United Brachial Plexus Network

I'm watching the Olympics which has always fascinated me, as I see people push themselves to be their best.

That is something we live with everyday with our injuries, pushing ourselves in spite of the pain, to be our best. But what I have gained after 48 years of living with this injury is to know my limits. Somehow these Olympians are limitless and there is something that bothers me about someone ice skating on a fractured foot that if she lands improperly can break clear through or a downhill skier who is skiing with a dislocated shoulder. These people don't know their limits. How will they live in the real world? And how will they pay in their future years for this kind of abuse to their bodies.

Is there something wrong with their attitude or with mine?

Just thinking out loud and wondering how you all feel.

Nancy

Hi Nancy,
In the UK these guys are known as adrenalin junkies,I suppose every sport has them people who strive to push themselfs to the limit,an example is someone who would climb a mountain/building with out a safty rope ,and then jump off the top with a parachute!! crazy i know
As for the olimpics the people who compete with injuries do so knowing that theve trained all there lives for this event ,the pinicle of there career,i guess wild horses wouldnt drag them away.

in the world of motorbike racing we have the Ilse of Man TT,these people realy do have balls,This is a street circit race over 23 mls with houses, walls, lamposts, sighns and spectators stand at the side of the road where bikes reach speeds of 180 mph.

every year around 10 racers are killed ,the top prize money is only around £10k but most do it for free,just the love of their chosen sport,to us there heros to many there mad.

I have to say tho the biggesr respect goes out to the paralimpic gues now they do have bottle,immagine down hill skiing on one leg!!

karl

Nancy

I don't think there is anything wrong with EITHER attitude!! Well, nothing that 20 more years won't enlighten them with. As you stated you have learned your limits in 48 years and me in 45. These athletes are YOUNG and driven........JUST like we were at that age!! At that age I did things with my arms that I'm sure!! I am paying for now haha

I think they know their limits...........but this is their shot at the golden ring (or whatever) and I know I personally never would have let anything stop me from reaching and achieving my goals when I was that age either....

On the other hand, I don't know that we with our injuries COULD have participated as they do with theirs. I think from the very beginning we all realized how delicate our situations were with our arms. Again, at least I did, and even tho I was fearless I ALWAYS ALWAYS protected my left arm, as I knew that if I hurt it tooo badly I would be incapaciataed.

So speaking out loud...........they will probably pay in later years as we are............ We all pay a price for our actions. If it's skating on a broken ankle or building a 2 story 3 car garage with just you and your hubby.........your so proud of yourself at the time and later, even tho you still have your medal/garage to look at you think.............WHAT WAS I THINKING

TINA

Nancy
It took a long time for me to learn MY limits. Sometimes, I envy those who could take chances but that is something we never had the luxury of trying. We always knew that the risk was too high. I guess the basic struggles we had to overcome as small children taught us to value limbs beyond the norm and that something in life are just not worth the risk...

My worst fear was and still is - - that I will loose the use of my "good" arm. I never said it out loud until coming to UBPN forms. I guess I never realized it until I started to loose it several years ago.

I guess it is hard for us to understand taking risks because we were never able to because from day one, we knew we could not afford another injury so we were not fearless even though we thought we were…. Learning to skate and ride a bike were risks for us.

I really thought I was fearless... yet now I know different...

Like you I am still trying to understand taking such a risk. I was willing to take life’s biggest risks getting married having babies, having friends is a risk and writing our thoughts on a message board sometimes that is a huge risk.

Things like jumping off a bridge and skiing and high speeds vehicles & boats just were beyond the risks that I could ever consider. Perhaps if we had not been injured at birth and the simple things in life were not risks we would understand better. I know that my kids called me a chicken when I worried about diving accidents and cars and sports.


Hmmmm I know I am rambling. but this is a very heavy subject and lots to sort out.

Now that you made me think about it.

Nancy to answer your question. No, I will never understand anyone taking a chance that could cost their limbs or life. And I wonder what happens to the families of these kids when they are injured so badly that they cannot function. What will happen as they age and are unable to function and no one remembers their brief moment in the sun?

I think the young think they are immortal and they are fearless unless given a reason to fear. When we are young we think we can overcome any thing. I think Tina hit that one right on the head... it is youth...
If it took us time to learn our limits because when we were young we thought we were super strong... well I was not exactly young when I learn my limits...

Kath

I think there is a big difference between someone jumping off a bridge for fun and a downhill skier racing in the Olympics. The later devote thier entire life, and that of thier families, to achieve one goal...to compete in the Olympics. Thier dedication surpasses fear and pain.

The only limits we face are those we set for ourselves. You are only limited by your will and determination. How can I tell my 11 week old daughter that she will have to limit her dreams because of her arm? I want, and expect, her to achieve far more than the goals I set for her.

