Bringing Home Baby

After being home for a week, we had our first doctor visit. He didn't know anything, as we would soon find to be typical, but he didn't admit that he didn't know anything. He just said he would like to do some research and get back to us. After some thought, he called and referred us to a Pediatric Neurologist. It was here, three weeks after we brought home this love of our lives, that we heard for the first time the name of this thing: Erb's Palsy. Mama cried.

Mama cried so much these days. It was my all-purpose emotion. No one really seemed to understand this guilt. This disappointment. This outrage at virtual strangers - the Doctor, the Labor Nurse. Everyone who is responsible for making my birth experience positive and joyous. They didn't. And they didn't care, either. They just went on with their lives. But here I was, with a baby with a problem I've never even heard of, and no help in sight.

So, again, we are sent on our way, this time with a diagnosis and a "wait and see." We switched doctors again, and this time we were referred to a Pediatric Orthopaedist. He said: well, some kids end up fine and some don't. Let's wait and see. See you in 3 months. He gladly took our copay, and on our way we went, no closer to the heart of the matter.

See, none of the doctors we had seen, nor any of the ones we had yet to see, would end up giving us any more information. We learned about Erb's Palsy not from local doctors, but from other parents and lots of Internet research. Much of the online information states things like:

• 95% of children with Erb's Palsy will recover movement spontaneously, thereby eliminating the need for surgery


• Children who regain movement in their arm within 3 months, 6 months, etc., had an excellent chance of a full recovery with no surgical intervention.


• Once the child starts moving their arm, and their muscle bulk catches up, they will resume normal function of the affected limb.
  

While these things may in some cases may be true, in our case, they were not. And, I suspect, in many more cases than are reported, these kids need help. BPI can cause a myriad of complications throughout a lifetime, and you never hear it from your doctor because THEY DON'T KNOW IT.

These doctors are not stupid, incompetent, uneducated idiots. I'm not saying that at all. They just don't know. And so it became MY job to know. It became MY job to learn about Brachial Plexus Injuries and what I could do to give my child the best recovery possible. To allow her to dream beyond what we see now as her limitations. I wanted her to be able to do anything. I wouldn't let some tired, careless OB take that away from her. She was meant to be healthy and whole, and I decided to find a way to put her back together again.