the areas of the incisions. Im in an arm sling for the next 3 weeks then I can start all my therapy again. Is there anything that I should look out for while in the recovering stages?