United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi Everyone,

I found this site and it has made my day. I was involved in a car accident in Dec 2008. I was a back seat passenger and the only one wearing a seatbelt and the only one with a long-term injury. I suffered a brachial plexus injury to my right arm which was my dominant arm. Since the accident i had no movement or feeling in the arm. I was referred to RNOH Stanmore in June 2009 and had a nerve graft carried out in July 2009. As a result of the surgery i regained full movement in my right shoulder but as yet nothing in the arm.

I have taught myself to do most things one handed and my friends and family are shocked at how independent i can be. I have come to accept that the likelihood of any recovery in the arm is low. Don't get me wrong some days are better than others. It's great to know that I'm not alone as some days i feel abnormal by the way people look at me. I never realized how judgmental people could be until i tried going shopping one-handed.

I got married in April 2009 and i am hoping to start a family soon. This is my biggest fear! Any advice on childcare would be greatly appreciated. My little sister is having her baby in May and i am looking forward to the practice.

Also could anyone give me any tips on how to put my hair into a ponytail? It's the one thing i never thought i'd miss being able to do. Thanks in advance...reading all your advice in the other topics has really lifted my mood today.

its to earily but have you explored a muscle transfere im in the same situation but am going to wait six more months before i do it.

I want to say don't give up. It's a long road but worth it. I have learned so much about myself and have never been so motivated to do thing in my life. I had my accident in March of 2006, 1st surgery in July 2006, 2nd in Aug 2006, and 3rd in Jan of 2010. I got some things back fast other things took a long time. Just never let a doctor tell you to "face reality" keep the fight, it's worth every struggle and fight in the end. As for the hair, I chopped mine off in the begining but that was devistating to me as I have always had long hair. I have a way to put your hair in a ponytaill, clip or little updo. Twist your hair up and use the wall to hold it as you clip it into place with a claw clip or use booby pins, then wrap the rubber band around it. Also I recommend a blow dryer that has brushes attatched to them, put the brush and drier into one hand. I got mine a sally's or ask you hair dresser. If you have any questions on taking care of children I am a pediatric nurse. I do have limmited use of hand, my elbow and shoulder were pretty weak but I have good range of motion. My last surgery should help a lot with that. But I did learn to addative methods to take care of nicu babies and children of all ages. I wish you the best of luck.

These are the type of things that if you made a video of you doing this, we could host it on this site. We could develop a whole library of "How you do it" videos and then people could just click on them to see how you do it with a BPI. If interested on doing that just send me the videos richard@ubpn.org, and I will make sure the Outreach team gets them and we will put up a new page!

rich
president ubpn

Im new here too, The only good advice I have is to never give up, keep your head up no matter what the Doc has to say. I saw four specialist here in Houston before I got any positive feedback.

Welcome to Missusj and Bopugh.

I've watched my husband for 9 years figure out ways to deal with one-arm. He compensated so quickly to his situation and never used any of the aids that therapists gave him for his injury. We have three children (6 year old son and 1 year old TWIN girls!) I admit, when our son was born, Steve was only a couple of years post injury and I didn't push him to do the "baby" stuff....HOWEVER, with the birth of our twins...HE HAS NO CHOICE. I am so totally amazed at what he does with the kids. He changes diapers more now than he ever did with our first. Honestly, I don't know how he does it (I've tried it just to see and I can't do it) Its not fun nor is it pretty and it usually invovles ALOT of extra wipes and possibly rewashing changing table pad....but its done and the girls love him very much! He can put together all their stuff (playpens, walkers, stollers...and everything is double and bigger with twins it seems).

Our only issue is car seats...the five point harness (which is safest) is not easy one-armed (especially if its one of those with the "puzzle"-looking clip) I would think that the "bar" type seat that goes over their heads would be easier for him...but they aren't as safe. So I don't make him fight that battle.

Steve is an ag teacher..he hunts, fishes, maintains our home (though not always with the joy I wish he would have while mowing and weedeating ) and continues to beat the challenges of one-armed-ness.

He is considering amputation this summer so we'll see what new challenges he will overcome.

We are 'new' too.

Our 14 yr old son was injured 8wks ago in a wreslting match resulting in pretty serious injuries to his left shoulder:
Bony Bankart lesion of 20% loss of glenoid surface, small Hill-Sach's lesion, bone fragment inside joint, axillary nerve damage and brachial plexus damage. - deltoid paralysis and rapid on-set atrophy, and loss of feeling outside of upper arm due to traumatic shoulder dislocation (anterior).

He should be in the 'good' group for probable reinnervation of his deltoid - 80% chance of some to most recovery of muscle function.

we have a had a horrible time trying to find drs. with experience with his combination of injuries in the GA-FL area. Our trip to Mayo in Jax FL was very dissapointing. we put plane tickets on our credit cards 2 wks ago and went 1,200 (one way) to Mayo in Rodchester MN. Dr. Shin and Dr. Elhassan were AWESOME.....

Our son, Christian, has a joint repair procedure where Dr. Elhassan transferred the coracoid bone and tendon to stabalize his shoulder joint. We are waiting to see if the bones fuse successfully.

Dr. Shin did a neurolysis just before the shoulder repair and removed some scar tissue. he found that christian's axillary nerve runs in an unusual path.... forward in front of shoudler versus down toward the armpit.

the results are unknown yet as we are only 2 wks into the repair. the deltoid is still paralyzed though. hoping that changes.

Dear tarabparker
I feel for your family as ours too has experienced this monster of an injury. A college football drill in day 1 of spring practice this year has renderered our 19 year old son with c5-8 avulsions, intense pain and dominant arm paralysis. I know that our boys have hearts of champions though, to have achieved those athletic levels, and I believe that it is this strong spirit that will get them through recovery and beyond. I'll be praying for your son, too.

Hi All!

Thanks for your replies and advice!!! It's good to hear that my injury isn't the end of the world! My Niece should be arriving any day now and i am looking forward to practicing the childcare stuff before i have one of my own. Was back at RNOH Bolsover street in March and Mr Fox reckons that there is some recovery in one of the upper arm muscles! Back again in September...let's hope the ash cloud has disappeared! I have developed dequervian's syndrome in my good wrist so i am now splinted up and in agony awaiting an injection! But mentally everything is looking good! Looking forward to getting back to work this year!

Thanks