United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi to all of you! I have just discovered this website and let me tell you I am glad to see that i am not alone. My story is that my boyfriend was in an avalanche on Boxing day, was swept over a cliff and was injured badly. One of his injuries is bpi of his right arm. He broke is humerus and severed his radial nerve. He had a nerve graph righ away but to this day his arm is not moving. He has feeling under is upper and lower arm, cannot flex/move is bicep and has some good movement from his shoulder. He has very limited finger grip, cannot control much of his hand. He is scheduled to see a bpi specialist in a months time.

Being all new, very new to this BPI thing, what can we expect, from all the experienced people here, who can give me an idea of what kind of recovery he might make? Is this a life long condition? Do some people recover fully?

Thank you for your advice and tips

Marylene

Hi Marylene,
I posted a long answer on Ben's questions so will be a little shorter here. You can read the other reply's with him. It is wonderful that he will being seeing a BPI specialist. With this injury it is very important as other drs will have some ideas as how to treat this but not the same as a BPI specialist. As far as a time frame for recovery that so varied I don't think anyone can answer that. It depends on the injury and the person. All you can do is keep working on it. Dustin is now 2+ yrs post accident and we still see improvements. This doesn't mean that Ben's will be the same I am just saying that each one is different and although you may feel you are beyond healing it may take a long time. Is this a life long condition? Unfortunately, most likely. Althought you may get enough recovery to lead life as before the accident the drs at the Mayo did say it is rare for a 100% recovery. Sorry, I don't mean to be a bummer, keep holding out hope and helping him work. From the sounds of how quickly he has seen improvement in other areas maybe once the nerve has healed he will see quick improvements through he biceps too.
Sue