United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi everyone ive not been checking in here much lately ~ anyways it was an interesting weekend.. I bought a suzuki RMX250 (think motocross bike wi lights, power to weight ratio of a MISSILE! fantastic arm therapy is the excuse) and as it is wearing dirt tyres it needed a van to get it home. a mate of a mate borrowed a big enough van, the guy i borrowed it off is TBPI, i had heard of him but not met him before. He had a bike accident 10 yrs ago and shattered his upper arm, but the doc pinned and plated the guys LOWER arm, and at the same time paralysed his hand, he could move it before the disastrous operation. the records of the surgery needed to remove the plates were lost, funny that, its the same hospital who discharged me with fractured cervical vertebrae saying it was fine, (fortunately to a decent hospital who picked up and treated the injuries properly) now they 'lost' my orthopaedic records too (i dont give up that easy tho) i told em exactly what a bunch of incompetents they are at THAT hospital (no names no lawsuits). i guess the moral of the story is if you're gonna have any surgery to let the docs know you know about tbpi risk from surgery folks, keep em on their toes!!

Yep Dave; This is one of the best reasons for getting peeps together who have this injury, to bring all this stuff out into the open, and get a knowledge base set up and kept up to date. It does absolutely no good whatsoever to pretend that surgery ALWAYS works, as quite clearly, it sometimes doesn't. The majority of the right kind of surgery does have a good final outcome, and this should be made clear, but mistakes do often happen, and probably through sheer ignorance about this injury.
As a group, we can, and if I have my way, WILL make a real difference where this is concerned, to the benefit of all, including the medical proffession.

...terrific news about the bike tho Dave....so, will you be doing silly thing over big bumps now??? :0)

Yep Dave; This is one of the best reasons for getting peeps together who have this injury, to bring all this stuff out into the open, and get a knowledge base set up and kept up to date. It does absolutely no good whatsoever to pretend that surgery ALWAYS works, as quite clearly, it sometimes doesn't. The majority of the right kind of surgery does have a good final outcome, and this should be made clear, but mistakes do often happen, and probably through sheer ignorance about this injury.
As a group, we can, and if I have my way, WILL make a real difference where this is concerned, to the benefit of all, including the medical proffession.

...terrific news about the bike tho Dave....so, will you be doing silly thing over big bumps now??? :0)

hi dave-o, nice to see you posting!
I've been looking into this type of tbpi (it's called iatropathic injury) and its surprisingly common. I thought bpi's were traction injuries, but they can be caused lots of ways, by radiation, surgery (obviously) injections, drug therapies....bad news all round. Yep Lizzie ur right, peeps meeting up is great for that info sharing whether on boards like this or in person. Be great of some of you Americans could get over to Blighty for the next adult gathering....
You be careful out there Dave and i expect to see piccies, i need a new screen saver. Seems like aeons ago when you first appeared with a limp arm, now here you are jumpin humps on a bike....good on ya mate! :0)

Congrats on the bike. I still have a Honda XR400 in my garage, but haven't ridden it since my accident. I think that the surgery I had is starting to work, and that my shoulder may be strong enough to ride the bike now. I'm going to give it a try this spring.

Ha! not quite up to speed with the supercross stylee jumps just yet! If you ever get a chance to see a superX race if you have any liking for bikes GO SEE IT it is awesome!
http://www.uksuperx.com/
I still nervous with it as my right hand isnt strong and it feels like it could get out of control pretty quick, stood on the pegs if i open the throttle it SNAPS forward and im pushed back and struggle to close the throttle again, scary, i stay in the saddle most of the time! I'll get used to it tho, go easy on the XR Dennis and dip a toe, slow short rides build your confidence back quick, and youve NO time to think about pain either, total distraction! :O)
As for the tbpi guys surgery, yes it was a disaster, but im not knee jerk against surgery even knowing that, every case is different. i had surgey to pin my shoulder back and am 100% satisfied ive no regrets on that, my arm couldnt have lifted at all if the muscles to lift it had been left ripped off the bone. I know some folks figure if surgery doesnt give 100% its not worth it, well, again a personal viewpoint, my arm and especially hand will never be 100% like pre-accident, but i am soooo grateful for everything that does work and not worried about what doesnt, you know? Goin to see the spine consultant tomorrow cos of the tingling coming back in my feet, now the thought of possible spine surgery IS scary, wish me luck peeps i want him to say get outta here an dont come back, here's hoping! :O)

i know what you mean Davey, and i think the key is in what you said in your last post...you're grateful for what you have got and are getting on with your life. when i say i wouldn't have had surgery unless i got 100% i really mean unless i got hand function, to ME that's the only thing worth gong under the knife for-i know others are different but that's my view. And to me hand function even if it's weaker IS 100%....i feel fully recovered even with just me biceps, which i got way past the recovery timeframe and was told i wouldn't get without surgery....i know some people do keep pushing the boundaries to get as effective repair as possible, it just didn't feel right to me and i was wary of making myself into a permanent 'patient' when all i wanted was my life back, 2 years intensive physio (which really did help, i think i've avoided loadsa probs with contractures and stuff.....)was enuf for me and made me feel 'abnormal' and disabled. When i discharged myself it was like a weight off my shoulders. These are tough decisons, as long as you are comfortable with yours then that's going to help in regaining normality.....now someone just needs to explain normality to me lol!

Hey Jen you're the BOSS of 'gettin on wi it' ~ we know that! Held my and others hand (metaphorically) in the scary days, i dont forget that ~ nah, can't help ya explaining normal tho!! ;O)
SAw the doc who checked this morning's Xrays, i was well worried that the dreaded 'spine degeneration' they mentioned might set in at injury level might be taking hold, he says, RELAX my cord isn't being compressed from C7, PHEW!! Got some lower spine Xrays to do just to finish the checkup but that's a HUGE weight off my mind, i thought i mght be knackered in a couple of years... its in the 90's and blazing sunny here today, gonna be a goooooooood summer, hope all yours are too! :O)

gotta celebrate that one Dave.......know you're breathing a little easier. Now you can take that new missle of yours for a roll and relax some. Bet it feels good getting the wind through your hair again. Super news re your spine. The old monkey has a way of draggin ya down till you can peel him off. Enjoy your summer !!

George