Arm Atrophy

I'm surfing an upswing in psych at the present moment. I've got alot material wafting around in the noggin right now, this little typing session is gonna be one of those deals where I race to solidify random incoherent thoughts on the keyboard before they dissipate.
So, I'll get to recent activities and how the game is rolling out of late first.

This morning I conjured up some cahones and got myself into Calgary so a hand specialist named Magda could fit me for a new hand splint which uses elastic finger straps to extend the fingers into a neutral position. Since I can flex (grasp) but not open the hand the splint takes care of this end of the bargain.
Basically it gives me the ability to hoan in on graspable object and hold them voluntarily.



Praise the lord, now I have some sort of signature again! Up until now the left utensil has been subbing in for any dictoral written tasks. You know, things like trying to print ones name or fill out an application for disabled parking tags.
Even my signature was giving old lefty trouble,if you havent seen my "mark" before it happens to be essentially nothing more than a glorified 'X'. Old lefty has been doing good work for me but I'll never bring him in again for any secretarial tasks subsequent.

Another big note is I've managed to get an appointment with Canada's supposed best Brachial Plexus specialist in Calgary. March 3rd, another day of reckoning. The arrival of this`has doubled my effort for gathering research and coming up with an interview template. To me this hardly anything like a consult, this is a bilateral job interview. One side of the job application is gettin the surgeon applying for the opportunity to potentially work on this poor excuse for a body. The other is myself connvincing this doc if he ever starts rummaging around poking and proding essential Bender elements to yield an element of respect and motivation to produce his best effort. If there is a patient heirarchy, I want to be at the front. My job is to try and convince this guy that I deserve his upmost attention. On the other side this is the most important job application I'll probably have to assess. Best to be prepared. I feel like I'm trying to absorb a whole education of brachial plexus specialty in a matter of weeks. Better triple my efforts.

The best thing to happen today though was a surprise visit from my lady who rolled in from the West coast. I didnt have a sniff she was arriving.

Still no movement in the biceps.

The other day I weighed myself here for the first time since I don't know when. My standard weight since my 18th bday has between 185-190lbs. Apart from a trip to Pakistan a year and half ago where I lost 20lbs due to burning ten thousand calories a day from climbing large Karakoram peaks combined with a base camp cook who refused to cleanse his left hand. You do the nutritional/intestinal math. Nothing a sushi platter for eight couldn't solve when I got home...
Apart from Pakistan its pretty much impossible for me to either gain or lose poundage. Before leaving for a trip to Logan one year I trained by eating 2 litres of ice cream a day and stayed sedintary by watching the full series of Star Trek the next Generation for a month straight. I gained 3/4 of a pound.
I stay the same weight usually no matter what the circumstance.
Anyway this thursday was an eye opener. Able stand on one leg I rolled onto the scale a cool 162lbs.
YEESH!
The dietician rolled in about 2 hours later.
She prescribed FAT, and lots of it.

One Arm Bandito

Don't have alot to say tonight. I've been battling all day putting things together and implementing the plan. This whole sheisen-show has been completely overwhelming. Today I was hammering it and really stoked for a bunch of reasons

I didnt have to throw a tanty to get into the Physio room

I was amped to find this message board and website dedicated to people who have Traumatic Brachial plexus injuries. Hundreds of people dealing with the exact same issues and creating solutions for themselves and others.
Message Board

Standing on right leg, pelvis feels great

I managed to hold this one pound weight in my injured arm hand



Why do they always have to make the smallest weight pink...

Set goal for Mexico beach action begining of May. Marylene and I are going to use my EI cheques. All inclusive me and my girl one arm banditing tranquillo style.

Last of all, got my application all set for disabled driver tag, looking forward to abusing that right one day

I've added a link to this site for those of you are interested more in this type of injury, many of you have been asking just what the dillio is so I thought I'd throw this down
Brachial Plexus Data

