United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

LIKE SOME OF YOU HERE I AM NEW TO THIS,BEFORE MY INJURY LIFE WAS PRETTY GOOD AND EVEN THOUGH IT'S BEEN 7 MONTHS SINCE MY ACCIDENT,I'M STILL IN THE EARLY STAGES OF LEARNING TO LIVE WITH THIS.HAVING ALWAYS BEEN ACTIVE AND NEVER HAVING ANY SERIOUS INJURIES THIS WAS/IS ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE THAT MY FIRST REAL SERIOUS INJURY WOULD BE A PERMANENT ONE.WELL WITH SUMMER APPROACHING,MY FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR,I'VE BEEN FINDING MYSELF HAVING SOME MORE THAN USUAL,DEPRESSING DAYS AND THE OTHER NIGHT WAS ONE OF THEM.MY PAIN WAS CONSTANT AND IRRITATING,MY BACK WAS HURTING AND I COULD NOT GET COMFORTABLE,AS I TOSSED AND TURNED AND CURSED THAT GOD FORSAKEN DAY THAT CHANGED MY LIFE I THOUGHT TO MYSELF "I DO NOT WANT TO LIVE THE REST OF MY LIFE GOING THROUGH THIS! EVEN IF THIS SURGERY WORKS MY BODY WILL NEVER BE THE SAME,I'M GOING MISS OUT ON SOO MUCH!"FEELING PRETTY HOPELESS AND BITTER I GOT ONLINE WENT TO YOU TUBE JUST TO LISTEN TO SOME MUSIC AND TRY TO GET MY MIND RIGHT,WELL IT WASN'T WORKING AS I HAD HOPED.ANYWAY I SAW A LINK THAT CHRISTOPHER POSTED ABOUT A BIONIC ARM,HE ALWAYS FINDS THE MOST INTERESTING STUFF,I THOUGHT WELL AT LEAST I CAN DREAM A LITTLE,THAT WAS COOL BUT ONLY UNTIL I LOOKED AT MY OWN SHRUNKEN,FLAIL ARM,THEN I STUMBLED ACROSS THIS GUY NAMED NICK VUJICIC WHO HAS NO ARMS OR LEGS AND HE'S ONLY TWENTY SOMETHING,TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT THE THINGS THIS GUY CAN DO AND HIS ATTITUDE ON LIFE BLEW ME AWAY!I COULD NOT GO TO SLEEP ANGRY AND DEPRESSED,AFTER WATCHING HIM AND LISTENING TO HIS STORY I REALIZED WE CAN NOT ALWAYS CONTROL WHAT HAPPENS TO US IN LIFE BUT WE CAN CONTROL HOW WE DEAL WITH IT,WHEN YOU THINK YOU CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS,LOOK HIM UP,YOU WILL THINK DIFFERENTLY.

THAT WAS AWSOME!!! You get it . If you do learn to think this way you mite even SMILE MORE. This summer be with your friends as you can. Talk to people on the phone. Do not stay home get out in the SUN , It nice day , Think about something to try and let us know what it is. There is some really smart people Hear , right WHO KNOWS <JEDI, The force is growing strong here!!!! I like humor to control pain to , How much pain our you in when you Laugh???

TOM

when i worked as a cashier at a huge retailer, i had a man come through my line one day. he had no hands or feet. he walked, pushed the shopping cart, got stufff off the shelf by himself, (his kids got down for him what he could not reach), he was very independent. when he got to my line, i asked him if he needed help getting stuff out of his cart, he said no. he got those stumps going faster than i could think about putting the stuff on the counter. he got his pen out of his pocket with his stumps, put it in his mouth, opened his checkbook, and wrote his check faster than i ever could. i said to him WOW you are amazing at how you do things. he told me no i am not amazing. i just do things differently than everyone else. there is nothing special about me. his kids were awesome. they treated him just like any other kids treat their parents. (they were teenagers and very respectfull towards him.) i think about this man quite often in the past few months since my injury. dont remember his name, but he had a wonderful attitude. i am just glad i have an arm that can hurt.

it's all about perspective:

http://youtu.be/6MRQ6F0BaOQ

Everyone heals (emotionally, psychologically, spiritually and physically) at their own rate. It took me years (3-5) before i started getting my old spirit back. I'm still working on it.