This is the real world. The dedication these atheletes posses is more than I will ever know. And for that I admire and respect them and hold them up as role models for my daughter.

I'm sorry but I must disagree, respectfully.

If I were only limited by my 'will and determination' I would be able to use my bpi arm in the same way as I do my other. It is just not possible and I think a very big step in growing up was accepting my limitations. Learning what I was good at doing and focusing on that instead of what I could not do was and is very healthy.

My injury did not limit me as a person because I am far far more than a physical being.

Good discussion.
Nancy

Dear Null
You said.....
The only limits we face are those we set for ourselves. You are only limited by your will and determination. How can I tell my 11 week old daughter that she will have to limit her dreams because of her arm? I want, and expect, her to achieve far more than the goals I set for her.

I realize that you are the mother of an obpi baby but she is only 11 weeks old and you have yet to see if she is limited and how much this injury limits her ability... no disrespect intended but your goals may not be possible for your child... Her goals are adjusted by the extent of her injury not her desire or yours.

This is the real world. The dedication these atheletes posses is more than I will ever know. And for that I admire and respect them and hold them up as role models for my daughter

As the mother of an OBPI baby you will get the opportunity to watch more dedication and determination then you could have ever imagined... obpi children must be determined... dedicated and creative just to function in life.... Since you are aware this is the real world please remember that in the real world we are expected to function at certain levels and inorder to do that obpi children work much harder then any Atheletes it is a lifetime of therapy and ot and compensation.... sorry but that is our real world....

I think you may have mis understood what we were talking about... We are talking as obpi who have been challenged to do the ordinary our entire lives and we were thinking out loud...

As for jumping off bridges... that requires one to be fearless... that is something obpi children cannot truly be. even if we think we are, we instinctly protect our arms...

The limits placed on me were not by my parents nor myself.... but by the injury...

My spirit was willing my desires and dreams were intact too....... but my arm would not ...

DAM KATH !!!!

that kinda put it in a nutshell didn't it!!

YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!!!!!!

""The limits placed on me were not by my parents nor myself.... but by the injury...""

""My spirit was willing my desires and dreams were intact too....... but my arm would not ...""

Yes Null, Kath is also right in the response that you have YET to see determination and dedication!! Your daughter will amaze and confound you with it!!

Being born with both arms injured, I feel I am another example of this. I also was never limited by my parents. They reminded me day in and day out that I was only as limited (handicapped-dam i hate that word!!) as I wanted to be. But, in the same breath they were just hoping that I would be able to dress myself and feed myself.

I am now 45 and many times my parents will remind me of how proud they are of me and how much I have done and accomplished in my life that they cannot believe.

Sit back and hold on Null, because if your daughter grows up to be anything like some of us, you will have your hands full

She will be determined and self confident and of course have a great sense of humor. These things seem to be similar in us all??? Again, I think it comes from having to function "normally" when the normal to us is compensation. I recently saw a new Neurosurgeon and he said something that weird as it sounds made me feel very good about myself.

He said he was amazed "at how well I hid my injury!!!" Sad as that sounds...........that has always been part of my game plan, NOT being noticed....................

54 years and left obpi

Oh kath, you ramble on just like I do, and Tina is not far behind. But Kath, you were able to do cartwheels. I could not. lol

I never knew I had an injury. I figured I was a right hand, right arm person. I was never told I could not do something and for that I am thankful for. Nor did my injury cause me to be in any way careful. Maybe that is because I was born under the sign of Aries, the Ram. True to the nature, I just kept on butting my head until I achieved it or gave it up thinking it just was not that important.

I never thought of overuse. Come on guys. Are you that old now not to remember that we could do whatever never thinking of any consequences or am I the only one who did
things with out worrying or thinking about my arm. I will admit as I grew older, I figured out my limits. Like the last time I climbed a tree and could not get down. My kids laughed forever even though they had to help me down. Keep an open mind guys, age brings wisdom. Let kids be kids.
Of course this is just my opinion. And if I were in the olympics, I go for it to.

Sharon

Ok I started this thread so I'll bring us back to the original post. I was talking about performing in the Olympics knowing one had an injury and performing in an event in which that injury was placed further at risk. Was this wise was what I was ruminating about.

I think we are all Olympians, and perform impossible feats on a daily basis.

I've always known I had the injury by the way, and had surgeries in the 50s -- tendon and muscle transfers that helped tremendously.

In many ways, the 'limits' I may have felt made me feel limitless in other ways, in those areas in which I could excel and focus. I have always been a brainy one, so excelling in school was a great focus away from any physical 'limitation'.

Now I'm rambling, you guys are infecting me. LOL

Nancy