Johanna’s story: brachial plexus can’t keep her down

By Jami Krayeski Like most new parents, we eagerly waited for nine months to meet our little troublemaker, wondering if she would have blue eyes like daddy or green ones like mommy, if she would have hair or be bald, what it would feel like to hold her in our arms. The words that came out of our doctor’s mouth a few hours after our daughter was born were the last ones we expected: “brachial plexus injury.” Our first response to learning that Johanna had a brachial plexus injury, also known as Erb’s Palsy, was to ask, “What is it and how do we fix it?” The first few days after Johanna was born were a blur. The standard medical advice offered to parents whose baby is born with a brachial plexus injury, “watch and wait,” was hard to accept. Johanna’s neurologist told us most babies with a brachial plexus injury recover by 3 months, and only a small percentage may need surgery. On Feb. 19, 2012, five days after she was born, we left the hospital with Johanna, ready to start the healing process and determined to follow doctor’s orders to a T. We watched and waited. It isn’t the most difficult job in the world to dress a newborn, but when yours has a paralyzed arm, it’s scary. We were afraid to hurt her more than she already was. We learned to do everything we needed … in Johanna’s way. The hardest part was seeing people’s faces, knowing they didn’t want to hold her because they were scared they might hurt her. Johanna started occupational therapy an...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: All posts brachial plexus Erb's palsy Source Type: news