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Dear friends,

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Many thanks again for your generosity!

My arm

Here's how my arm looks if I just let it drop:

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I know

When other children play games where they need to use both arms, and I can’t join in, then I’m sad. I ask my Mommy and Daddy, “Why can’t I do that?” They tell me it’s because I’m still little, but I say “I know, it’s because of my arm”. I’m not like other kids.

What will happen if I don't get surgery

Statistics say physical therapy can achieve results up to age three, so we hoped to avoid surgery by diligent exercise. I’ve managed to regain 50% mobility in my left arm, but I can’t make further progress without surgery.

The consequences of not operating in the near future can be as follows:
- bent spine caused by the arm dragging on it due to the arm's poor muscle tone,
- further shortening of the arm (it’s already about 2 inches shorter than my right arm),
- contractions that occur in the elbow and shoulder which prevent me from moving and stretching my arm normally,
- muscular atrophy due to insufficient use of the arm.

My treatments thus far

Since birth I’ve been doing physical therapy and receiving other treatments on my arm. I don’t like the exercises very much, in fact, the older I get the harder they are to do. Massage therapy is very painful because my arm is forced into positions I am unable to make. I ask my mummy “Why must I do my therapy while other kids don’t?”

The options for therapy in Serbia are meagre, they include massage therapy, therapeutic paraffin treatment, and electrotherapy. Swimming is another option, but those costs are not covered by insurance. There are also natural spas, such as the Koviljaca Spa in nearby Bosnia, where all of the above treatments are offered, in addition to others, like mud treatments, and water massage. My physician referred me to a spa but my insurance rejected the referral four times.

How I got my injury

The injury to my arm is exclusively obstetric, ie. sustained at birth. It is mostly associated with large babies like I was, at 10lb 9oz and 22 in.

At the ultrasound checkup prior to delivery my Mommy’s obstetrician determined that I was going to be a big baby, over 9lb, so a C-section was scheduled. But I wanted to be born a day early. The obstetrician on duty that night at the Višegradska Clinic in Belgrade didn’t pay much attention to my Mommy’s records, and decided of his own accord to try to deliver me naturally. My Mommy pushed for eight hours in excruciating pain, until finally she started to pass out, and my heart rate began to drop. That’s when they ripped me out of her, breaking my right arm. My Mommy didn’t hear me cry, I was just taken away and she wasn’t even told if I was alive. They didn’t let her see me for ten hours.

Afterwards they explained to her that I had suffered severe distress, and that the nerve on my left arm had been pulled, causing paralysis of the arm. I was put in an incubator until I recovered. I started physical therapy when I was five days old and have been doing my exercises daily ever since.

Surgeries I need

The surgeries would be performed by Dr Rahul Nath at the Texas Nerve and Paralysis Institute.

The first is done on the muscles and is called the (Mod Quad).


The second is done on the bones, and it’s called the Triangle Tilt. Here’s what the arm looks like before and after the surgery.


In order for the operations to be successful, on my return home I’ll have to continue with physical therapy for a year to a year and a half.

(These images are borrowed from the website of the Texas Nerve and Paralysis Institute.)