Workers' Compensation Discussion Forums

I know, I know...I post and never give anyone an update on what's going on with my case these days!!  Well, let me tell you....I've been going down this tunnel where a light will pop on for an instant and then go off just as quickly....very depressing to say the least!!
Back in December or January I was appointed a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor....all well and good since we needed a LOE assessment as well as a Labor Market Research Analysis before we could go any further in my case.  Well, the IC denied anything but those services to be done.  They were, they found me to be 55.7% disabled...just like the FCE.  So my attorney gets on the stick and says that I need more Voc Services....not sure I agree with him at this point, but hey...what the heck...I'm having to look for jobs for my unemployment checks anyway.  IC denies it.  My attorney takes it to the court and they say..."Yes, she's entitled to all aspects of Voc Rehab."  Good?  Bad?  Dunno?  LOL  That's kind of how I was feeling.  So, I proceed with the voc counselor and do as he suggests.  In fact, he has a smaller radius for me to be applying to than does UE so that's no problem.  I do all the testing that is required in this.  Mostly tests that form an opinion on my intelligence level, transferrable skills and what jobs that would be best suited for me.  I don't mind.  I'm not doing anything anyway...is the approach I took!!  LOL  THEN he decides that there's no need to continue to look for jobs because there just aren't any in my area!!  Well, duh...I tried telling everyone that...now they are recognizing it!!  LOL  So, we stop the job searching and make up this job search summary for my records showing the types of jobs I applied for, wage ranges, interviews and all that stuff!  Fun, fun I tell ya!  LOL  Anyway, it is determined by the voc counselor that I should go to school to get more training in something more suitable to my skills and personality.  He made some suggestions and researched the area Junior Collegs, Tech Colleges, Community Colleges...you get the picture I'm sure!  He tells me that he 'supposes' I could go to school to get my paralegal and begins researching this line of education.  I'm not real wild about it and I talk it over with a couple of close friends and they suggest I talk to my lawyer about the possibility of settlement instead of going to school since nothing is really jumping out and grabbing me as far as a new proffession.  I do this after much consideration and find from my attorney that this is indeed possible.  He tells me that he'll send out a 'feeler' for settlement to the IC and that I'm to continue with Voc as nothing else is going on.
I do this.  Finally I tell the voc counselor that being a paralegal and going back to school at age 40 isn't really very appealing to me!!  I want to stay in the healthcare field if at all possible so that one day I may return to nursing if I'm able to get the medical attention that I need.  So, we drop this line of thought and he persues other options.  None of which I'm excited about in the least.  I'm getting pretty depressed about all of this and decide that voc is just another game to be played before settlement actually happens.  I speak with my attorney at different times as well as continuing with voc.  Rather counter productive if you ask me, but that's what was happening.  My attorney reports no reply to the feeler and the counselor is busy trying to find a course that I might actually be interrested in!!!  LOL
Finally, the counselor comes up with a course that not only interrests me but is something that I've always wanted to do.  And it's something he thinks the court will approve!! Great...I'm excited again!!!!   So, we do a little researching of this and see what needs to be done.  We decide to go ahead with it and see if I can get my Nursing Home/Assisted Living Administrator's License.  Great!!  Now for the down part...the school is approx. 2-2 1/2 hrs away!!  YUCK!!  They certainly can't expect me to drive that much, can they?  Well, as a matter of fact....YES they can!!  NOT GOOD at all!!    We do some more digging and find that all of the courses are offered online if I thought I could do it at home and get through it.  I'm a pretty good student, at least I was in nursing school, so I decide that yes, I can do this!! Great!!  We're on again!   Then we find out that Kansas won't reciprocate a Nebraska License....   but Missouri will and KS will accept it for the Assisted Living Administrator license..nothing else though!    Anyway, all in all...I've met with the program chair at the school and find that it's possible for me to do this and even a perk with it!  I qualify for a mentoring program and can get my provisional license for 6 months since I have so many years of Long Term Care Nursing!!    Great!!  That means I can apply, interview and take a position as a Nursing Home Administrator and get paid at it with about 6 months left of the course!!!  Yippee!!  I'm stoked about it and am ready to go take my placement test (COMPASS)  and keyboarding test to make sure I know how to type at least 30 wpm...duh....I've been timed before and can type up to 65 wpm no problem...corrections and all...so that's no problem, if I put my mind to it and not let my mind wander while typing!!  Like I sometimes do here on the forum.  
