Update on my triceps to deltoid nuerotization... Good news!
Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 6:36 am
I am truly sorry to post this update this late. I am sorry because I know any good news give people a lot more to fight for. I remember myself reading pages of posts to catch something I could relate to.
MB15, bensmom and shaunb... I especially wanted you to hear these but I had too much change in my life. Trying to move abroad etc. and I have witnessed firsthand the mentality of affected people in the long term. Probably, most people that recover don't want to go through their old feelings on bad times and don't post enough good news. We probably hear more bad news.
So, sorry!
Anyway, here goes... First of all sorry for the long post but please be patient and read it to the end because as I've said it is actually good news.
So, I was nearing my 2nd year after the accident and 6-7 months past my triceps to deltoid neurotization surgery. I went for a check and there was still no activity with the deltoid in EMG. But during that EMG session the neurologist who performed the test told me that although the surgeon would know what to expect better since he had seen my insides, most neurotizations are expected to produce real results around 1 year. And that I had taken care of my muscles very well since his neurological assessment looked like my muscles were just 6 months post-trauma. : ) He told me whatever I did I should keep doing it and stay cool since it will potentially turn into some real functionality if the nerves innervate.
The same day after I checked with my surgeon he told me he expected some improvements around the 6th month. He told me he wanted to open it up and check if the muscle nerve plates were ok if there was still nothing going on around the 9th month. Maybe do a muscle transfer for abduction at the same time. So he felt like there was no need to rush since there was nothing to lose if the innervation didn't work and wanted to wait 3 months more.
Naturally I had mixed feelings after the good news were cancelled out by the bad news.
3 months later, I was planning to move abroad and felt like I had to get this waiting on something mentality over with and went for a last check. I expected nothing really, it was just to be proper with the procedure, to do it right, that's all.
The same neurologist did the EMG. He remembered my story and directly checked the deltoid.
And... It was innervating through all the three facades! Yes indeed! : )))
He told me it was a very good start, they were swarming the muscle in a salvo and the potential seemed abundant. He congratulated me and explained how the recovery works using a marathon run as a metaphor. He said you would see no one in the whole big stadium, waiting. Then the first runner enters and just a little while later a lot of runners storm the place. : )
It was one of the happiest days of my life. Actually it was very weird. I couldn't express my joy like I thought I would, I thanked him so much. It was like an implosion. It was like something you have waited for so long, when you actually have it, you experience a wiser, calmer excitement.
Then I checked with the surgeon. But I didn't expect anything bad this time since like most of the people affected with BPI I knew what meant what. Innvervation is good!
He tried to pull a joke on me saying he was very unhappy with these results, then we laughed and shook hands.
He wanted to see me again 3 months later to see the amount of improvement. He told me what he really expected was functional recovery, so even if this is good news he would expect 'at least' -4 GRADE movement (movement against gravity and slight external resistance) to think this is over.
This was a little more than a month ago. I have been feeling my arm is much more stable and I have a little more movement in directions I didn't have before. My improvement with the external rotation also added to the arm's functionality and brought out more of the deltoid movement. But nothing spectacular yet.
Still... Although everything has been slower than my or other people's expectations, almost always something improved when I least expected it, as long as I kept my motivation to heal myself.
Take care all!
Nazim
MB15, bensmom and shaunb... I especially wanted you to hear these but I had too much change in my life. Trying to move abroad etc. and I have witnessed firsthand the mentality of affected people in the long term. Probably, most people that recover don't want to go through their old feelings on bad times and don't post enough good news. We probably hear more bad news.
So, sorry!
Anyway, here goes... First of all sorry for the long post but please be patient and read it to the end because as I've said it is actually good news.
So, I was nearing my 2nd year after the accident and 6-7 months past my triceps to deltoid neurotization surgery. I went for a check and there was still no activity with the deltoid in EMG. But during that EMG session the neurologist who performed the test told me that although the surgeon would know what to expect better since he had seen my insides, most neurotizations are expected to produce real results around 1 year. And that I had taken care of my muscles very well since his neurological assessment looked like my muscles were just 6 months post-trauma. : ) He told me whatever I did I should keep doing it and stay cool since it will potentially turn into some real functionality if the nerves innervate.
The same day after I checked with my surgeon he told me he expected some improvements around the 6th month. He told me he wanted to open it up and check if the muscle nerve plates were ok if there was still nothing going on around the 9th month. Maybe do a muscle transfer for abduction at the same time. So he felt like there was no need to rush since there was nothing to lose if the innervation didn't work and wanted to wait 3 months more.
Naturally I had mixed feelings after the good news were cancelled out by the bad news.
3 months later, I was planning to move abroad and felt like I had to get this waiting on something mentality over with and went for a last check. I expected nothing really, it was just to be proper with the procedure, to do it right, that's all.
The same neurologist did the EMG. He remembered my story and directly checked the deltoid.
And... It was innervating through all the three facades! Yes indeed! : )))
He told me it was a very good start, they were swarming the muscle in a salvo and the potential seemed abundant. He congratulated me and explained how the recovery works using a marathon run as a metaphor. He said you would see no one in the whole big stadium, waiting. Then the first runner enters and just a little while later a lot of runners storm the place. : )
It was one of the happiest days of my life. Actually it was very weird. I couldn't express my joy like I thought I would, I thanked him so much. It was like an implosion. It was like something you have waited for so long, when you actually have it, you experience a wiser, calmer excitement.
Then I checked with the surgeon. But I didn't expect anything bad this time since like most of the people affected with BPI I knew what meant what. Innvervation is good!
He tried to pull a joke on me saying he was very unhappy with these results, then we laughed and shook hands.
He wanted to see me again 3 months later to see the amount of improvement. He told me what he really expected was functional recovery, so even if this is good news he would expect 'at least' -4 GRADE movement (movement against gravity and slight external resistance) to think this is over.
This was a little more than a month ago. I have been feeling my arm is much more stable and I have a little more movement in directions I didn't have before. My improvement with the external rotation also added to the arm's functionality and brought out more of the deltoid movement. But nothing spectacular yet.
Still... Although everything has been slower than my or other people's expectations, almost always something improved when I least expected it, as long as I kept my motivation to heal myself.
Take care all!
Nazim