United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hey Kaz, there's a messageboard that is especially for tbpi people on this site, you can find it from the messageboard forums index. There's also a website created by and for people with tbpi http://www.tbpiukgroup.homestead.com/index_1.html which has its own messageboards also, it's a fun place where we can talk about the stuff that nobody else understands or wants to hear. Lots of people in both places can share sling info and there are also pictures on the tbpi website.
Beware of wearing a sling too much, if you have a totally flail arm you might end up with the arm getting stuck, my elbow seized in less than 2 weeks in a sling. Once I got used to not wearing one I found it helped a lot with flexibility long term.
Good luck and feel free to email me if you need any help or advice, I got no long term recovery function wise, but like many tbpi I feel lucky to have survived at all and I live a completely normal life with one arm so consider myself fully recovered :0)

my dream is to have them show obpi and it be shown as the doc pulled to hard. i would dream of the day a doctor would admit it was their fault. even an actor playing a doctor. my dream is never going to change, hopefully i live long enought for ot to be seen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hurried home on Oct. 26th from a chamber of commerce meeting to watch greys atnmomy , just to watch old episodes I was appaled. Only a couple of weeks into the season and we have to hurry home for this kind of show.

Maybe a few TBPI's could write to them and get the producers, writers to read about some of the folks here who are tbpi.
Then they could see what it's really all about, instead of rushing through his recovery.

My biggest fear is that they will not show the true nature of this injury or it's life long impact.

Of course I would also like them to see the life long results of OBPI and the pain connected with our birth injury. Maybe we could talk them into showing and injury and have Burk interact with the family of a bpi child.

Kath (adult/robpi

Couldn't agree more Kath, in fact I was a bit disgusted with how mild they have made the tbpi look, they are focussing on how it might affect his career rather than THE PAIN. He was even moving his hand and fingers early on, they need to know the reality.
A nice storyline would have been him meeting a mum and obpi baby and learning about the obstetric side of it-after all, a tbpi is an accident and an obpi is PREVENTABLE. Then he might have seen just how big a part doctors have to play in these kinds of life altering injuries, especially in prevention. Or maybe he could have met a long term injured person who has managed for years like most of us have, obpi or tbpi. Then he might realise that the key is, get on with it.
OK, off soapbox :0)

Jenny,
You said that so well. IT is true...they make it look like you just pick up and keep on. My son is OBPI and I would love to see a show....any show about how a OBPI occurs so that we could get the truth out there. Take CARE GAYLE