So, I call my attorney and tell him what's going on and that I have a few more questions.  I ask him about the 'feeler' that he had told me about.  Turns out he sent an offer for settlement.  I asked him what numbers we were talking and he won't discuss any numbers with me????!!!!!   What the heck is that supposed to mean???  It is, afterall, MY case, MY injury and MY settlement...am I not entitled to knowing what numbers are being thrown around????  I'm mighty ticked at this point and change the subject.  But, before he changes the subject he tells me that he anticipates not hearing anything until closer to court in June.  WHAT????  Court???  When is this court??  Am I not entitled to know when my case is to be heard by a judge???  Second thing to really aggitate me!!!!  LOL  Two in less than 5 minutes, not good let me tell you!!  The punk is about to be turne loose and it's not going to be pretty!!  LOL   So, I ask him when is this court date and why haven't I been notified???  (In a rather ticked off tone!!)  GRRRRR...I'm really mad now!!  However, he does give and tells me that my case is set for trial on June 20th of this year.  Almost 2 months exactly until then!!  Well, thanks a heck of a lot for informing me before it was over!!  I get the feeling that I wasn't going to be told, nor am I going to be told what numbers are going to be thrown around!!  Is this not something I'm supposed to be a part of?  Afterall, it is ME who got hurt and it is MY case.  I should think I have some rights when it comes to settlement amounts and so forth.  Like some of the details maybe???  What do you think?  
Well, since I feel so strongly about this I have made an appointment with my attorney on the 10th of May (the first available day he has by the way since he's going to be out of town for this hearing or that or that deposition or this one, either way...he's made himself quite unavailable to me) and we'll talk then!  I'm sure I'll have several things that grip me by then!  LOL  My thing is this, he's getting one out of every three PD checks and will get one out of every three TD checks if I go to school so he's in no real hurry to do this I'm sure!  Meanwhile, we're risking loosing our home and the vehicles!   He doesn't seem to mind that things are going so badly.
OH....I forgot to tell you!!  One more thing that he has flip-flopped on and makes me extremely mad.  When I first approached him about settlement he told me that one thing I'd have to do before such settlement could take place is secure employment.  He didn't care where, as long as it was for 40 hours a week, and he didn't care how much it paid...as long as I was employed.  NOW he tells me that yes we can still settle, but if I take a job that pays, say $7-$8/hr that the court won't approve the settlement, from my understanding.  Their goal in Nebraska is to return the IW back to full time employment.  Thus, further insuring that they won't end up on a welfare roster somewhere, sometime.  AND if I took a job that paid so little that they'd be thinking that I would still end up on some welfare roster sooner or later and won't allow it that they could force the school issue!!!  GRRRRR!!!  I thought they couldn't force an IW to go to school if they didn't want to or thought it wasn't in their best interest and that they couldn't tell me what kind of job and how much I made?????  Is that right?  
Meanwhile......back at the ranch....my voc counselor is preparing a proposal for the voc section of the court for approval of the associates in Business Admin with emphasis in Nursing Home Administration.  WHAT???  I'm going to have more pots on the burners than I know what the heck to do with if this goes on much further!!  AND....if I start school...I can't stop to settle, right?  I have to continue until I either flunk out or am done, right?  I know....a heck of a lot of questions...but I'm stuck and don't know what to do about all of this.  I'm wondering if I bit off more than I can chew in regards to hiring an attorney and going that route or if I should have done it alone and let the chips fall where they may.  I don't know!  All I know is that I want this over ASAP!  If that means ditching a possible dream, then so be it....if it means that I have to go to school and then settle, then so be it.  Either way...just let me be done with WC so that I can persue alternative medical avanues to get me fixed so that I'm as good as I'm ever going to be.  I refuse to accept that I'm there now...not with what other physicians have told me!!  I feel like things are once again spinning out of control and I can't do anything about it!  If I could just get out of this tunnel, I'd be a little more happier!!  LOL  I know my depression is getting worse....I'll talk about it with my Dr. when I go in for my next pain management follow up next week.  
The pain meds are an entirely different story!!  WC stopped paying for them some time ago (last fall) and I've been putting them through my private insurance with no problems.  Even able to get a 90 day supply.  NOW the mail order company that we were dealing with is no more and I don't know if I'll be able to get the meds I need for pain management, as well as my other meds, or not!!  If that isn't enough, I find out a few weeks ago that WC has decided that they are done paying even for my follow up appointments for pain management and my private insurance hasn't said whether or not they'll pick it up and seek re-imbursement at settlement or not.  I'm finding myself in more of a pickle than I ever dreamed of!!!  Will it never end???    Who knows!!  All I know is that I'm about done with everything!!  LOL  
Any and all opinions from all of you will be greatly appreciated....as well as needed!!!!

