My cousin was in a bad car accident recently in which her sister and friend died and she broke an arm and pretty much paralyzed the other. Somehow that(paralyzed) arm got caught in something and the nerve got ripped from her spinal cord when she was thrown out of the car. Now she can feel it when someone touches that arm, but it’s just a piece of arm-shaped rubber because she can’t use it.
My question: What are the chances of her recovering and regaining the use of that arm?
More info needed. When did it happen? What all was injured; cervical spine, neck muscles, chest wall, collarbone, rotator cuff, etc. There’s an awful lot of important anatomy contained in a small space. What nerves got torn? Was any surgery done to repair things? Was nerve surgery attempted?
It happened in late May. As far as I know, just her arms were damaged. Surgery was done to repair things, which is why she can feel stuff a bit. Nerve surgery was done at the beginning of this month, but the surgeon said something about not seeing what results there may be for a while. I haven’t heard what nerves got torn though. Figures. That probablty determines what the chances of recovery are, doesn’t it?
I’m no doctor. I don’t even know the real details of this case. But I’ve been caregiver for a few people with serious injuries and illnesses.
What I would do in your shoes (with your cousin’s permission, of course) is to research two or three of the nation’s finest hospitals for this specialty. Telephone the doctors in question and see whether they’ll evaluate your cousin’s medical records.
This is no criticism of your cousin’s current medical team. It’s just common sense to seek second opinions–especially when a case is difficult to treat.
Best wishes to you both!
I think your best source of info would be the doc that did the surgery, if your family member is willing to approach them. But I bet there’s not gonna be a lot of hard data about this; the most likely answer is gonna be “we’ll have to wait and see”.
My take on it: Consider what she’s gotten back now to be as good as it’s gonna get. Therefore anything further that is regained will be icing on the cake.
I have heard recently that to immobilize the good arm, which would force the bad one to do the work, does extremely well in clinicals. Can’t hurt to try!
best wishes!