Anyone wear a suit and sling to work?

Treatments, Rehabilitation, and Recovery
User avatar
atmoinet
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2010 6:45 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: I was in a motorcycle accident in 2005. I C-5 through C-8 and T1, which left my arm paralyzed. I underwent surgery at the Mayo Clinic and now I can move my arm a little bit. I've had my wrist and thumb fused, my Gracilis muscle transferred and Intercostal nerves rerouted.

I'm an Army CID Agent and I currently work with the Computer Crimes Investigation Unit. I am in the process of medically retiring from the Army. I am preparing to start my Masters degree in Computer Forensics. I love computers and utilizing a computer is one of the few things I'm able to do well with one hand.

Anyone wear a suit and sling to work?

Post by atmoinet »

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum. I would love to know if anyone here has to wear a suit and tie to work and if so do you wear a sling? If not do you just let your arm hang?
How do you wear the sling (suit jacket in sling or suit jacket draped over arm)?
Any tips for buttoning the cuff of on your TBI arm?
Do you wear a clip on tie or just keep your ties tied and re-tighten them?
Any other tips or trick?

Luckily I don't have to wear a suit every day but on the days that I do I wear a shirt and tie with an arm sling and carry my suit jacket. I tried wearing a sling with a suit jacket on and it looked terrible and was very uncomfortable. I have someone else tie my ties and re-tighten them to wear them. I also just keep my TBI arm cuff unbuttoned. It looks sloppy, but oh well.
I will soon have to wear a suit every day and I'm considering the possibility of just letting my arm hang. It's more comfortable, but makes social interaction more complicated, like when I'm carrying something and someone wants to shake hands. At least when I wear a sling everyone knows my situation. Any input would be appreciated.Thanks
MW
Posts: 81
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 6:13 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: LTBPI, Feb 2009, hit by truck while on a run. Free muscle transfer at Mayo Clinic 6 months later.
Location: Chicago, IL

Re: Anyone wear a suit and sling to work?

Post by MW »

Hi Atmoinet,

I work in software too, and occasionally have to wear a suit when meeting clients. I basically let my arm just hang all the time, except when working out or cooking. I agree, it's a bit awkward when you want to shake hands, you're holding a briefcase, and the client wonders why you can't just switch the case to your other hand. After a while I just explain that I was in an accident, and they don't ask any more questions.

As for getting in a suit, I tie the ties myself, after watching this video:
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-tie-t ... ee-267297/

It's amazing, and after a lot of practice, I can tie a tie pretty well now. As for buttons, I get shirts where I can button the cuff of mt bad arm first, then squeeze my hand through. Getting it off is a bit harder, basically pulling the sleeve inside out. I haven't tried French cuffs yet.

I used to wear a sling all the time, and it's tough to wear a jacket + sling. So once the Mayo guys told me I didn't need to wear one, I stopped.

Hope this helps - you were injured way before me so I bet you have tricks that even I could use. For computing use, I got a 5 button mouse so I can do things like CTRL+click with one hand.

All the best,

MW
bill de brooklyn
Posts: 86
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2010 10:49 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: BP injury July 20, 1968 the result of an auto accident(c5). No surgery.

Re: Anyone wear a suit and sling to work?

Post by bill de brooklyn »

i have a device that offers some support to my arm. i can wear it underneath my shirt and it allows me to wear a suit jacket and tie. i had an orthotist put it together for me in the early 1970's.

Image

Here i am with my grand daughter.

Image

here i'm wearing it under my tee shirt( the cuff of the support is visible as it holds my left arm) while fly fishing for carp.
User avatar
atmoinet
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2010 6:45 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: I was in a motorcycle accident in 2005. I C-5 through C-8 and T1, which left my arm paralyzed. I underwent surgery at the Mayo Clinic and now I can move my arm a little bit. I've had my wrist and thumb fused, my Gracilis muscle transferred and Intercostal nerves rerouted.

I'm an Army CID Agent and I currently work with the Computer Crimes Investigation Unit. I am in the process of medically retiring from the Army. I am preparing to start my Masters degree in Computer Forensics. I love computers and utilizing a computer is one of the few things I'm able to do well with one hand.

Re: Anyone wear a suit and sling to work?

