United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Its been 3 months since mod quad. Jade has 3 theripist that have worked with her for a long time.we would always joke about jade never needed speech therapy becouse she talked all the time. well after the quad she stopped. the theripist said to give her time. now they are starting to worry. they think she is tramatized and so do I. She has had other behavieral changes too. Has this happend to anybody else. i have tried to get drs to talk to me about it but it seems noone knows what surgey does to a child. she does not want to be touched either. Males seem to have more luck.is this burnout? I just want my loud baby back! thanks for any help.

From my personal experience with my child, my son has never had any problems mentally resulting from his physical condition or either of his surgeries. In fact I would have to say that my son has handled this better than any adult I know ever would. There have been no side effects, no trauma, no setbacks, I just can't think of anything negative in his demeanor or his disposition. I was worried this last time since he is older that wearing the brace and having the surgery might make him more self-conscious about his condition, but, again...nothing. In fact when a stranger asks him what happened to him, he is more than happy to tell them that he had surgery.

I do not know where this is coming from regarding your daughter. It could very well be that this is a reaction from everything that is going on with her. Every child is different. Most people I have talked to have said that their children have handled things very well. I guess it would have a lot to do with each child's personality and their true ability to handle what life gives them. With your child being as young as she is it will be hard for you to get her to open up. It does sound like she needs some help tho.

I hope you can get this figured out, and I hope that your child does not experience any further 'trauma'. There is nothing worse than a parent experiencing the feeling of helplessness when it comes to our children. We want to help them in every way that we can, and when things like this happen, well...I'm sure you know first hand.

Again, I hope things get worked out. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Dez

Post traumatic stress syndrome is what it sounds like, you may want to back off on anything you can, and have her seen possibly by a therapist that is focused on children.
It's not uncommon for anyone to experience anxiety after a traumatic event, and surgery is traumatic- I suggest you push your pediatrician for a referral to a therapist that specializes in young children, the good thing to know is that she probably just needs some "safe time" she's most likely just wary of anyone wanting to do anything further to her arm.
We found with TJ that after surgery nightmares were very common (someone I think relates this to the anesthesia) Any number of things could be going on, have you called the surgeon? Maybe they could recommend something?