So yesterday I went to see Dr. Nath, my doctor for BPI. For those of you who do not know about him, I am telling you he is the one to see for this injury because he specializes in it. I will put the link to his website at the bottom.
My appointment was early, at 9am left home by 8am; had breakfast on the road. Since Dr. Nath travels a lot to see patients the appointments are set up at hotels. When my parents and I got there he waiting room was actually empty (though everyone has different times there are usually at least four other families there). My parents and I like to reach out to other families, especially to new parents since I’m seventeen and have experience with the injury and I can answer questions concerning how I have dealt with BPI. I remember at the last meeting we connected with a family who had a baby, she’s really cute! Hehe. My parents could connect with them as they were going through the same situation my parents did to find a doctor that could actually help their child. They were feeling alone in this dilemma of having a baby with BPI and not knowing how to help them. Most doctors do not specialize, let alone recognize
brachial plexus injury. Thankfully they found out about Dr. Nath. We still keep in touch.
So, my checkup went well, I just need to start up my stretching exercises again. Don’t appointments sometimes feel like the dentist? They ask you, have you been flossing every night?
And you’re just like a yyeahhhh about that ( tried to put in a bashful smiley face, but didn't show sorry guys! lol). So, he suggested a surgery to straighten out my elbow almost completely. My elbow is pretty good especially after serial casting, but this would augment my range near zero. I’ll think about it, but I doubt I’ll actually get it. A stranger wouldn’t notice the bend in my left arm as I was walking down the street.
Dr. Nath is interested in my Girl Scout project! He said I could send the handmade cards over to his clinic!! (If you ever want to send me cards just contact me by email in my description box).
So, we were about to leave, when my parents persuaded me that we should go back to the waiting room to see if there were any families that came in. (Though I usually don’t mind, and like talking to other bpi families, I don’t know I really just felt like going home, and I knew I had work to do that day and didn’t want to prolong the appointment). There was no one at the waiting room, so we were about to go but then we ended up talking to a man who came with his wife who had BPI. We talked outside with them for about 20 mintues? I guess. They had just discovered Dr. Nath and were unsure where to go from here. My parents reassured them that they were in capable hands, and with the best doctor concerning BPI. The couple had been everywhere searching for doctors, but none have been able to help, or qualified to do so. Every now and then you hear scary stories of people that go to the wrong doctors, just searching for answers, and the doctor wants to do all these things to their kid like amputate their arm. It’s crazy what they suggest. I’m so blessed to have such a great doctor who helped my arm extensively. The couple was grateful to bump into us that day, and appreciative of the advice my parents gave them. It’s so great knowing that we got to help someone who felt so alone, as many do. But there are so many of us out there. Stat’s show that 4 out of every 1000 people have BPI. That’s a lot. If you think about it, that’s at least two or three people in your school that may have BPI.
Well, we gave the nice couple our emails, and my blog site! Feel free to
email me if you’re ever having a hard time! I’m all ears.
Dr. Nath’s website
http://www.drnathbrachialplexus.com