United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

after all I stated, I forgot to give you the website

http://www.drnathbrachialplexus.com/

good luck

I am sorry to hear that you are frustrated. It is a difficult injury in itself, but when you have to deal with other things on top of it, it makes it even harder. I understand what you are going through and am glad that we all have this place to turn to when we need support. Good luck getting your medical records. You will probably feel better when you have them and can get the information you need. I am a surgical nurse and know that a consent had to be signed for the surgery to be done. If the planned surgery was changed the doctor would have had to come out and ask you to sign for something else. Do you remember what you signed consent for? Maybe that can help in the meantime of you getting the records. Doctors cannot legally do surgery if a consent wasn't signed for the specific surgery that was performed.

My local pediatrician while she doesn't know all of the details of the BPI and related surgicial options, she has been an amazing source for interpreting my child's treatment. If I were you, I would make an appointment with your child's local pediatrician and ask her to help you with understanding this problem.

"Doctors cannot legally do surgery if a consent wasn't signed for the specific surgery that was performed." I have heard of this before... there is another BPI mother that had the same situation... her child went in for one operation (primary I think) and when all was said and done the doctor told them that he ended up doing Mod Quad. I do not care how much I trusted that doctor, I would go ballistic. Period. Get the records that you need and if you see that this has happened, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE report it to the proper authorities. That would be a flagrant abuse of power in my opinion. If there is a doctor doing things like this, then they MUST be stopped.

Make sure you didn't sign for the surgery that was actually performed before you involve "proper authorities". Unfortunately while under stress the surgical procedure may have been explained to you and signed for and you may not remember. You can get yourself in serious legal trouble if you accuse someone of doing something that they had proper consent to do. I want you to know that to help protect you.

About obtaining the records, you need to call the Medical Records Dept. at TCH, not the dr's office. Also, if you haven't already signed a release recently, then you will likely need to do that. Call the main # at TCH, ask for the Med. Records Dept., tell them what you need and ask them the procedure to obtain it. I always signed the release and requested the records before we left the hospital, but you could do it any time. If you have to sign something, see if they can e-mail or fax the form to you and if you can sign it and fax it back to them. In the meantime, you can also sign a release at the other (local?) dr's office, permitting them to obtain a copy of the records from TCH as well. This will save you from having to make a copy of the records you get and it will also help to expedite things. Sometimes they might be quicker getting the records to another dr. than to an individual. Also, the set they send to the other dr. might be a more comprehensive set than what they send you so you might even ask the local dr. to make you a copy of what they get. Sorry you're having so much difficulty and confusion. I hope this helps you to get it cleared up quickly. Also, for future reference, whenever you have any test/surgery/procedure, etc. done, you should ask them upfront for a medical release / record request form so that you can complete and sign whatever documentation they'll need and so when the records are available, they can mail it to you. You could always type up your own letter, but it's probably quicker to use their paperwork. I usually take a blank copy with me too for possible future use (such as for a PT, OT, etc.).

~Tina, bpmom@comcast.net, mom to Nicole (almost 7 y.o. w/LOBPI) & Joshua (22 mos. w/NOBPI)

P.S. It's also good to read the records for possible errors as I've found some in surgery notes.

Thank you all for the support and information. It really helps to know there are others out there with the same kind of problems. I also wanted to tell, Parker is a very smart, outgoing, funny 5 1/2yr. old.
Who only now since stating kindergarten is kind of aware of his arm,(wears a benics wristband 4 2 hours aday). THANK YOU ALL AGAIN FOR PARKER AND HIS FAMILY

The Brachial plexus clinic at TCH is closed, I believe it was sometime in 2004. I hope that you are able to contact someone who can help you with your records.

The Brachial Plexus Clinic at TCH closed, I believe in 2004. I hope you are able to find whta you are looking for anyway. Best of luck, jd