United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Interesting thing happen in Chris next post
It kind of piece that was missing to me THANKS Chris

Ok here my thought??
I have been posting here for a while You know how you guys post about your Quest to find help or you end up doing AWSOME thing in-spite of outcome in trying Sure I wish I heard of over time of these treatment and things that did work, Oh well, But heres the thing about amputation and what is posted as direction for help What the reason to me is when you do cut your arm off you end up loosing the possibility of repair by post here . Sure a person will just do what they need to do that is right for them(period) Posting is like a reasonable difference
You know Andrew in his 3rd post he said he was hoping I would reply??
Really . I really pick up the gauntlet to post reason to keep a arm, I could draw from my caveman life with erbs Oh , no matter the letters of these forms of injury the difference is when we got them, I guess
Inspiring to try by experience
Mr positive
Tom

yeah tom i 2nd that comment by dan. you are a very upbeat person and i enjoy reading your post, although it took me a couple months getting us to your love of smiles i have not read much on this forum board outside of this tbpi section and don't remember if you have ever discussed it here but do individuals in your condition/injury experience a large amount of pain? if so, has it been a constant since birth? thanks for being here, tom.

Thank you for your comments We all try to answer things by post we hope will help from our experiences there is no perfect answer here because of the variables of our injuries, I think We answer with compassion and heart and understanding how the other injured person fells.
I stated with birth erbs posting but after my good arm got rip up driving a semi I all ways try to find ways to show how to adapt one arm and join the club in your sight , who do a awesome job trying to overcome what they can.
The face thing is being mr positive and trying to be up beat with my answers, there is alot of bad things going on by post, alot so being up beat in the face of despair is a good thing, I think The face thing to could be because I have a degree in animation
Best wish and trys
Tom

Sorry had to do the pain issue separate
Ok, When your born with doctor imposed injuries , A baby is born into pain Because of nerve tears there are parts of my hand I dont fell or of parts of arm from the erbs. My scapula was broken at birth and elbow there are dead area there to My pain comes from the stretch nerves going into the shoulder and worse is the gravity in a day or being a biker with erbs, driving a semi , I most be the worst person ask about pain it just comes with trying You guys do it to is it a endorphin thing over time , being a scuba diver is pain relief , floating in a pool anything I can do to take gravity off the shoulder and arm of a chair for pain its pain (OACH This is what I do for Crazy pain . Changing the angle of a hang arm for pain anyway you can or maybe Dans sling is the best help to keep the weight of the arm off and keep the shoulder area together more for pain, A resting sling is a great idea to. I love post asking if they could ride again and responses from other bikes with limitations doing so I drove with erbs , But I am crazy to trying anyway
Pain free no just a gluten for punishment my hole life, scary alot of other do to by post Stay crazy try more you might be in less pain by your action or minimum hopefully your mental state by doing, I guess
Hope it helps
Tom

I've been entertaining the idea of amputation with varying degrees of seriousness pretty much since my injury happened, but over the past few months I've been leaning more and more in that direction. I was wondering, for anyone out there who'd had this done, what can I expect as far as surgery - the procedure itself, recovery time, have you found that being rid of the arm has greatly improved your ability to function, has it lessened or changed the level of pain, etc.? I have my regular physical Friday and I'll definitely be mentioning this and hopefully see about arranging an appointment with a surgeon, but I wanted to get these questions out anyways.

So I went to my GP and I now have an apt with Simon Kay in Leeds for a confirmation that it is a reasonable move to make. I am hoping that he may be able to do it if he agrees that it is the best thing. I know he also does plastics too so maybe he could make it look good (if that is even possible). I woud really prefer to go for something like the girl in the youtube video below. I dont see any point in a stump and I think it looks better. I suppose my two major concerns regarding amputation would have to be an increase in pain and/or long term effects. I did have a look in the literature and found two papers (they are quite old though). One point that I had not thought of or was even aware of was the effect of bpi/amp and postural scoliosis. I would hate to make my back worse by amputating my arm. In any case I am sure I will have all this answered in my appointment. The papers are attached if anyone is interested and would like to have a read.

Cheers,
Andrew

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fTF9rojtIE

The files did not attach . If you would like the pdfs let me know your email and I will attach them.

Hi Andrew,
I tried to send you a message with my phone # in it so you could call me and ask anything you want about my amputation. I got mixed up in all my reading, I thought I saw that you were from LA California not Canada. I don't know if you want to call me or not. My arm is amputated at the shoulder. I had it done in 2003. My accident was in 2000. I've never been sorry I did it. Also, it made my balance better. I didn't always keep my arm tied down and then it would swing out and if I couldn't catch myself, down I would go.
I hope you will be able to make an informed decision for what is right for you.
SusieKaye

Is there anyone around who has had their arm amputated? Did you notice any big differences? How did people perceive you differently? Do you regret it? Did you experience more pain? less pain? or about the same?

Hi Andrew, my husband decided to have his left arm amputated in 2008 after four years of carrying it around. He tried a number of slings but found they hurt his neck. After falling and breaking ribs (in front of our young daughter) he said the arm was a liability and had to go. The surgeon recommended amputation mid-bicep so that the shoulder had shape in a sleeve. My husband does feel self-conscious at times but only wishes he'd had the amputation much sooner. His pain level did not change but he regained his balance and mobility, finding the stump (his little arm) much easier to manage and not heavy like his full arm was. Children will ask questions or point it out to their parents but once they have an answer as to why his arm is missing, they stop wondering. Now that it's obvious he has one arm, he no longer gets the "how-are-you-mate" slaps across the shoulder (from acquaintances who are unaware of the intense pain he was in before they slapped him and are just as unaware why he has to excuse himself and find somewhere to recover!) I think one has to come to the point where they're ok with letting go of their arm. Even though he grieved for the loss of his arm when the accident happened and, after another fall, wanted it gone, my husband said it was no small matter asking someone to cut it off. Again, he still wishes he'd had the amputation much sooner, even immediately after the accident, as the benefits are great. KT

I am of the opinion you will be better off keeping your arm. Yet I have full function of my hand. I know that Many of you do not. If I did not have full hand function I would probably be more apt to consider amputation as well. Good luck with your decision

Jeffrey Jones