Wish I knew about this site 2 years ago!

[momma1]

When my daughter was born and her arm hung limp behind her I thought she was still born. She is a happy two year old now, as happy as two year olds get anyway, but for the past 2 years I felt like I was on my own. One Dr told me she had shoulder dystocia, another said BPI and the last said she'll be fine in a couple days. No one would tell me what it was because everyone was so afraid of litigation. I am happy to report that now at daughter is doing very well. We had a wonderful PT at Childrens Hospital in Michigan. I will always consider her our angel. My daughter still has problems with tightness in her elbow and prefers her left hand for almost anything but has recovered overall very well. The insurance company won't let her back into physical therapy because her visits have run out. This angers me. How can a Dr say she needs therapy and the insurance company just say "no". I realize she is doing well but she is not completely recovered. Anyone else have this problem and if so what did you do? Also, no one will tell me what the long term affects of this will be. She isn't going to heal completely? Do I need to watch for anything?

[Vanda Roseboom]

Everyone heals differently my third child has completely recovered and his initial injury was much less severe than my first child. My first child had alot of recovery but still had some weakness in his shoulder and held it in a not completely normal posture - now at twelve we realize we should have braced for this posture to try and prevent the arm and shoulder joint from growing malformed and having a tendency towards a posterior dislocation due to malformation of the joint due to muscle imbalances around the shoulder.There are also techniques available now to try help grow the weaker muscles using low level electrical stimulation while the child is sleeping .

[admin]

What about Early Intervention through the county you live in? My daughter, Amber, has been in it since about 6 months of age and now she's almost 18 months old. She gets OT and PT free of charge through that.

Also, here we have a program called medicaid waiver which is basically medicaid, but qualifying is based on a child's disability versus family income. My daughter qualified based on her Erb's Palsy, but we did have to be persistent about it because in the area I live in, the caseworker was telling me that noone had ever heard of Erb's Palsy, let alone try to get qualified using it. I got documentation from the pediatrician, current OT/PT through EI and the orthopedist she sees, and she qualified. Now we get aquatic therapy twice per week paid for by the medicaid waiver.

You need to push the insurance company too. Get documentation from the pediatrician, specialists, AND the PT. Make phone calls. Ask to speak to someone higher up than the one who answers the phone at the insurance company. Get a parental advocate. PUSH, PUSH, PUSH!

Good luck!

[Nettie]

I would do what others have suggested...I would get your child into a birth to three program...you will qualify...and then I would learn as much as I can from the therapist about the therapy she provides...what to do and how to do it...you can certainly fight your insurance company for more therapy...we were not so lucky to get it and my son did not qualify for services at school because he had no speech delays and his arm did not prohibit his ability to learn in the classroom...but I did have him evaluated anyway and that gets him on record and opens the door for services if he ever needs surgery...then he can get PT and OT in school...If you really think about it, unless you have a severe injury, the child's activities of daily living are their therapy on a regular basis...Unfortunately, unless this is a very mild stretching injury, your little girl will probably not completely recover...My son has done well and will be 6 in May, no surgeries to date and their is really nothing I can think of that he cannot do...the only thing I won't let him participate in is wrestling as an organized sport...There is a lot of controversy out there regarding surgery or not...which makes this injury even more confusing...I have always looked at functional ability and if my son has any discomfort daily...it is hard to predict what you will expect long term...every injury is very individualized and there are a ton of opinions out there with very little scientific data to back it up...good luck to you and welcome to the group...