United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I am a 39yr old male and had a LTBPI/traumatic head injury Oct/08/06 do to a motorcycle wreck. I didn't have BP Reconstructive surgery until Jul/11/07 by Shin/Bishop/Spinner team at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. I now understand why I was always asked "if I was depressed" by staff personnel when I was in Miami Valley hospital in Dayton, OH or when I went back for different appointments over time. I guess I must have thought of this injury like a broken bone or something that would heal sooner than is happening or maybe not as if it were a permanent injury! It's certainly taking the psychological toll I've never faced that I couldn't handle myself! It's like I hit a brick wall. I don't know if that's the typical man way of thinking or cop mentality in me!?! I've been an Air Force Security Forces (Police) member for going on 22 years now and I've always dealt with issues on my own no matter what the response. I think I've seen most situations! I've lifted weights over the years for sports and enjoyment. Been real active in Sports/the outdoors hunting/fishing/camping. I've learned it's also been my stress releaver. Now I don't have that any longer. I also rode my motorcycle for therapy, just get out there and forget about everything else and I can't do that either.
I'm not exactly sure what it was I injured I think the C5, C6, C7. I used to know, my memory still gives me problems. I'll have to look again. I went back to the Mayo in Aug to Shin for my six week checkup. He told me it's usually six to seven months until response from bicep/tricep. I hope and pray it's sooner!! They moved my R/gracilis muscle to make my new bicep. I understood I'll never have the use of my left pectoral or my elbow above shoulder due to nerve grafts. I asked about the shoulder and he said there are two muscles that crisscross and should get strong enough to hold the arm into the correct position if not there are a couple of procedures they can do to replace the primary muscle or fuse the shoulder. Is there anything I can do to help besides the exercises they have me doing? Raise my arm up to the front/forward and sideways. I know I've been blessed to still have alot of use of my hand. Just very weak and not much sensation in index/thumb. Can't lift pinky finger, ring finger, middle finger to straighten out like index/thumb. My shoulder is still paralyzed and have a three and a half finger subluxation and the constant pain when upright. I go to OT here on base M/W/F working on strengthening my wrist raising my hand and I'm seeing progress, that helps! Squeezing the little red ball. Doing the Electro-stimulation with the yellow one sent to me from the company in MN the Mayo does business with. I'm counting down the minutes/seconds until I have movement!! Again, you all are a blessing to me and I thank you!!

Hello There!!!! First of all God Bless you. Welcome to A VERY CLOSE KNIT FAMILY HERE. We all have the same pains and challenges every day has to offer us, but a know we go head to head with it and at the end of the day we concord it. Hello my name is Wes I am from PA. Injuried in June of 2004, I was cutting down a tree and it fell on me, broke a bone in my neck, broke my back, all the ribs on the right side, collar bone, scapula, massive head injury and most of all RTBP. I have c-5, c-6, c-7, avulsion. I had exploratory surgery 6 months after my injury my DR. moved a branch of my ulnar nerve and plug it into my bicep, to get me bicep movement. 1 month after i got bicep and tricep movement and no one know how i got tricep with c-7 being pulled, but I never looked back. All my surgeries were here at Hershey medical center in PA. I have no shoulder function at all, I am very lucky I have very limited subluxtion in the shoulder. I was a Machinist by trade for 18 years and this injury has taken that away from me, I love sports and love to hunt. I am very limited to what i can do sports wise, but I did just get back into hunting this year which i am thrilled i got that back into my life, I use a bipod from levellok I love it. I am able to golf aswell but I only started this year aswell. I had tendon transfer to get me more stability in the wrist in 12/06 and that has made me more functionable. They did want to do the shoulder fusion but I am not doing that for me there are more con's than pro's so at this point I am plugging along in life. Just remember one thing it took me awhile to get this in my head, this injury has felt you with limitations in your arm but it has not limited your life. If I can help in any way just email me at wesandjamie@frontiernet.net hang in there it does get better. At times you'll wonder when but it does, I now am only just starting to see it after 3 years. TAKE CARE AND HOLD YOUR HEAD UP HIGH.MOST IMPORTANTLY DON'T GIVE UP. Wes(36 years old RTBP)

Wes,
I'm very curious. My daughter was in a motorcycle accident in Nov. 2005 and avulsed her right c5,c6,c7,c8 and t1 along with multiple other injuries. She spent almost 6 weeks in Hershey Med (we live in Mechanicsburg). Kim Harbaugh was her neurosurgeon but she referred us to the Mayo Clinic for surgery. Who did your surgery at Hershey Med? We have been looking for someone here for Melanie's follow up appointments when we can't go to Mayo. Thanks, Sue

Hello Sue,
Sorry to hear of your daughter's accident and her injury. This injury is very tough and rough injury. I was flown to Hershey when I had my accident, I live 15 minutes from Pottsville. DR. Kim Harbaugh is my neurosurgeon and DR. G. Timothy Reiter neurosurgeon. I love DR. Harbaugh she is very companionate and I have all the respect for her, she told me straight up what I wasn't going to get and what I could possibly get back. I fly out to ST. Louis to talk with DR. Susan Mackinnon she told shoulder fusion and tendion transfer, i did have the tendion transfer done December of 2006 DR. Randy Hauck did it at Hershey. But I am not having the shoulder fusion done to many con's for me. If I can help you with anything else please don't hesitate to ask. WES

Hello Sue,
Sorry to hear of your daughter's accident and her injury. This injury is very tough and rough injury. I was flown to Hershey when I had my accident, I live 15 minutes from Pottsville. DR. Kim Harbaugh is my neurosurgeon and DR. G. Timothy Reiter neurosurgeon. I love DR. Harbaugh she is very companionate and I have all the respect for her, she told me straight up what I wasn't going to get and what I could possibly get back. I fly out to ST. Louis to talk with DR. Susan Mackinnon she told shoulder fusion and tendion transfer, i did have the tendion transfer done December of 2006 DR. Randy Hauck did it at Hershey. But I am not having the shoulder fusion done to many con's for me. If I can help you with anything else please don't hesitate to ask. WES

Thanks Wes. I did try to get Mel to go back to Dr. Harbaugh when she came back after her LOA but Mel didn't want to go back to see her. I think all of Mel's meetings with Dr. Harbaugh were very intense and traumatic. Dr. Harbaugh does say it straight but it may have been too real for a 20 year old to hear. Mel is following up with Dr. Lyons at Hershey now. He's an orthopod. Very good, but Mel gets frustrated in that they keep asking her the same questions over and over again. "Can you feel this", "Can you move that" "If only they would read my chart they would know that I can't do or feel those things!" Alot of times she feels that she knows more than they do about her injury and what she can do and what she shouldn't do. She only has to see him one more time in February and then we fly back to Mayo in April. Maybe after that I will try Dr. Harbaugh on her again. She also has a script for OT but I doubt if she'll go cause she says it's a waste of time and money.
After her muscle and nerve transfer they talked about shoulder fusion also but we also decided against it. The muscle transfer seemed to pull her shoulder nicely in place so the fusion wasn't worth it.
Good luck out in St Louis! Sue