United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I just wanted to let everyone know that we did go ahead and keep our appointment for my daughter at the Mayo clinic after some persuading from a lot of you. It is scheduled for next weds and thurs. We have like 4-5 different appointments over 2 days. Is that how they usually do it? My daughter is doing really well. (accident Sept. '08) Her range of motion seems to be really good. The only thing is she still struggles sometimes lifting her arm too high. She also doesn't have as much strength in her injured arm. She still uses her uninjured arm to do most things but will use the injured one only if she needs to. (injured one is/was the dominant) We are currently doing therapy 3 times a week and she is still progressing. My hope is she will recover almost fully on her own. She never complains of pain but she is only 3 yrs old so I don't know if it is painful or not. So wish us luck at our appt and I wish all of you good health and good recoveries. Btw,we got a great deal for a hotel room on Priceline

Best of luck to you! And yes, the multiple appointments over 2 days is fairly typical of your first visit. For my husband it was MRI and EMG day one, and neuroligist and "The Team" day two. I really think you'll be glad you went and hope you get good news.

We went this Tuesday and Wednesday to Mayo. It is impressive to just walk in the place. Then to have a whole team of docs walk into a room kind of scared my little girl but she did alright and was able to show them her movement. We saw Drs. Bishop and Spinner. They said they do not recommend surgery. She is using her arm really well and even if they were to do surgery it may not make it better than it is and may just set her back. We kind of got the impression of "why are you here" because she is moving so well. They did,however see that it wasn't perfect and she does have some limitations. They also understood that we want the best possible outcome. They recommended we come back in about 6 months and see if a tendon transfer would be helpful.
They were a great team of doctors and answered all of my questions. They were patient with my 3 yr old who didn't want to totally cooperate. I am comfortable with their decision and feel they did get a good feel for her injury. I am glad we went if nothing else to ease our mind that we are doing all we can for her. I am hoping to see more progress with her. Thanks for your encouragement.