Where attention goes, energy flows. This is proven daily with our neuropathic pain. If you think about it, focus on it, it gets worse. To the point of overtaking you. The same goes with everything else in life. This injury is an opportunity to grow in ways we've never imagined, as individuals and even as a community. We have to learn to ask for help when we need it. We have to learn how to 'let go' of old ideas, and live in the 'now' (because life isn't what happened yesterday, or maybe tomorrow, it's what we make of it right now). We have to learn focus on what we can do, not on what we used to be able to do. This one is one of the hardest for me. I deal with it daily. I used to be extremely adept with my hands. I could paint, sculpt, p;lay music, fix almost anything that was ever made by another human. It's all different now.

Learning to accept takes time. It's a worth while focus and takes hard work. It just doesn't come over night (at least for me it didn't).

Don't be hard on yourself. You're learning to reinvent a lot. Be patient. Be gentle. Learn to laugh at it all (still working on this hourly!). You will inspire people, just like Nick Vujicc inspired you!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ZuKF3dxCY

Give me a shout Armstrong (christopher@ubpn.org). I'm in LA and still ride my bike. I can show you how you can get back on one yourself if you want. I think we've got similar injuries (some hand movement, everything else is toast). At the very least, we can share war stories.

Cheers,
Chris

ps what's with the yelling with ALL CAPS?

Chris: I just wanted to tell you how perfectly you stated all of that. It is a work in progress, a constant strive to improve and live life to the fullest.

And for the record I give you props on the bike-riding . I've tried, but haven't gotten it yet. My balance is quite out of whack.... but one of these days i will get it .

Match up helps, The closer you can come to a person that matches up to your injuries here, listen closely. There answers were AWSOME!!!
You know before treatment and born ERBS in the 50,s. I had to learn to crawl one arm, how to dress and eat, Finger food and smwiches work for me, Then you only need one hand for a spoon. Later you find a lively hood to do in life and Learn to even drive a motor cycle. So remember that a fact is I had to teach myself how to do it all and you do become creative in how you will adapt in my case my brain rewired to think one hand. Will it happen to you , I HOPE< The 2 key is pain Stay on top of getting treatment, You need to do things, anything that will give you a distraction it May help your pain?? If you want to get on a bike again but have a balance problem , conceder a 3 wheeler? In general you do grow with time it never stops adapting. key three , Remember treatment do change, I am in AWWW the things you can get treatment for BPI, I saw ware Doctors reattach a hand,ETC_ETC. You seen it to Who knows maybe Star Wars HANDS might happen Or will soon?? Like I said there is a lot of Very smart people here, I fill the Force growing here Luke

YOur answers were AWSOME!!! and Direction and trying will help your pain to, Its real to me in my daily Life. Match up is the best of all You will have a life time of improvement it grows by what you try to do or re learn to do it with your limits for sure.

Best Wishes! and

Tom

God bless you Chris for sharing your Journey to Peace within.
Carolyn J
LOBPI/72+++

THANKS FOR THE FEED BACK,IT'S ALWAYS ENCOURAGING TO HEAR FROM THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN LIVING WITH THIS INJURY FOR YEARS,I HEAR YOU CHRISTOPHER,I KNOW IT'S GOING TO TAKE ALOT TO GET THROUGH THIS AND I KNOW THERE WILL BE MORE BAD DAYS TO COME BUT I'M GOING TO FOCUS ON FINDING SOMETHING GOOD IN EACH DAY,HOWEVER SMALL IT MAY BE .ONE DAY AT A TIME.
AS FOR THE CAPS I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT AS YELLING..LOL...THATS JUST THE WAY I TYPE/WRITE.

You guys are doing great, if you think of something to try with your limitation? Start small think small goals to adapt to ? Make sure you guys keep looking to find a way to help your pain, Trying will be better for sure . Use your limitation that you can. Exercise your limitations by help your good side, this will make you stronger in what you can. You will streaten and adapt by fact I guess I live my life like EVIL- Con-Evil , Driving Semis is a contact sport with freight OUCH!! You will get more treatment but focus on treatment that is not GENERIC, You may not get the results you want ? Your limitation are unique to your injuries. before you decide on a treatment try a second option from a doctor, Be sure you know outcomes of surgeries , please its bad for your emotional state , I wish these BPI injury came with a How to Book, I gain 1 thing from my injuries a creative mind, You guys are getting it to, YOU will adapt its a fact I am living proof and so are so many here This advice is Old School for sure
Tom

Hi ARMSTROnG I hope match up helps you and others that try I wish there were a national base for a possible match-up You could do it by date of BPI? But very important base it on same type of injuries and treatment done and outcome? Match to other in BPI area, One on one, Help from another BPI LIKE THEM? Match UP You know there was a team of baseball players who were missing a arm, It a facT. Overcome by seeking direction from some one who is in front of you???? Just a

Your DOING GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!
Tom