United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Have not been on here in a while, but I was wondering has anyone else had this problem? My son broke his humerous bone on his LBPI arm up at the top a few weeks ago. They said it is growing back at an angle, but since he is young they are not going to do anything about it. If he was an adult they would fix it. You can feel it and even see where it is. It is making his shoulder look really deformed especialy when we raise it for therapy. It feels so weird that his therapist were convinced it was falling out of socket. We are seeing a local ortho doc here in my town, so I pretty sure they don't know much about BPI's. We have had 3 visits and have yet to meet the actual doctor we were refered to, because we have only seen the PA.

Those of you who have had kids break their BPI arm. Have any of your children had a problem with bones growing back weird? And if so what was done about? I am just not comfortable leaving his arm like this, and afraid it will affect his recovery. He was doing great gaining quite a bit back until this happened. Which some of it can be because he had to keep it immobilized for 2 weeks. I am still worried it will affect him, or cause problem in the long run.

Thanks for any advice you may have!!!

Bridget mom of Brayden 2 year old LOBPI.

I have never had a break in my OBPI arm, but I would definately get a second - or third - opinion if I were you. I would want some very specific answers as to why NOT to do it and I would want those from more than one doc.

Is your ortho a shoulder specialist? I suggest that you start by finding one if the doc you're seeing now isn't. ANYTHING ortho involving your son's arm or shoulder should be looked at by a shoulder doc. (I was lucky; when I had an issue a couple of years ago, my GP referred me to a shoulder specialist who is considered one of the best in our state and said he wanted me to see HIM and no one else, even if I had to wait, because I needed to be sure to see the best due to the OBPI.)

Also, do you have a BP specialist? If so, consult with him/her. If you don't, I would suggest you try to find one. There may be some help there for understanding what there should or shouldn't be surgical intervention about this.

It may be that as he grows, it will "straighten" on its own. I don't know enough about bone formation to say. I do know that I am always a little weird and very very cautious about anything that seems "different" in my injured arm. I can't imagine how much more so I would be if it were my child instead.

Hope all goes well. Let us know! I will keep good thoughts for you!

Lisa
41, LOBPI

Maia broke her humerus and at the time of the break it was bent over at around 45 degrees... Maia coulnd't handle the pain of the sling or splint so we let the arm hang because the pain was too great any other way. When it healed, (because of gravity) the bone healed straight.

So this is the opposite of what you have.

if I were you, I would get way more opinions about this... maybe they didn't want to touch it because it's the growth plate? again - I would run to get more opinions before too much time passed -- it would be pretty easy to do that - just get xrays or scans on disk and send it around with some pictures of your child

keep us updated ok?
I'm hoping for the best
francine