Yesterday, Mae and I traveled to Sacramento to see specialists that deal with Brachiel Plexus injuries. Mae was so excited to go on a special outing with Mama. The drive up was uneventful, and I found the hospital without much confusion.
The staff at Shriners is incredibly friendly. Check-in took quite some time because the receptionist dropped her mouse in a cup of water. We had to wait for the IT guy to come with a new mouse and then renter our information. The wait wasn't a big deal because I had already planned on being gone all day.
When the doctor entered our room, Mae burst into tears. Her last experience was to get shots. However, the toys they brought in with them quickly enticed her to the floor to play. They evaluated her range of movement in her arm, wrist, and fingers.
Thankfully, there were no surprises. It is what it is. Her future will be filled with therapy to learn how to adapt, and keep the movement and flexibility that she has. Surgery could be in the future, but I'm not really sure.
Mae is resourceful. She will learn to adapt, and I am positive that she will be able to do anything she sets her mind to. Fully functioning limbs are overrated!
I can't remember how I first happened upon your blog but I visit from Time to time. Perhaps is was because our children are also from Henan, and we had common virtual places we visited. But I wanted to say that up until 2 months ago, I had never heard of a Brachial Plexus injury. But both my daughter's have Spina Bifida. My first has it in the cervical area and it affects ner upper extremities. Especially the right. Since beginning new therapy she has shown so much improvement, I want to cry sometimes seeing her do things she could never do. The therapist kept saying she presented "just like a child with brachial plexus" and has treated her as such with the treatment plan she chose. We are so shocked and happy to see her progress. She is 4 and 2-6 yrs old we are told is the prime time for therapy as children can actually improve during this time rather than adapt. I say this just to encourage you. Hope for the best for Mae's future!
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