United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

My son just turned 3 on 4/15. He had primary surgery on 11/99. C5, C6 and C7 were really damaged badly. He has not had secondary surgery. He does have use of his hand and fingers but he cannot raise his arm no more than maybe 5 inches from his side. Let alone above his head. I would like to hear from any parent who has a 3 year old or older child who does not have biceps.

Hi, I agree with Sali! TES has done wonders for our son as well. He didn't have much at all for bicep until we started e-stim. It stimulated a lot of movement for him. Maybe that is something for you to look into.
Sheri

cynthia - has he been evaluated recently? has anybody done an emg to see if the biceps are innervated? I know that a lot of people have seen good results with NMES (day time estim) and the TES - nighttime estim as well. We use TES on Maia and it gave her fluidity of movement.

The picnics and gatherings are coming up - the list is on http://www.injurednewborn.com/gatherings.html - there's not much listed right now and I don't know where you live...but I know that picnics are planned for NY, Baltimore, North Carolina, Pennsylvania,San Diego and maybe some more, too... just don't have the dates yet. This would be a perfect opportunity for an evaluation by the TCH docs. Ohio picnic is coming up on June 1 and one of the presenters there will be talking about NMES.

take care,
francine

My almost 4 yr. old daughter had primary 12/98 (C5 & C6 avulsed) and a secondary surgery 4/2001 to remove scar tissue from a number of nerves in her upper arm. Her deltoid came in and is very good now but her biceps never showed function. One year ago we started both TES and NMES. She's now starting to show biceps! I don't know what I attribute it to...maybe primary somewhat and the secondary but I'm sure the TES everynight and the NMES everyday have helped those muscles regain strength and function. I really never thought we'd see biceps with her; she was compensating instead. But, within the last month, we are definitely seeing biceps.

Perhaps, as others suggested above, you get an eval and determine where you stand with biceps and how you can maximize return. Ask the doctor about e-stim and what type s/he'd recommend.