United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi, I'm Rob, This is for all so that you get an idea of what to do and expect in this type of situation, from my experience. I was in a bad motorcycle accident on april 13 2002. I got a very bad stretch on my C5 & C6. I had surgery on sept. 23 2002 6 months after the accident with Dr. Grossman from Miami FL and Dr. Price in New York they are a team. I checked on a few Dr's and found them to be great. I had nerves taken from my legs and put in my shoulder. I have numing on the side of my feet but don't even notice it. I have big scars but thats not important.
Buy an electrical stim unit & a machine that looks like a bicycle paddle (UBE machine, but small for the Home) the minute you no that you have a Bpi so that you maintain muscle mass while you recover, keep moving your arm in all normal direction so that it won't lock on you (ROM). Look for a Certified hand Therapist because they have training with our injury. In my experience the more I work it out the less pain I'm in. WORK YOUR ARM OUT EVERYDAY IF YOU WANT IT BACK (anything is possible). Its now been 9 months post surgery, I can lift my arm ( I couldn't move it at all before the surgery) to about chest level I can bend my elbo inwards only towards my chest, I can't do a curl yet. I can move my arm outwards about 12 to 15 inchs away from my body. Basically I feel twitching on all my injuried muscle and I have been growing back muscle mass. Every week that passes I feel stronger and I'm able to move it a little better.
This is what I say to my self when I feel lazy and I don't want to excerise, " What happens if I do excerise?"
I hope this was help full and this is only my opinion and I'm not a Doctor. This is my experience.

Anyone that has better recovery then me please post up.

Rob,
I am going to show this to Gianni, maybe he will be more motivated. He is 7 months post surgery now. We have the peddles for him to exercise with. He hasn't been using the stem machine; he thought it wasn't doing anything for him. Do you feel that it helps you? If I remember right, you live on long Island, don't you? We live in Jericho. I am going to try and Gianni to talk with you. I think you could be a big help to him. I feel lost as to his future and I am sure he feels the same way. He or I don't know what College courses he should take, or what his future will be like. The process is so slow. We have high hopes for a good recovery but sometimes I think we might be fooling ourselves. Gianni had a tattoo; he had the date of his accident next to the scar on his leg. It will have angel wings on it when it is done. He said it is the day he beat death. I do understand, but every time I see it I get a stabbing pain in my chest. Thanks for letting me sound off a bit.
Regards,
Maureen aka Gianni's mom

maureen,
Yes I live on long Island. His future is only Dim if he allows it to be. I'm 26 no college degree and I'm a director of Admissions in a school also a part time Stockbroker. I go out with friends on a regular basis and I'm going to the Dominican Republic with 5 friends at the end of July. I'm doing all this with a Right Brachial Plexus Injury which is my dominate arm. So again, his future is only Dim if he allows it.
Rob

Hi Rob,

I got very good recovery, and didn't have nerve surgery. The crash (bike) was 3.5 years ago, we think mainly stretch and T1 avulsed. The nerve surgery was considered too risky because of spine fractures. I worked very hard indeed on the PT and was motivated to keep on doing so when small flickers of life were reappearing in my arm. It was totally paralysed and my hand at first. Took a long time, but i guess after the first year new innervation stopped, but building the strength back still goes on. Lost my job but that is seen as an opportunity for change now more than a loss.
As well as traditional PT i did Pilates and Yoga, at home from video and books. The ROM improved dramatically with that and it's easier to keep things loose than try get them loose again after they seize up. Aqua therapy in a heated pool (or preferably a warm ocean)is the best I found.
Also I tried skiing a year after the crash and windsurfing when my hand could try grab/control the rig. Both fantastic confidence boosters if you work at them. Got a fast dirt bike too which takes a bit of concentrating to stay wheels down!
And i did that lot without going to a public gym, was too self conscious about my skinny arm, which to this day sometimes bugs me still.
Don't know that the motivation would have stayed if there was no recovery, but i found sports like the above and mountain biking etc to be much more fun 'therapy' that traditional PT, but each to their own.
Good luck people
Dave