Quote:
Originally Posted by Jastek
maribren - Sorry its taken me so long to reply, but I have not been checking this too often lately. I have improved some since last post. My left arm has full range of motion and about 80% strength back. My right arm has full range of motion (lifting out to the side is still hard though) and strength is about 50%. I would say that my shoulder muscles have recovered the least of all. My posterior deltoids are still the weakest of all.
Don't get too discouraged. You are still early in the process. At this stage, your existing (undamaged) nerves are starting to sprout new smaller nerves to help out where the larger nerves no longer exist. This takes time. The nerve roots are also growing back and this takes a long time.
The rule of thumb on nerve transfers is that they need to be done at about 6 months for the best chance of success. Some doctors will wait longer if they see any recovery happening.
A couple questions:
1. Did you have any spinal cord damage prior to the surgery?
2. Are you using a nerve stimulator?
3. Are you going to physical therapy?
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No one ever suggested I had sustained spinal cord damage, though I struggled with functionality issues for months before I realized PT wasn't going to be the answer. I was told without the fusion surgery spinal cord surgery would likely occur with potentially devastating results.
I am going to physical therapy, and doing it at home religiously, but the professionals I've seen said that there isn't empirical evidence a nerve stimulator will help. I have had some improvement but it is so painfully slow it is hard to track and to date has not been enough to stem my fear of permanent disability. Your posts help me believe that though the process is gradual I can recover most of my functionality.
Thanks again for responding. As you can see I also haven't checked this for awhile.