Escape from Alcatraz

There's an old Scottish guy who frequents the hospital acute care hallways in a wheelchair. There are lots of people in this hospital but just like everywhere else there's a few that stick out. What makes this guy interesting is that he's highly, highly motivated to get out of this place. This of course I have great deal of respect for but Jimmy (what I refer to him as because I don’t know his name yet) takes it upon himself to leave at will usually around midnight into -30C and nowhere to go but the Georgetown Inn all of this in his wheelchair, a gown and a incorrectly strapped on prosthetic leg. Now Jimmy’s an old guy but I also think there's something going on with his head. I'm not sure if he hit it at some point or what but the point being he's not all there. Which by the way is the worst type of injury any human can have, I'd take losing my arm over that any day. Jimmy is usually caught fairly quickly when he fly’s the coop usually because his attempts are impulsive and ill planned. Over the past couple months I've had a couple conversations with him. They're usually one sided with Jimmy explaining to me how impossible it is to escape. At this point Jimmy has attempted to extricate so many times that the staff simply just confiscate his prosthetic leg and besides the times when he gets really riled up this usually keeps him at bay.
To be honest these exchanges between the two of us didn’t really register. Jimmy had his shit going on and I had mine. That is until this morning.

Yesterday was a really tough day for me, one of the toughest I've had. The morning started off with my doctor dropping the bomb that I should start getting used to the idea that I'll have but one functional arm for the rest of my existence, he offered me a councillor to speak to, tapped me on the shoulder and left to see his next patient. That kind of shit is heart breaking, I shed a couple self indulgent tears picked myself up and then wheeled myself to Physio to drop the hammer the best I can to sort this out. Dropping the hammer physically is how I've always sorted life’s jabs out, I learned that young. Frustration builds over time and yesterday it was piling on. Everything was and is up in the air, thoughts of never being able to climb again or work again at my job. Basic things like having to relearn write with my left hand and the list goes on. To top it off the thing about hospitals is that you have absolutely no privacy and when you have over bearing all knowing roommates the frustration builds even more. Next on the list, I find out my appointment with the Neurosurgeon is booked 6 weeks from now leaving me of course to be "patient" because nerves take time. By the time 7pm rolled around I was ready to hit the Physio gym again to pull a couple 1lb deltoid lifts to burn some steam off. My friend Ken had just shown up and I wheeled down towards the gym with him. To make a long story short the hospital staff locked me out of the Physio room saying it was against regulation for patient to be there on there own, and hence denying a caged animal any brief interlude of solace.

The logic hence forth was very clear to me.
Time to get the #%$%* out this place! I'd had enough, of it all. I let out a blood curdling howl of frustration and proceeded to commandeer ken to help me bust out. Ken whom is a free animal with very much the same characteristics was immediately a wing man ready to help get me out no matter what the cost. He knew the cage was eating me alive. I collected a jacket and my expensive kit and wheeled past the nurse’s desk at a low mach, to fast for any encumbered pill carrying nurse to catch me flying by.
Good riddance.
To make a long story short I tweaked my broken leg obtaining a little piece of freedom but I made it to my parents house a human being again. Hallelujah!
A word to the wise, parents don’t like when you break out of hospitals and almost re-injure broken limbs. I managed to convince them that I would be ok staying the night and that I would give myself up in the morning. One night of freedom was like climbing the Chief that night.
The next morning I wheeled myself back towards my cell passing Jimmy on my right. At the moment I understood Jimmy and his plight. I hung my head low as I wheeled by him, another escape foiled. Back to my cell for another industrial hospital breakfast...

This story is in no way disrespect against the nursing staff of the Canmore hospital, they have been nothing but amazing to me.

The Update

Its been close to 2 months now and the battle rages on the arm regeneration front. I won't get into great detail, but there has been no improvement as far as feeling or movement which is disheartening. At the moment I'm trying to muscle my way into getting an appointment with Periphary nerve specialist in Calgary so I can one on one with him over treatment ideas. I've been educating myself with vigilance. My day is consumed with stretching, natural medicinals, physio and occupational therapy, strength exercises and wading through medical journals which hopefully will direct this sheisen show back to a normal arm. The fact of the matter is nerves take years to heal, so naturally we arent going to see anything anytime soon. This is the ultimate enduro battle.
Besides that I'm still in the hospital suckling at the proverbial "Teet" of the health care system. I enjoy testing the health care system in my own special way.



So sweet it is. Here I and my friend Bob are using the lengthy hallways of the hospital to perfect wheel chair dog-sledding.
"Watch out sir you may fall and break a hip!"
"Already have lady, I got nothing to lose!"
Occasionally though you may be covertly attacked unbeknowest in your sleep. Like this for example...



If I catch the girl who did this...