Post by atmoinet »

Hi MW and Bill de Brooklyn, thanks for replying.
MW thanks for the YouTube link. I've never tried to tie a tie with one hand, but after watching that video I'm going to work on it. I don't carry a brief case. I bought a nice leather laptop bag that has a shoulder strap. This allows me to carry the bag on my shoulder leaving my good hand free, it's also easy to open and grab something out of it while I'm walking.

I bought a Sandio mouse to use for work. It's overkill for what I need at work, but it works great for gaming too. It has three control sticks and multiple buttons so I can control everything with one hand. All of its inputs can be remapped.
http://www.sandiotech.com
Judy-T
Posts: 557
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2001 11:59 am
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Right arm OBPI One surgery at age 40 Ulnar nerve retransposition
Location: Florida

Re: Anyone wear a suit and sling to work?

Post by Judy-T »

An idea on how to do your button on your sleeve is to put velcro on the sleeve have the button look like it is buttoned all the time. This way you can do it by just pushing it against your body or use your teeth to undo it.
bill de brooklyn
Posts: 86
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2010 10:49 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: BP injury July 20, 1968 the result of an auto accident(c5). No surgery.

Re: Anyone wear a suit and sling to work?

Post by bill de brooklyn »

i TAUGHT MYSELF TO BUTTON AND UNBUTTON MY SHIRT SLEEVE WITH MY TEETH.
s8n
Posts: 223
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2008 11:51 am

Re: Anyone wear a suit and sling to work?

Post by s8n »

i wear a sling all the time my surgery didnt take and my arm got atophied so i just got it to where i can lift it to 90 degrees and that way i can sleep. only time i have it off is when i shower. no since in the arm just hangin there my subluxation is bad enough as it is. but that's just me.
daniel "s8n"
ipeverywhere

Re: Anyone wear a suit and sling to work?

Post by ipeverywhere »

I can still get my hand through a buttoned cuff luckily. This also works for shirts that require cufflinks. Getting them off can be a pain and I sometimes have to take half the shirt off and step on it. Will probably end up damaging a shirt that way though.

I have figured out how to tie a tie one handed. I'll need to look at that video to see if my method is the same or not. Ties are one of my biggest pet-peeves since my accident. I will no longer even vote for a politician that can not tie a tie properly. If I can do it one handed they can certainly figure it out with two-hands + all the aids they employ. Anyway.....

As far as briefcases though... I'm still considered part of engineering so can get away with the geekiess of bags/backpacks. I'm currently sporting some bags from Booq. The point here is I always make sure the bag has a strap and can be worn over my shoulder. This way my hand is always free. When meeting new customers I'm super observant about either not having coffee at the first introductions or making sure I can get to the conference table and set it down before the handshaking starts. I've been caught off-guard a few times and then have to either do a two-finger shake or a fist pump. Not real elegant but can actually be a pretty good icebreaker when you apologize and let people know of your injury. That usually leads to discussions of motorcycles so it's a negative that can quickly be turned into positive if done right.
michael sheets
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2010 11:43 am
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: long term total left arm. car accident 1975. many surgeries. if any one wants to learn how to live long term with this- im available 24-7.

Re: Anyone wear a suit and sling to work?

Post by michael sheets »

i used to wear slings but it got old so i let my arm hang but put my hand in my pocket so people tend to hand you things to your free hand. i button my sleeve with my teeth but lately have been buying shirts with a custom sleeve that i can slide into. you will find yourself customizing alot of things to suit your situation. ties are easy to do one handed but my advice is dont wear one- thats in style these days. aqlso i usually hold something- papers, a pen etc. so people dont try to hand me things.
tawnip
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2010 5:38 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: My son, age 22, has Traumatic Brain Injury with severe Brachial Plexus damage. April 2007, car accident. Right arm is dead and painful. Pain is getting worse.
Location: Iowa

Re: Anyone wear a suit and sling to work?

Post by tawnip »

I had custom slings made for my son. He has a 3 year old son so one of Seth's slings is Sponge Bob, one looks like a tuxedo, flames, boring black, cocktails, and fish. I also purchased crazy eye patches when he was dealing with severe double vision. Smiley face, Mickey Mouse, pirate, etc. We were given a bunch of lemons but have attempted to make lemonade with them. There is nothing wrong with a suit and a sling. Good luck to everyone.
Locked