4 replies to this topic

[mugsy]

A friend of mine was diagnosed with Brachial Plexus. He was also told he had compression at C4 and C5. I asked if the doc had said if one was related to the other and the answer was yes. He has lost damn near all movement in his left arm, elbow, hand and fingers. The only advice I had for him was to avoid surgery at all cost. Apparently surgery on his spinal cord is an option. I know this may seem minor to many but I am hoping you will share any knowledge you may have. Thank you.

[lavenderthistle]

Oh gosh that's tough! I have a friend with a brachial plexus injury...he lost complete use of his left arm and half his diaphragm. My friend's long fibers were severed. He tackled a truck while on his motorcycle...truck won.
He said if surgery had been an option to repair it he would have jumped at it. I'm sorry this isn't a hopeful 'it'll be fine' post, but sometimes surgery is the best route.

[Simba]

Sorry to hear about your friend Mugsy. Loss of function is never a minor issue. I think you are wise to advise against surgery it should be used as a last resort - that is for the medical practitioner's and your friend to ultimately decide on though given the particulars of the case. Has your friend tried any rehabilitative therapy to regain some of the function? How long has it been since the diagnosis?

I would suggest telling your friend to make sure that he gets all of the appropriate assessments done before even thinking about surgery, get them to pump their specialist for more information on the prognosis and likelihood of recovery in every available scenario. If in doubt seek other opinions - support your friend and try to keep them calm, losing function can be so frustrating & quite frightening. Ensure that whatever decision is made by them that they are in a good place to make it with all of the right information - that's probably about all you can do as a friend and be there for them regardless of what may or may not happen to help see them through it all.

Is it possibly for you to ask for some more support for your friend or have arrangements been made to organise some more pratical help while they are in limbo, having lost so much function they must be struggling to do things and will obviously require a bit of additional living support.

[mugsy]

He was diagnosed about 2 months ago and Is going to therapy 3 days a week. What surprised me was the amount of meds. Several of which I learned about on here. I am just trying to learn a little more about it from a different prospective.

Edited by mugsy, 21 May 2011 - 04:48 AM.

[Simba]

Has any of the therapy improved it yet? I'm not that knowledgable on medication but is it possible it may be interfering with the recovery from the injury at all? Just a thought anyway if on a lot of pain meds he may not be noticing the gains if there have been any.

If neurologically based the condition may not be improved through surgery - what did the doctor say isn't it a lttle bit early to proceed on the surgery? That's my take on it obviously there are not a lot of specifics on their situation - talk to your friend and since you are a little knowledgable about SCI yourself I suggest that you try and see if they are willing to include you in the process a bit more as a support person.