The Verdict

I decided to start writing more about this whole avalance wreck dilema for two reasons initially:
1) to let all those many great people who have offered their support and care know how things are progressing.
2) I've never been lets say,a proficient writer. But afer the suggestion from several friends i started throwing things down in print about this wreck to get things out of the system and keep a log for memory

this is by far my hardest post.
hopefully when i look back at this 5 years from now this will have been forgotten. I also feel that i need to keep all my good friends reading this to understand why the next time i see them and my right arm is unbeknowest to me accidently slammed in the car door...

Anyway, friday I managed to forge a snowstorm and a week of frustration in order for me to bridge the gap between me and the nerve conduction lab in Calgary.
3 hours of electrified needle probing and we had a verdict.
Truama induced traction injury to brachial plexus coming out of C5.
Prognosis
worst-never be able to use bicep and arm again accompanied with deabbilitating nerve pain lasting a life time
best - functional movement of arm and bicep but never be able to climb or do anything complex or major with my arm
Ouch
Naturally i'm coming to terms with this, the last 24 hours hasnt been easy. But, a good friend of mine suggested if your not lieing in the fetal position, immersed in a pool of several types of bodily fluids on the floor crying incoherently after finding out smething like this then your stronger than most. This I can say i havent reached.



This is whats all busted up,the brachial plexus in my neck. basically this got yanked a great deal after what i figure happened when I landed on my side after launching my first 60fter, on skis.
As you can see from the image i've been growing my hair and am missing a great deal of fuzz from the chest area.

To be honest the first thing i thought after been told this was, "is this one of those things doctors say to motivate patients to work and dedicate themselves to healing themselves? how many times have I heard of jimmy that guy who made a full recovery after his doctors told him that he would never walk again..."
anyway, time to start hammering the Physio, natropath medicinals, healthy nutrition...

The System

Tonight I was going to throw a weee little editorial diddy down about all the Phisiotherapy I've been taking. This morning I even went as far as snappin a few portraits of myself droppin the hammer on a 1lb dumbbell. Unfortunetly the cord to access my camera is roughly 6 feet from my gurnee and thus 6 feet out of my reach. More phisio I suppose... So all the pictures I planned to upload are beyond my 4 foot radius world.

Anyway, I guess I'll switch instead to a more negative subject and vent a little frustration. A little story if I may.
Yesterday I was supposed to head to Calgary and attend a nerve conduction clinic (EMG). This particular clinic was important, important because i could very well give me an indication on why my arm won't work. Not to mention the majority of nerve injuries need to be assessed and treated 2 months from when it is injured. Now, as you can imagine I was looking forward to this excursion. For those who no longer enjoy the existence of being a biped are subject to escorted transportation to these clinics, some kind of calgary health region el'stipulationo. Thats fine with me, a free ride in an ambulance at the tax payers expense. Bring it.
To make a long story short, my ride didnt show up. I figured possibly an 18 car pile up or a terrorist attack had delayed my escort to the priverbial EMG judgement day. "thats cool", i thought.
Negative.

Dispatch had failed to send anyone out, thus missing my first big date at the nerve conduction "big dance", all of which to find out whether my hand will be of use ever again or just something I can use as a paperweight.
Now the problem here is that appointments are backed up a month, and no nurse, no doctor (yes, can u believe this!) can squeek u in earlier.
Naturally my next order of action after finding this out was to have a Tantty.
One of those Tantties that has everyone in the room saying "Tranquillo".


After much haggling, hours of negotiating and pleaing a appointment was agreed upon for today. If you wish to find out what happened today, refer back 1 full paragraph



thats right, the system hooped me again.

what can i say, i'm kind of choked right now. will we find out if i can get this study done or not

Rules for Broken Body Bed Prison

Never explore climbing websites, that is if you have a cohort wiley enough to commandeer wireless passwords from unsuspecting hotels across the highway from your place of inprisonment thus allowing you access to the dub dub dub (www). Climbing websites will torture thy soul; pretend they dont exist and no one out there is tearin it up and havin a blast in the hills without you. You'll drive yourself to a 12 gauge down the gizzard otherwise.

Never piss your nurses off. You have to be an idiot to annoy the same person who will be jabbing horse tranquilizers into you and removing your cathadar.

get hurt in the winter, it make things easier

experiment with the full gammet of pain killers, its free and if theres one thing about western medicine, its all about medicate medicate medicate. its all at your fingertips. trust me