Beckam was born on July 31, 2018.  What was supposed to be an exciting celebration turned into a traumatic nightmare.  During my pregnancy with Beckam we decided not to find out the gender until the moment the baby was born.  The plan was for my sister to announce during the delivery, “It’s a Boy or It’s a Girl”.  When Beckam was born, those words never came out of my sister’s mouth.  All I heard my sister say was “is he ok? Is he OK?”  My husband and sister remained quiet the entire time the doctor and nurses were in the room as they were not sure what was happening.  Everything about Beckam’s birth was not supposed to happen.  When everyone finally left the room, my sister told me what happened. My husband and sister both looked traumatized.  After Beckam was born, we noticed within hours that Beckam wasn’t moving his right arm like his left.  His right arm just laid by his side, with his fingers only slightly moving.  I remember my husband and I questioning the floor nurses and pediatrician several times about this, but no one seemed to be concerned.  In fact, the floor pediatrician at that hospital told us everything looked great, that Beckam was perfect, and that he passed all of his birth tests. We felt like no one would listen to us and seemed like no one wanted to tell us what could be wrong with Beckam.  Beckam had issues hours after birth with his blood sugar and had to stay in the NICU for 4 days.  This NICU stay was a blessing in disguise.  It was there where we had wonderful pediatricians who heard our concerns and did something about it.  Beckam got x-rays to confirm there were no fractures in his right arm.  I remember the pediatrician telling me that she believed Beckam had Erb’s Palsy, but she couldn’t tell us much other than it affects the nerves of his arm.  It was then that I started to research what exactly Erb’s Palsy was.  When Beckam got released from the hospital we got an appointment with a pediatric orthopedic doctor in our state; however, it wasn’t reassuring that the doctor we saw basically wanted to wait until Beckam was one-year old to see what arm movements “came back”.  I knew this was not right.  A birth brachial plexus injury (the way Beckam got his) should not happen today with the technology, ultrasounds, and the option for a c-section.  I did the research on brachial plexus injuries and found two physicians who are top in the United States for these types of injuries.  We were blessed that Beckam was able to be seen by both of these doctors.  We heard what each had to say and their potential plan of care for treating Beckam’s injury. It was a difficult decision, but at the crossroads of deciding what to do and what would be the best treatment for Beckam, we ended up choosing Dr. Kozin at Shriners Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia.  Dr. Kozin is so amazing with the treatments he does, and I am forever thankful for how he helped my little warrior.  Beckam's BPI injury is referred to as an upper BPI injury meaning only nerves C5 and C6 was suspected to be injured.  Beckam went through so much his whole life.  We had to see so many doctors and specialists.  We had to go on long road trips and stays away from home.  He did physical therapy up to two times a week, every week of his life.  He had two BPI procedures and was casted in the “statue of liberty” cast for 2 months.  All this helped Beckam reach his BPI goal in February 2020, raising his arm overhead more than 90 degrees. He is a true warrior and the ultimate example of believing in yourself and that the impossible is possible.

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