United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Its been 3 1/2 months after surgery and I can now move my arm slightly and my thumb, with some wrist as well. It is amazing how far that I have come,and the intense pain that use to make me climb the walls has diminished.I only take one pill a day now for pain which is great.I had two nerve avulsions of c-8 and t-1 with some other nerve damage as well.I go to theropy four days a week, plus working it at home.My shoulder was hanging outof the socket by 2 1/2 inches but now is less than 1/2 of an inch. The Mayo Clinic was the best decision I ever made.Doctors Shin,Bishop,and Spinner did a fantastic job and I can not begin to thank them enough.

Why am I not surprised to read such positive things about Mayo?? Congratulations on making such great progress - which speaks not only to the skill of the Mayo team, but to your own determination as well.

Keep us posted!

Ellen

THAT IS EXCELLANT NEWS. I AM HAVING SURGERY IN TEN DAYS. MAN I AM SO PUMPED UP. i HAVE AVULSED C 6,7,8 HOPEFULLY I CAN BEGIN TO RECOVER AS FAST AS YOU, I AM NOT COUNTING ON IT BUT THAT WOULD BE GREAT. I AM 6 MONTHS POST OP WHAT WERE YOU WHEN YOU HAD SURGERY?
GOOD LUCK
BRANDON 31 TRBPI

Hi,
I just read your post and am so happy for you! That's awesome. I'm interested in knowing more about your injury and surgery if you don't mind. You mentioned you'd avulsed C8 & T1 with some damage to the the other nerves. My son is 7 yrs old and was injured on a dirtbike on 03/05, had surgery at Johns Hopkins 6/23/05 w/Dr. Belzberg. He has a complete plexus injury but the surgeons believe C5,C6 & C7 were still attached but had a lot of scarring, so they cleaned them up, xferred spinal accessory to suprascapular and left C8 & T1 alone for a later possible muscle xfer. So far, he's gaining some triceps, and that's about it. While on his back, he can extend his arm w/a 1 lb weight about 10 times. We just discovered this as he hasn't had an EMG yet. I was very torn on where to take him for surgery because we had an appt w/Mayo, but did not have a surgical date and we didn't want to wait - I hope and pray we did everything possible for Chase, and I know it's a waiting game from here, but we're not under the care of a BPI specialist or agressive therapy here in CA. I'd love to know about what you're doing in therapy as well...any estim? Looking forward to hearing back from you.
Congratulations!
Lourdes

Thanks Ellen and everyone for all your support. I left you a voice mail on your phone the other day Ellen ,I hope to talk to you soon. Brandon good luck with your surgery its the best decision you will make. The Doctors at the Mayo Clinic are unbelievable,I was in surgery for fourteen hours and it was all worth it.They were at the hospital that evening until 11pm to check on me.I live in New York and have seen some good Doctors but I can not even begin to express how great these guys are. Lourdes the Plexus Network and Ellen have been a great source of information and help for me.If their is anything I can do to help you or anyone else I will with out question.Call me my cell# is 914 557 8536. Brian

Thanks Ellen and everyone for all your support. I left you a voice mail on your phone the other day Ellen ,I hope to talk to you soon. Brandon good luck with your surgery its the best decision you will make. The Doctors at the Mayo Clinic are unbelievable,I was in surgery for fourteen hours and it was all worth it.They were at the hospital that evening until 11pm to check on me.I live in New York and have seen some good Doctors but I can not even begin to express how great these guys are. Lourdes the Plexus Network and Ellen have been a great source of information and help for me.If their is anything I can do to help you or anyone else I will with out question.Call me my cell# is 914 557 8536. Brian

Thanks Ellen and everyone for all your support. I left you a voice mail on your phone the other day Ellen ,I hope to talk to you soon. Brandon good luck with your surgery its the best decision you will make. The Doctors at the Mayo Clinic are unbelievable,I was in surgery for fourteen hours and it was all worth it.They were at the hospital that evening until 11pm to check on me.I live in New York and have seen some good Doctors but I can not even begin to express how great these guys are. Lourdes the Plexus Network and Ellen have been a great source of information and help for me.If their is anything I can do to help you or anyone else I will with out question.Call me my cell# is 914 557 8536. Brian

Thanks Ellen and everyone for all your support. I left you a voice mail on your phone the other day Ellen ,I hope to talk to you soon. Brandon good luck with your surgery its the best decision you will make. The Doctors at the Mayo Clinic are unbelievable,I was in surgery for fourteen hours and it was all worth it.They were at the hospital that evening until 11pm to check on me.I live in New York and have seen some good Doctors but I can not even begin to express how great these guys are. Lourdes the Plexus Network and Ellen have been a great source of information and help for me.If their is anything I can do to help you or anyone else I will with out question.Call me my cell# is 914 557 8536. Brian

Brain, I would love to talk to you. My son has all of his nerves avulsed. dennelllukkari@yahoo.com

Call me anytime ,My# is 1 914 557 8536.If their is anything I can do to help you or your family.This is the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with.