United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I've always been the tough girl. I was good at sports,good in school, good at amlost everything. my friends have almost always been boys because I could hang.Two months ago, my boyfriend and I got plastered drunk - not an uncommon past time for us. I loved playing pool and hanging out at bars - I was good at that too. On the way home, I who was not driving, somehow opened my door and out I went. We were going around 40 MPH. There is still thr spray paint circle of were my head lay. I don't remeber anything about the accident, but apparently, when thte paramedics arrived, I regained conciousness and started fighting everyone with both arms and legs. This continued into the ER so they intibated me and placed me on morphine. The next few days were foggy due to the morphine. The result of my accident is that I fractured my skull in three places, lost some of my hearing in my left ear and aquired nerve root avulsions C7-T1 and probably C6 too. I have no movement in my left arm at all and the pain is unbearable at times. I've been a F##k up for so long. I got a 3.95 GPA from VA Tech in Biology and did nothing with it. I became a chef and ran two well known restuarants. Four years ago I decided to lead a more productive life and became a certified massage therpist. Now what. I am depressed and don't know how to deal with this. If anyone has any suggestions, I would be so happy. The accident was my own damn fault. So what am I to say except, "There's no crying in baseball!"

Wow....

first of all - welcome to the site. Come here often - you'll find out what you need to know and the info here is invaluable. Plus, everybody's great! And, nobody will pass judgement. So, post away. We can help.

What a testimonial - your honesty blows me away. I am sorry for the pain. It's the one common denominator (unfortunately). Make sure to see a BPI specialist as soon as possible. My son had surgery about 4 months after the injury (very similar to yours) and he's had very good recovery partly because he had surgery so soon after and it's made a big difference in his life.

Good luck!

P.S. What state do you live in?

Hey Sue

Dont be so hard on yourself. Life is a learning experience. We all grow through all our mistakes and experiences. My accident changed my life but i cant say if it was all a bad thing. The only thing i can say is be patient and educate yourself. Find an expert in brachial plexus for advice because most Drs dont really know how to treat it. I went to the same Dr as Eric whos mother responded earlier. My arm is totally junk still and it been 4 yrs. So surgery isnt always the answer. But arming yourself with knowledge will help you decide what is right for you. check out this injury site http://tbpiukgroup.homestead.com/index_1.html

You will find much more adult bpi info there plus lots of other bpi people that are living through this. Theres lots of knopwledge support here and there. And keep us posted on your progress you are a strong person i can tell by your post you will get through this and you will grow into a better person from it.

Hello,

all of us here are suffering the same pain & problems. Some of us gained our entry to this exclusive club by our own mistakes, some by the mistakes of others, and others by a purely accidental chance, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Act of God, if you like, though I personally don't believe in all that.

Regardless of the circumstances of our arrival at this situation, we are all now in the same predicament. The people posting on these sites are fighters, who are determined to make the best of whatever hand has been dealt to us. That's why we've all gone out looking for information, and met on the internet.

It would be easy for someone to become reclusive and wallow in a pool of self pity, but life must go on, and its better to accept what's happened and move on.

You sound like someone who will come to terms with this, and get back on track. This site, and the oher one mentioned above, are THE places to be for support, advice, and friendly encouragement.

Good luck.

Hi Nancy
Thank you for replying to my forum.I live in Virginia, but I feel like I am lost at sea. I've seen so many docters and they all say different things. In thehospital right after the accident, they said the
mri, CT scans, X-rays, were inconclusive. Then I went to a rehab center were they had me do leg exercises - yet the problem was my arm. My mom then drove me to here home in South carolina were I saw another docter who ordered a myleogram (that was soooooo painful). The S. Carolina docter basically said I was screwed and stopped my physical therapy. That was one month past the injury. that is when the pain started. It seems to get worse every day.
I have an appointment to see a BPI specialist next week. Hopefully he will have some answers for me. His name is Dr. Zager from Philadelphia. I need some hope because I am sinking fast!

Hi Sue
Nice to meet you, sorry you're here. You sound a lot like I was 20 odd years ago, I'm still here large as life and I still enjoy a lot of the things you describe, although I am now also a parent and have lost most of the use of my right arm. Right now you are in the very worst place you can be and I feel for you-we have all been there and it doesn't matter what ANYONE says, the future just looks hopeless.
It's a matter of time, both for any recovery in your arm to happen and for you to start to come to terms with how things have changed literally overnight for you. We are all here to help you through this, both here and at the tbpi uk message board where all the posters have trauma injuries. There is no right or wrong way to deal with how you feel, just vent when you need to and ask any questions that spring to mind.

I don't know of your specialist, but as long as his particular interest is adult onset bpi rather than birth injuries you should be fine-check how many trauma injured adults he has seen and over how long-tbpi recovery is a long term thing. if you want second opinions there are several specialists in PA http://ubpn.org/medicalresources/pe ... a-bpi.html
Noone can say you are screwed at this early stage, none of the diagnostic tests are 100% reliable, and those done immediately after the accident would be worthless-the nerve damage doesn't show at all for a couple of weeks. I have full avulsions yet my biceps came back to life between the second and third year, and I only know of one person who this didn't happen to-yet all of us were told that this couldn't happen. The doctors know a lot, but they don't know it all.

I'm hoping your injury starts recovery soon and the pain eases up too-that for me was definitely the worst part of being injured.
Here are some FAQ from the uk site to answer the questions the newly injured most often ask http://tbpiukgroup.homestead.com/faq_1intro.html
Hope some of this helps Sue and take care. :0) Jen NZ

HI Jen
do you want to hear something fuuny? Well I am going to tell it to you anyways. You Know why my user name is punchy sue? Because I hate being called Sue and used to hit people when they called me that. My preferred name is Susan. I guess I should have had some forethought before I used it as my message name. I guess the jokes on me I'ld better go sock myself real hard for that one! Thanx for your information. I need all the support I can get.

p.s. Thanx john K and jacko too. I'm still getting used to typing with one hand and didn't have a chance to write you back. I am really glad I found people who know what it is like to be brand new to this injury! Thanx again!

Hahaaaa sorry SUSAN ! I reckon your punchiness just might help you thru this, you go gal.....:0)

Hi Susan(I read the "punchysue" reply to jenny first!!ha!)

My name is Suzie--(Suzanne if you don't know me or I am in big trouble!ha!)--you hang in there--you NEED a good adult BPI specialist to work with--My husband David sustained a BPI July 16--trying to turn a double play!!!!(needless to say, the guy was safe....)we live one state up--in Maryland--are going to, from what I have been told from other collegues in the field(I am an RN) "the best in the business and world reknown"--a Dr. Allen Belzberg at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore--he is a no nonsense, tell it like it is guy--someone who you sound like you'd appreciate at this point--Anyway, David is doing better, and I attribute that to getting to Dr. Belzberg sooner rather than later as the orthopedic guy wanted us to do"just wait and see"--Do range-of -motion exercises everyday, as often as possible to the effected arm, and massage to keep everything loose--that has helped David immensly, I know-from shoulder to fingers-especially fingers and hand, because from my understanding, those will be lthe last to come back because they are the farthest from the avulsed area--make sense?? Keep your chin up, and as for what to do career wise--how about teaching biology-to high school or middle schoolers?? You have some valuable life-lessons to teach our younger genreation--as the mom of 2 teenage daughters, I KNOW good teachers are hard to find--Great storytellers and teachers of influence are a godsend--maybe this is where you are being led......good luck-will keep an eye on the board for your progress!!!
Suzie