United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Good luck on recovery. Hang in there!

Wish I could offer you some advice. I have a question for you though, do you have any functional use of your arm? If not how does that affect med school and career options, as well as admission into school?

Praying for a fast and complete recovery for you!! <3

my son had a nerve transfer in jan 13 to be exact still unable to raise his arm but always had the function of his fingers and wrist so i hope everything goes well for u please keep us updated

Alright, I asked, because that was something that was a route I contemplated going especially post-injury when i saw countless physicians, but I didn't know if injury would affect entrance/being able to perform the necessary procedures and things required of it. But from your other post, it sounds like you were already admitted when this happened?

Again, I wish you all the best with your recovery, can't wait to hear about it getting better and it's success .

I live in the UK so have had all my surgery here. I had a nerve transfer op 1 month after my motor bike accident in order to try and restore all three of the movements mentioned. I wish you all the best in your recovery but must warn you that it may take some time before any movement begins to return. My scapula was extremely badly damaged so my surgeons held out little hope on elevation of the arm happening despite extensive reconstruction surgery immediately after my admission to hospital following the crash. They were right. However, my bicep strength and movement is coming back just nicely although it did take around 10 months before I saw even the first flicker of movement upon attempting to flex. Two and a half years on from my nerve transfer (mine came from the calf of my left leg), I can bend my arm properly using my bicep although it does take a lot of effort at the moment but I know this will just keep on getting easier with time. It just takes a tremendous amount of time, patience and self belief that you absolutely will get better - this type of recovery is all down to sheer determination.

With regard to what drugs to take, I was prescribed all sorts of different types of pain killers but when I experimented cutting each one out at a time, I realised that not any of them were really helping to reduce the pain, so I came off them altogether and felt much, much better mentally (they were making me feel constantly tired, dozey and just generally not with it). The pain becomes easier to deal with as time goes on and now I rarely notice it except the odd excrutiating stabbing pain that you get from time to time. I guess it just becomes a way of life.

I hope I've managed to help some. I've had various ops over the last couple of years, some successful, some not so. Just hang in there and stay positive and it'll all start happening in time

Kate

hi kate i am sort off in the same circumstance as you were as i am 9 months post nerve graft and my bicep and tricep are starting to contract quit nicely. just wondering how long from your first flicker to the day you could start to see that you were close to flexing the arm

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).

the atrophy was immediate and significant ... however.... I THINK we can see some improvement in the size and shape of the back of the deltoid .... 2 wks and 3 days after the surgery where Dr. Shin removed scar tissue and did a neurolysis I think it was called .... of Christian's axillary nerve.

Prior to surgery, he had no communication/innervation of all 3 "heads" of the deltoid axillary nerve during the EMG.

We will have another EMG in 3-5 wks. If we do not see recovery, I AM GOING TO PUSH LIKE H-LL for the surgery of grafts or transfers BEFORE THE 6 MONTH mark.... From what I've read, that is the best window of opportunity for recovery.

WE ARE THRILLED WITH THE MAYO CLINIC IN ROCHESTER MN!!!!! Dr. Shin and Dr. Elhassan and their team are AMAZING!

I cannot reccommend them high enough. (We talked and emailed with Dr. Wolfe in NY... HE WAS VERY KIND AND SUPPORTIVE....) but both are VERY far from us (We are in South south GA... almost on the FL line.)

The info we get suggests that Christian 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 south GA- north FL area. Our trip to Mayo in Jax FL was very dissapointing.

So 3 wks ago, we put plane tickets on our credit cards 2 wks ago and went 1,200 miles (one way) to Mayo in Rochester MN. Dr. Shin and Dr. Elhassan were AWESOME.....

Our son, Christian, had a joint repair procedure where Dr. Elhassan transferred the coracoid bone and tendon to stabalize his shoulder joint. Called a Latarjet procedure. 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 & 3 days into the repair. the deltoid is still paralyzed though. hoping that changes.tarabparker

Christopher has GREAT info and articles in the forum called research links....

Have you checked there for info?

best of luck recovering!!!!!


Research Links/Articles/Papers
A forum to post articles of interest as they relate to BPI both Obstetric and Traumatic 19 Topics 22 Posts Last post by Christopher
Mon Apr 12, 2010 3:53 am

I had basically the same surgery to restore bicep and deltoid function. I am just going to be honest with you in telling you that there is not a great rate of success with deltoid function. I googled it after my surgery and found out there is about a 80 percent success rate for the bicep and more like 10-20 for the delt. Thats pretty much exactly what I got. Bicep works good now but the deltoid never regained function.

As far as the atrophy, the deltoid is obviously still totally atrophied. The bicep now looks relatively normal. It took a lot of work though. It didn't just blow up. I tried to use the arm as much as possible, got in the pool (which helped alot), and lifted small weights as i could. I couldn't lift a piece of paper with my bicep at first and it was totally sunken in. And gradually it got a little stronger and not sunken in, and then bigger and bigger. I would say, for me at least, I felt small flickers at 2 months post op (though still basically unusable), then descent normal everyday use by 6 mos, and maybe a year before it looked and felt good.

Never regained the slightest deltoid, but in normal everyday stuff its really not a big deal. I can't go play sports though which totally sucks. I used to play rec basketball, softball and flag football and can't do any of those now. I can bowl, play golf and tennis though. In fact, I was surprised how good I was at golf. Granted I sucked at it before, but I think I'm better now than pre-injury.

From the first flicker of my bicep it must have been a good few months before I could see any sign of being able to bend my elbow, very, very slight at first, but once it started, the results were quite rapid in succession after that. As with everything we do now, it just takes time and lots of patience (something I was never any good at a few years back).

With regards to an increase in size post op, I can't say I ever remember noticing a difference so I wouldn't like to say one way or another. As I said though, my op was only 1 month post BPI whereas yours is a while after so that may be the reason why (assuming you have) noticed a difference in size.

What makes you notice a flicker I am 9 months post sugery and not sure what I am looking for?