United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I had a nasty snowmobile accident on febuary 17th. Been out of the hospital about one and a half months. I received a TBPI to my right arm. None of the doctors around here seem know very much about options for me so im going to the mayo soon. Just wanted to say thanks for the message boards they have helped me with a lot of questions. Its pretty tough trying to become a one armed expert practically overnight. Especially when it hurts like heck! I don't know the extent of my injury's yet but I only have shoulder shrugs and trace bicep.

Welcome to the boards. I think you are doing the right thing in going to Mayo. They should be able to answer a lot of questions you have. Good luck, keep reading and let us know how it goes.
Sue

If you want to continue sledding, give me a shout. I'm a one armed sledder from way back!!

Henry

Thank you Sue. This injury has been really tough on the the whole family. I was wondering if anyone ever completly recovers from this horrible perdicament. Guess im just shooting for some hope of full recovery. It was a tough day yesterday, I went to a benefit for my dead best friend who was the one who hit me on the snowmobile. Guess the emotions are running wild.

Oh by the way, any good advice on where to stay at the mayo in MN, how long should I expect to stay, easy to get lost, ect... I am still waiting for an appointment but should be going soon.


Thank you again
T.O.

We usually stay at the Kahler Inn and Suites. We chose it because it has a pool and workout room. Also when we first went Dustin wasn't able to walk well. It's right accross the street. However most of the hotels do have a free shuttle that runs between them and the Mayo. No, you shouldn't have a problem getting lost. It's quite an awesome place. All the buildings are connected via underground subway, which is a large tunnel system. Not sure what your loss is in the arm so don't know what to tell you about recovery. But, no it is very rare that someone fully recover. Mostly it's a matter of what you get back. You may gain function. It all depends. Do you know if you have avulsions? Did they do an EMG? My son was injured on 11/2/05. No avulsions. He has full hand function. They did go in at 6 mos as that's the outside for a nerve graph and since they didn't find avulsions they cleaned out scar tissue. He has had increased movement when out of gravity but still can't move in gravity. Thus he is scheduling a muscle transfer this summer. Hand isn't much good if you can't lift the arm. Unfortunately the nerves take a long time to heal.
At his first Mayo appts he was scheduled the first day for in intake evaluation with Dr. Daube. Then he had an EMG that lasted 2 hrs (very thurough). Then an MRI. The second day he met with the team (drs. Spinner, Bishop, and Shin). They again evaluated the arm and gave their opinions and a plan of treatment. At this time they scheduled him to come back in 2 mos as that would be 6 mos post accident. They also set a tenative surgery date for the day following this second set of tests.
So sorry to hear of the loss of you friend. It's hard enough to have to deal with this loss of your arm function. Wow that put's a whole other area to deal with too. Best of luck and keep in touch. You will find a great source of info and support on these boards.
Sue

Thanks for the advice Sue. Finaly got an appointment, leaving in a month for Mayo. As far as tests go I had an EMG done by a doe doe head for a doc. No good results from that. Today I got a MRI and found no avulsions from the spine, dont know about the rest yet. I am thrilled that I finnaly got some good news. PT is slow but it does seem like I am making progress. Its so small that its hard to tell. I cant wait to get to the Mayo and see some doctors that know what the hecks going on. At least then I can get some better answeres. This injury sucks and its hard on everyone. I thank you for the help and wish you and Dustin the best of luck. I will keep posting to let you know what happens next.

T.O. 24yrs old RTBPI

Keep your chin off your chest!

Hey T, sorry to hear about your friend and your accident. You're right about the emotions running wild. Take it day by day. Glad to hear you do have an appt for Mayo. Meanwhile, do what you can, keep moving, keep working and go from there.

I've seen it written several times before, but welcome to the club no one ever really wants to join lol

I think you'll still be able to ride. Last summer I bought my first motorcycle. I am LBPI, and I modified all the controls to go to the right side. It takes some practice to get the hang of the coordination and control, but its totally doable. So, no worries there. Its all about what you want to do.

Take care.

Twoods, always keep your head up, no matter how difficult times may get for you. Think of it this way, you could have died. But your life has been spared! You are here for a reason....Fred

T,
No avulsions is great!! After the accident Dustin just started with shoulder shruggs too. Now he has quite a bit of movement. All hand and lower arm with slightly less supination, think that is from a sever break in the wrist. Laying on the floor or in water he can move it like normal. Just trying to gain enough strength in the bicep to move in gravity. Today he said "hey I think the scapula wasn't working right, I just felt it move". He is 18 mos post accident and things are still progressing slowly. Tricep is working very well. Some loss of movement in shoulder also but has strengthened it enough to stop the sublexation. Keep working!! It's small steps but good you can notice them. At first we took like a skateboard and had him move that back and forth and in and out on the tabletop. This had no resistnace at it took all he could do to move it just a few times.
Sue

Iam a avid snowmobiler and had freak accident with a drunk driver at 1:30 in th afternoon. I had damage to five nerves and had surgery at the mayo clinic and Iam doing much better. Iam also from ny I would like to talk to you call me at 914 557 8536 Brian--- Iam sorry to here about your accident but I hope that maybe talking to someone that has ben down that path will help. Oh ya I do ride again my life is not over nor the desire to ride . We must continue to live our lives. Good luck