United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Happy Holidays everyone! My son Justin will be six in February. He has not had any prior surgery for his bp injury and is scheduled for his first at TCH on 1/23/02. He is having the bicep tendon lengthening procedure (for his contracture). Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hi Justin's mom.... I don't know anything about this but I do know that bridget's son Ian had this surgery and I'm sure she will come forward and post about this for you.

I wanted to let you know that there are a couple of pages on my site that may be helpful for you at this time...

www.injurednewborn.com/maia/travel.html
this is the travel page that I just updated with all the new information

and

www.injurednewborn.com/maia/dayofsurg.html
this is the newly updated What To Expect On The Day of Surgery page

(in case I typed those links wrong...just go to the homepage www.injurednewborn.com/maia/homepage.html)

I wish you and your child the best - hope the surgery goes well ... let us know ok??

take care,
francine

Hello,

Yes, my son Ian had the biceps lengthening procedure done this past summer. He also had a full pectoral release at the same time, so his post-op will most likely be very different from your son's. But as far as the biceps lengthening went it was a great success, Ian was very pleased and commented that "now both arms are straight." He was in a cast for the entire summer. Not sure if they are still casting or not. The procedure left a "Harry Potter" scar on the inside of his arm. We just started using the dynasplint last week to help Ian regain the last several degrees needed for full extension. Overall we are very pleased and feel that the procedure was well worth it and a big success. I think from Ian's perspective it really helps to feel that he now looks "less different" as his arm hangs straighter and does not crook across the front of his body as it used to.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Also, my son is nearly eight, and maybe he could write a letter to your son telling him about his surgery? Let me know if you think that would be good for your son.

Good luck!



Bridget

Thank you Bridget for your quick response. We are so nervous. We don't know what to expect. My first question is what is a Harry Potter scar. Was this your first surgery also?

Thank you so much for your response. I will be looking into that website and I am sure it will offer much insight.

Thank you for your quick response. We are very nervous about the surgery. As I mentioned, it is his first. We are in the NY area and flying to TCH on 1/22. We are concerned about when he wakes up from surgery, what to expect. Was Ian in a lot of pain? What is the Harry Potter scar? The Dr.s mentioned something about a splint (not cast)for six weeks. A letter from Ian would be wonderful. I hope you don't mind all the questions. We are staying at the Crowne Plaza. Surgery is scheduled for Wednesday morning and we are flying out Thursday night. Did you stay longer?

We refer to Ian's scar as his Harry Potter scar because it is in the shape of a "z" just like the scar that Harry Potter has. Ian loves Harry Potter, and I think that this comparison pleased him.

Bridget

Hi, Justin's Mom. I'm glad to see that you posted a new message. I'm the one who replied to your response in another thread (sorry, I hadn't gotten this far yet). As I mentioned before, our daughter (2 yrs, 9 mos) hasn't had this procedure done, but she has had other surgeries at TCH and I just wanted to add some feedback on the return trip info. We have always felt more comfortable staying in TX until at least 2 days post-op (ex. Mon surgery, Wed flight home). Actually, I used to do it 3 days later, but cut down to 2 days this past trip. For us, I found it to be perfect timing. Nicole was released from TCH the afternoon following surgery and we stayed at the hotel that night, but we returned for an appt. at the OT dept the next morning for a splint check. For us, I just felt better about being in town the extra day in case there were any concerns. Also, sometimes children are in the hospital for 2 nights, not just one. With all this said, though, if you have already booked your flights, then you might as well keep them as is and if you feel uncomfortable leaving town yet, change them while you're in TX. Even if the airline usually charges a fee to change the flights, you can sometimes find someone at the company who would be willing to waive the change fee since it's for medical reasons. If you haven't booked, then you might want to consider staying the extra night. Also, it's all about your family's preferences and how well you think your son will respond to surgery, etc. Has he had other surgery before? Is this your first time going to TCH? When did TCH say he would be releaesed? If he's having a splint made after the surgery, they usually don't make it in the OR, but it's done the morning after surgery and might take 1-2 hours to make the splint. That would also make it close for you if you have a flight to catch. There are more ?s I guess for you to ask your son's surgeon -- splint or cast? when is it made? how long of a hospital stay? etc.

I hope this helps and I hope that I didn't stress you out more than you probably already are. Take care.

-Tina