United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi, my baby boy has a brachial plexus injury to his left arm. He will be 3 months old in about a week. He is my fourth child. My oldest child will be 6 next month. Having 4 little children is a tough job alone but to now deal with this injury makes things even harder for our family. Luckily I have lots of family around me, lots of good neighbors, and friends at church that are helping out. I'm taking my baby into therapy once a week. I've been doing neck stretches with him. He keeps his head tilted to his left side. He screams and cries when I stretch his neck. It breaks my heart to have to do this and my other children are always questioning everything I do. The next time I go in for therapy we are going to video tape him to send to Houston to see about surgery. How long does it take to hear back from the team of doctors? It's nice to know there are others going through this with me or have already walked this road.

My baby is 81/2 months old now. He also had torticollis. With thereapy this went away. What are his injuries, and has he had an EMG yet? My son had one at three months ans one at six. He had surgery 4 weeks ago. I also have a 5 year old who asks alot of questions. He did not take this well at first. He has post traumatic stress disorder for what happened to his brother. He seems better though. Good luck.

Minnesota mom

Dear Null
please re-post this message onto the General message Board you will be amazed at the knowledge and support that you will gain from all the parents of children with this condition on that forum.
mostly adults with brachial plexus injuries post on this board, so the people who will be best able to help you don't always come to this board
Good luck

Hi,
I had a long horrible delivery and my son weighed over 10lbs. My first and third child came out not being able to move their arms but recovered after a week. My third child and this one had should dystocia. At about three weeks old this baby started moving his fingers. As of a couple weeks ago he can now raise his arm up to his belly and he can bring it out to a 90 degree angle. His shoulder has no movement, his biceps are not working, He can't bend his elbow, and his wrist is bent inward. We have a splint that he is wearing for his wrist. I'm still learning and wanting the best for my baby. This is all so overwhelming for me and I'm dealing with a lot of emotions. We brought our baby into a neurologist when he was a month old. He referred us to a therapist. This therapist has helped us the most with understanding our sons injuries and what to expect. We are doing therapy daily on our son and stretching his neck several times a day. It's nice to have this support group available.

hi im 14 and i have not had anything done to my arm. no type of surgery or anything. i think i was as bad off as could be when i was born. i couldnt move my arm at all. but now... nobody can even tell anything is wrong with me... unless i tell them of course. but maybe im not one to be saying this since im so young or wahtever... but im glad that my parents didnt get me into having surgeries or EMGs or anything like that. i think i turned out better without that stuff.
Amber

Just a bit of advice...get in touch with a BPI Specialist. Afterall, they deal with this injury on a daily basis versus a pediatrician, neurologist, plain old orthopedist. Get the best advice to help with the best recovery.

Tanya in NY

I just noticed this post is from Nov.2003... I guess most of the questions have beeen answered by now I hope.
Kath

Hi Null,
I have an almost 4 month old daughter who also has a LOBPI and am also very new to this. Seeing as our children are almost the same age, I am guessing we are probably close with our emotional ups and downs. Feel free to email me if you need to chat. I also have a little boy, who will be 2 next month, so like you, I am pretty busy but I do get to the computer during naps and in the evening.
Take Care and God Bless!
Shellie