United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hello all, just wondering how long some of you have spent recovering at the clinic itself after a surgery. Whether it was nerve graft, nerve transfer, scar tissue removal, or even just exploratory. If you could state your surgery type and time spent post surgery in the clinic it would be helpful. I have no idea how to plan my round trip airfare. Just so you understand where I am coming from, I do not believe I have any avulsions. I think something may be overly stretched or ruptured from my clavicle break. Thanks, JJ

JJ,
It's gonna be difficult to try to give you a time frame for recovery since you really don't know the full extent of your injuries. My daughter, Melanie, had all 5 nerves avulsed and had nerve and muscle transfers when she went for her first evaluation at the Mayo Clinic. Between all the exams, diagnostic tests, surgery and recovery at St. Mary's, we spent a total of 3 weeks there. We flew in from PA and I had to cancel and reschedule our return trip because, like you, we had no idea what to expect. In your case, maybe they will take the wait and see approach if no avulsions have occurred. Good luck to you. The Mayo team is the best! Sue

Hey!

I didn't have my surgeries done at Mayo... but it will be hard no matter where you go to know about recovery time. Every single person is different and since you are not sure exactly what they will be doing that is even harder.

I would say your best bet is to talk to Mayo and ask if they have an idea about procedures that will be done and how long they will be and also call a few different airlines to see if they have policies regarding issues like this.

I had was away at college when I had emergency surgery just before winter break and needed to change my flight. I know the airline company was not very understanding about this and it cost me $400 to change my flight again becuase I did not know when I would be able to go home until about 2 days before I could - and it was still cheaper to pay the extra 400 than to pay to stay in a hotel. So I would just check different airline policies. I know some have insurance you can buy for an additional 15 or 20 for situations dealing with health so ask about that... that way you can know that if you are there longer it will not cost you much if anything to change your flight.

It varies widely depending on the surgery done. My husband was told on a Tuesday he needed surgery, it was scheduled for that Friday morning. He was in recovering by 3 PM and we were released from St. Mary's at 9:00 AM the next morning to catch our 10:30 AM flight. Dr Shin came in early for his rounds just to get us released because we were so anxious to get home, and they weren't concerned about us traveling at that point at all. They were unbelievably accomodating.

His surgery involved taking a branch of nerve from his tricep to his deltoid. He wasn't in great shape for the flight, but he never took anything but advil for pain after the first night of his surgery.

I would definitely suggest asking about the flight insurance in case you have to change your flight. We were not anticiapting the need for surgery and had to change our flights. I think it was $100 a ticket to reschedule and then the price difference of the tickets. I got them to wave the rescheduling fee, but it was still an expensive proposition.

Dustin was prepped for a nerve graph. When they went in he only needed scar tissue removed. He was released the next day. We are 4 hours away so we were driving. However, they did tell us that in the event it would be a nerve graph he would be in a hot room for several days then moved to a regular room. So, sorry it's very hard to say. It will be determined by what they have to do once they get in there and see the damage.
Sue

For me, I went in in the A.M. and they did surgery noonish. I had to stay overnight. I had this I think:

elbow flexion was obtained by an Oberlin's partial ulnar nerve transfer, while shoulder abduction was restored by an accessory-to-suprascapular nerve transfer. The initial contraction of the biceps muscle occurred two months after surgery.

Overnight basically!

I just wanted to thank all those that have taken the time to answer this. Answers to these questions are so helpful, I wish more people would participate. For those that do, what unbelievably valuable info. Thanks again, and looking forward to seeing some real doctors at the Mayo. JJ