United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I'm searching through my head and my tiny little scraps of notes to pull out the different things that were extremely meaningful (in terms of new information) at camp. I hope that many of you do the same so that those who could not make it this year get at least some of what we learned. I know that many of the presentations will be in the Outreach coming up - but sometimes if you get a whole presentation in writing it's hard to pull out the one thing that was mind blowing... know what I mean?

So what new information do you want to share with everyone?

Ok - here's something I got from Don's session on siblings.

I learned that brothers and sisters take on the same emotions concerning an injured sibling equal to the parents! That was pretty scary to learn.

He said that one of the most important things that siblings really lose is TIME with the parents so he suggested a date once a month. He told the story of a parent who actually removed a sibling from school one day a month and they spent the whole day doing things together.

from the legal panel....

it's proven that the injury is caused by traction - so how can this happen in utero if the baby is floating in water ? the baby doesn't pass through a bony structure until birth...

about forces of labor... the baby only travel 2-3 inches to be born and it goes extremely slowly, so there is no way it can slam down into the pubic bone at the speed of light and cause an injury!

a bpi can be a result of a c-section IF they wait until the head is engaged in the pelvic outlet and then they have to pull it out using forceps or vacuum or if the opening is made too small

Wow Francine! Keep the info. coming...this is fantastic! I wish I could have been there!

I am still trying to reach and eat the cookie like in the presentation.

There's lots of info. spinning in my head too, but I'll share what sticks out the most. It was in the Parents' workshop. Don said that one thing that helps dealing with this injury is to not let it be the primary focus of the family, but to have another primary thing to focus on (with religion being one of the possible suggestions). Well, to some extent, that's what we've already been working on here. Sure we spend lots of time in formal and informal / lifestyle therapy, but our first focus in life is religion. When you put God first in your life, everything else just finds a way of working out. I really enjoyed being in such a beautiful setting b/c the natural surroundings themselves help to feel closer to God -- seeing His beautiful creations so closely. The sky looked magnificent at night with all the beautiful stars shining. I loved seeing the sun coming up as we walked to breakfast. I got up early to watch what would be my first sunrise Monday morning, but unfortunately it was cloudy and raining. I did make good use of the time meditating and reflecting though -- something I don't do enough of, but that is so healthy to do. I'm getting sidetracked, but just wanted to share that info. with others. For me and prob. most who read this, it's not new info., but just a reminder. Really, that's a big part of why I don't spend much time on the board anymore. It also helps that we're not presently in "surgery-mode" and I know that everyone goes through different stages, but whenever you can reshift focus, it's healthy to do so, and esp. to our wonderful Creator. -Tina, Nicole's Mom

My daughter is 9 y/o and I learned from Dr. Belzberg's presentation that the sural nerve graft is really just an empty tube. The nerves inside die so they aren't really doing anything with the leg nerves but just the tube. He said it acts like a straw so the bpi nerves grow through it. Can't believe I never knew that...

Sharon

Just paging through my notes....
TCH surgeries to date...
Mod Quad- 3,950
Caps- 125
Biceps length-102
Osteotomy- 31
other- 592

If a Titanium plate is used for the osteotomy, an mri can be done in the future.

50-70% of Shoulder Dystocias are not reported- yikes!

OB has 5-7 minutes to apply manuevers before baby is in any type of danger.

It takes 30 pounds of traction to cause an injury and 100 pounds to cause an avulsion.

VBAC= very bad alternative chioce. I hope I dont offend anyone with this statement. It was written in my notes quoted by part of the medical panel.

Great information. I am curious as to why there isn't as many bicep lengthening procedures done? Do you know why? Or the osteotomy? Just curious.

Judy

I can't reach that cookie...(thank God I can with the left...LOL..) But you can paddle a canoe and not fall over!
and for the first time ever I wished I could eat right handed... the food was so great... LOL...

Kath