United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi Everyone

My name is Karen and my injury occurred on June 16, 2007. I was on St. Thomas heading back to St. Croix on what is called the fast ferry when the captain of the boat hit a wave the wrong way. The boat dropped and I was lifted up and when the boat came back up my elbow hit the rail, causing my shoulder to dislocate over to my rib cage, then I was knocked down and hit the inside wall of boat, then back and forth until my boyfriend could get to me to stabilize me. (I could go on about the craziness of that night .. )

At any rate I was left with a dislocated shoulder, that was relocated 5 hours after, my left arm and hand could not move, I was in a lot of pain and sent home with no explanations in regards to my limp arm. I was told I just needed to wait, not how long, just wait. Kind of a don't call us, we'll call you thing.

It was 3 weeks and still nothing and no mention to the BP. I made arrangements to come back to the states for a second opinion. Five weeks since the accident I saw an orthopedic who without hesitation said I had a serious injury to the BP and if I where him he'd see a specialist, preferably at a teaching hospital. I ended up at Johns Hopkins (I begged them to see ... no kidding).

At any rate I feel as though I'm making some head way and I think I'm getting movement and some feeling back. I would love to hear about the road to recoveries. I'm working very hard .. the water here as been incredible therapy.

After reading many of the posts here I feel so lucky and blessed to be making progress. I wish you all the best!

Hi Karen and welcome to the club no one wants to join (as the saying goes). If you are already noticing improvements then hopefully all you received is a stretch injury. These injuries are each very unique even when sounding the same. Recovery time and amounts vary as much as the people with the injury. Sounds like you are doing the right thing in exercises. Water works very well as you may be able to do things in the water that you are unable to do on land. Also, it is important to do ROM stretches to keep the arm from tightening up on you so that as the muscles gain strength you will have full range. Unfortunately it is impossible to tell the expected recovery time or % of expected return. These injuries can take years to heal and as you can see here many of the injuries do require surgical intervention. My son was injured in a MVA 11/02/05. Just tues when we were at the Mayo in MN the EMG showed that more nerves were firing within the last 6 mos. EMG is a good indicator of the areas of damage but it is not 100% accurate. Dustin's injury was stretch and he has no avulsions but still the drs. did say it is rare to get 100% return. However they did tell us that natural healing would be the best if possible. I don't want to be a bummer but just want you to be realistic. Dustin's injury is to his c5-6&7. These affect his shoulder and arm but he does have full hand movement. I am not sure who you saw at the John Hopkins or what types if any tests and opinions they gave you but with this injury it is important to see a specialist in the BPI.
Best of luck to you.
Sue

Hi Sue

Thanks for the info. I saw Allan Belzberg at Johns Hopkins {got his info from this site and he and his staff have been wonderful, has anyone here seem him?}. I understand more about BPI than I ever have. The internet provides a lot of info but not all sites say the same thing. I had an EMG done when I was up there, Belzberg and the EMG doctors just kept saying "hummmm" and how did this happen. I should have asked what "hummmm" means. Belzberg has now ordered an MRI of the C-spine and has noted in the clinicalDx: S/P BPI ?avulsion ?syrnix and wants another EMG done at the end of next month. I have since gotten more movement in my arm and now my hand. The hand is swollen most of the time and the and the outer part of my arm upper and lower feels "weird". I have alot of pain, I have trouble sleeping, but I understand that that's suppose to be a good thing. So says my PT/OT. Thanks for the support!

I have heard that Belzberg is good. Glad you found a BP specialist. I think the S/P means the stretch, avulsion of course is the nerves being torn out. The MRI of the c-spine should help determine this. It is wonderful that you have gotten more movement, makes me hope you will be one of the rare ones with full recovery to have this happening so soon. When Dustin's hand wasn't working they said the swelling was because a normal hand that is being used works like a pump in returning blood back to the heart. When the hand doesn't work the blood isn't pumped out and causes the swelling. Elevating it should help some. Weird is the messed up nerves and pain is quite common in this injury. I am so glad that you found the right course of treatment so soon, that definately helps with recovery. Many people are stuck with the neurosurgeon trying different things when they really need a BPI specialist.
Sue

I believe that the S/P means status post and they are questioning whether or not it is an avulsion or some other pathology. Status post just means this is the time after the injury. Sue

Did you recieve a written summary of the EMG results? My husband's injury was from a fallin March 07. c7 & c8/T1 arm has limited movement and feeling, his hand was most affected although he has some limited return of movement, it's still not very functional.

EMG in May and again in Aug next one scheduled for Dec, each time we get a printout and can compare the results ( may not completely understand them, but and see some minimal progress, but progress is progress and always a good sign.