When I was born, I broke the hospital's largest-baby-born record at 12.3 pounds. My injury happened mostly due to the large birth weight. My left shoulder got stuck in the birth canal some how. Right after birth, I wasn't moving it, so the doctor took me for x-rays. A year or so later, I went to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. There, Dr. Diaz thought about what he could do to help since he never had a patient like me before. I ended up having three surguries. My hand was upward, and he turned it down, so I could possibly pick up things more easily. When I was still little, I went to occupational therapy for a couple of years at Easter Seals.
I always felt, like so many others I've "talked" to with Erb's, that I was the only person in the world who had it! I have become friends with people who have Erb's palsy or who have children with it, and it is amazing how we learned to do everyday tasks the same with our unaffected arms. |
