Mayo clinic

Treatments, Rehabilitation, and Recovery
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jpixstix
Posts: 34
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 2:56 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: TBPI Feb 12, 2006 Right arm dominat affected. Quad accident. Hit by snowmobile. Don't remember much. Multiple broken bones in arm , severed arteries , head injury.
Location: Philadelphia

Re: Mayo clinic

Post by jpixstix »

Thanks jess and angela for the replies. I am probably gonna go through with it, but i might wait till next year. They said at this point (5 yrs. post acc.) it is not time sensitive. I have full confidence in the mayo team and as you said a little would mean alot, i think anyway. It would be great to bend my arm again. I just hope it don't mess up my golf game! lol.
Jim
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jesseb
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:11 am
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Injured 02/01/04 in snowmobile accident; recently turned 21.
Multiple facial, limb, and rib breaks. Only lasting injury is due to left brachial plexus avulsion of C6, C7, C8 & T1. C5 vertebrae fractured, allowing nerve to remain in tact. No sensation in, and minimal movement and use of left arm, except for phantom nerve pains. Whenever the pain sets in, I try to focus on the fact that God allowed me to live and be thankful He is giving me a second chance..
Two BPI related surgeries at Mayo Clinic-Rochester.
1- Right gracilus muscle transfer connected to left bicep and clavicle, intervated to allow elbow bending. Sural nerves taken from both calves for nerve grafting. Partial tibial nerve graft.
2- Fusion of Left wrist and thumb.
Cartilage removed from wrist and thumb to solidify joints with harvested bone marrow from my hip. This surgery has highly improved the functionality of my left arm.
All proper diagnoses and surgeries performed at Mayo Clinic-Rochester.

Re: Mayo clinic

Post by jesseb »

It's amazing what you can learn to do with limited use. I learned to play Xbox pretty well just using my right hand and my chin. I used to be pretty dang good at Tiger Woods golf. Are you really able to play golf with one hand? If so, I am impressed.
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User avatar
jpixstix
Posts: 34
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 2:56 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: TBPI Feb 12, 2006 Right arm dominat affected. Quad accident. Hit by snowmobile. Don't remember much. Multiple broken bones in arm , severed arteries , head injury.
Location: Philadelphia

Re: Mayo clinic

Post by jpixstix »

I actually play as much as i can. I am not as good as i used to be but i'm getting better. My wife found me a glove for my right hand. It velcros around the wrist and forearm and has a flap that pulls your fingers in to a grip position and the flap then goes to a ring on the velcroe part under the wrist and you can wrench it tight to give almost a fist.(if your fingers are loose enough) i keep it loose untill i get my club in, then i wrench it tight. It really is great. I love the game and this allows me to swing with both arms. Swinging with one arm was really hard for me and i really couldn't get the hang of it.
I was so worried the company would go out of bussiness i bought 5 more for backups! On your note Jess i never got the hang of video games with the one hand, just that one wear you sing in a rock band!
Jim
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Sandraga
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 1:33 am
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Son, 16, suffered TBPI January, 2010 in a ski race. Complete avulsion of C7/8, T1. Tore 5/6. Surgery at Mayo with Brachial Plexus team March, 2010. Free muscle transplant; nerve transplants and transfers. Recovering and passive PT now.

Re: Mayo clinic

Post by Sandraga »

Have been to Mayo three times in last year with our son.(16) He was evaluated for his injury (1/5/10) in February then had surgery there in March, 21010, and again in November, 2010. Outstanding medical team of Drs. Shin, Bishop and Spinner. In the US, the best place to go for TBPI is the Mayo in Rochester.
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Sandraga
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 1:33 am
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Son, 16, suffered TBPI January, 2010 in a ski race. Complete avulsion of C7/8, T1. Tore 5/6. Surgery at Mayo with Brachial Plexus team March, 2010. Free muscle transplant; nerve transplants and transfers. Recovering and passive PT now.

Re: Mayo clinic

Post by Sandraga »

Hey JesseB. How's your recovery? Lucas had nearly the identical injury and the same procedures done by Shin, Bishop,and Spinner. He has experienced the beginning of some sensation, etc, but not enough for functionality. His wrist and thumb were fused at Thanksgiving. He still has high levels of pain. Let us know how you're doing. We anticipate it will be another year before full results manifest. Sandra (mom).
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PatE
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Feb 09, 2011 8:39 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Right brachial plexus avulsion of C5, 6, 7, 8 and T1 from 1979 car accident. Wore sling for 30 years. Gracilis and Trapezius transfer 2011. Wrist fusion and finger tendon release 2012.
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Mayo clinic

Post by PatE »

Hey y'all. I'm new to the forum and am so amazed by all of your stories. There are so many similar stories to my injury. I guess the biggest difference in my situation is that it's a 30 year old injury. I wish I had known that some of you live and work in Rochester. I'm here visiting the Mayo Clinic and just completed an evaluation with Drs. Bishop, Shin, Skinner, Elhassan. I was ejected from a car at the age of 17 and wore a sling for 30 years. Mayo Clinic suggests that the muscle transfer from the leg would be the way to go for some elbow flexion and abduction. Angela, thank you for sharing through the video. It has been very inspiring. One of my biggest questions is that I don't currently have pain other than muscle discomfort in the shoulder from sublaxation. Has anyone experienced continuous pain caused by the surgery? Thank you for any advice that is offered.
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AngelaW
Posts: 240
Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:03 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: X

Re: Mayo clinic

Post by AngelaW »

Hey Pat, glad you liked my videos :) You sure picked the coldest week to travel to MN, lol. If you're still here I would be happy to sit and chat with you. Let me know.
As to the pain issue, that's really tricky since everyone reacts differently and have different types of nerve injury. From my own experience, when the nerves they transplanted were began to take effect, I noticed I was getting the muscle spasms and "electric shocks" that I had in the very beginning of the injury as my brain tried to figure out the new nerves, but that subsided after a few months and my arm and hand have since felt about the same.
I'm happy that they feel they can help you; they really are a great team of doctors. Good luck :)
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scannerboy
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:50 am
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Brachial Plexus injury in 2005. Nerve transfer in Mayo

Re: Mayo clinic

Post by scannerboy »

HI. New to this site. I had a nerve transfer at Mayo in early 2006, after my Brachial Plexus injury. I now have probably 40% use of my left arm. Not great , but alot better than no use at all, like at first. The calf area on my leg is still tender where they took the nerve from. For anyone with this injury , don't give up. Things do get better. Be very patient, this is a very slow process. After 5 yrs, I still see slight improvement at times.I am now doing almost everything I did before the accident, just in different ways. Good Luck
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