Originally Posted by gabbycakes

Olecyn,

Thank you so much for getting back to me. Maybe you think I'm a little nuts but I feel like a little kid you just found there best friend. Nobody but my PM Doctor and Surgeon know what I have been through unless you happen to meet someone like yourself which I never do. The Elbow is such a difficult area to fix once it's broke, who would of thunk...It has beeen explained to me if you think about it it's the only joint in the body that moves up and down,left to right and it also controls a lot of your hand/wrist/and finger movements. Working with the last set of doctors, unfortunately for me it took a few doctors until I found the right one and it was only luck that I found the people at the Hospital for Special Surgery in NY. What a place. I have never even heard of the place until I got hurt. My surgeon was a orthopedic surgeon specializing in the elbow, contractures of all kinds, micro nerve surgery and considered the best in the world. His name is Robert N. Hotchkiss, MD. He's a wonderful man takes a little getting used to very business, trained at John Hopkins. He saved my life. He did do one exploratory surgery to find what another doctor thought might be my problem. They went looking for a neuroma and did not find it. My PM doctor and him are on staff at the same hospital a matter of fact I meet my PM first and he indroduced me to Dr. Hotchkiss. Acutally the 2 of them saved my life. I would joke with Dr. Hotchkiss after I was seeing such progress after 2 years of no progress and no answers from the doctors I was seeing prior to him, "if you say jump off that building I would do it", just joking of course.

I don't have any brachial plexus issues and I have heard that can just be a b.... of a problem to fix, and hope your ok from that one.

I've been educated about the brachial plexus because during my many surgeries at HSS they used that area for interscalene blocks. I had to use a CPM Machine(continue passive motiom), immediately after each surgery as we went along because my main problem in getting the ROM back was scar tissue. So instead of being on a morphine pump each time to control the pain of moving my arm immediately after a surgery the did this high tech interscalene block which kept my arm completely numb and was able to stand the pain and discomfort of the CPM Machine. I hated that machine I also had to use it at home for 4 weeks 8 hours a day, at 2 hour intervels. It was like being tortured, but I did it and was successful. After all said and done I do have great strength, functioning, ROM but I have very little endurance i.e. like sweeping, vaccuming, stretching to wipe something etc. But I have made it back to work PT. I'm a Office Manager/Bookkeeper for a small business 2 miles from my house. I don't work many hours but it helps get me out I can't stand sitting in the house.

I don't mean to sound dumb and I will go on the TOS sight to get more educated. I have never heard or read how TOS has any relation to the elbow?

Again thank you so much and sorry to ramble.

Gabbycakes