PS:  I'm sorry this turned into a short novel!!!  I intended to get it done and over with in short manner...but it just didn't work out that way!!  I guess I needed to vent a little more than I thought!!    

OH MY PUNK!! As you know I'm not the one for giving advice regarding WC. But I would be very upset if my attorney was treating me in that matter. You are very correct it is your case and I would say you have every right to know the numbers that are being tossed around..in fact you have the right to know everything that is being done. I am sure all the good guy/gals will be here soon with all there knowledge.

I did want to tell you that I have my both my Nursing Home and Assisted Living Administrator Licenses. I didn't have to go school for either one of them. I studied both of the courses at home and took the tests. Now with the Nursing Home License I did have to be a Administrator in training for a year. Meaning I had to do so many hours per week with another Administrator. With the Assisted Living License I was able to get the 6 month temp license ...I took the test before the 6 months was up passed. You will have no trouble with the tests if you get the home courses...where you have worked in healthcare. I love the elderly..If you can call a local Assisted Living Facility and ask them where there local Assocation is. They should be able to tell you how to get the home course. If you can't get the info..let me know and I will see what I can do. I used to be very active with our Assocation. The Nursing Home the same. As an Administrator you have to have so many hours of training courses and the Assocations provide them. Including the Administrator courses. But of course each state is diffirent. But the Nursing Home Assocation I belonged to was a national one. I wish you the best.

we are also in settlement my lawyer also doesnt discuss $$$$$$$ with me yet cuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz he says he starts really hi and they start really low and somewhere months down the road we will end up somewhere in the middle....which doesnt make much sense to me cuz we are supposed to be rated and rating =$ but with no surgery I will be rated at almost 100 percent he says.so what they will neg on is the c&r

Punk, my first thought after reading this is that everyone is going in different directions. Who is paying for the Voc Rehab? Is it the W/C IC? What is going on with your lawyer that he or she is not fully informed of what is happening with Voc Rehab and the thoughts this professional has? I really feel for you. It sounds like a tunnel that is spinning out of control for you. However, please remember what is most important and that is your health and your family's well being.

I am a nurse also, with most of my 25 years spent in Nursing Homes other than when I was in the Navy. I love long term care. I usally function in the role of Director of Nursing but I also have an administrators license. I understand how excited you are about obtaining this license and being able to make a living for yourself and your familly. About 2 years ago I had to retire. It almost killed me emotionally. I could not believe that my life was ending as I thought. I could not believe that I was never going to be a nurse again. I still have my license in 5 states because I just can't let it go eventhough I know I can never go back to this profession. I said this to say, life is funny. It has a funny way of helping us come to a greater understanding about our lives. Requardless of the tunnel you are in now, it will clear. It may take a lot of energy and forthought by you and those around you, but it will happen. I can't relate to the sever pain that you are all living in day after day and how that affects your daily quality of life and ability to cope with changes and stress. I know that what I experience has similar problems without the pain. Our ability to cope is compromised, and everything looks gloomy sometimes and this is one of those times for you. But in all this confusion I read some hope in obtaining a license or in settling your case. And you are right, it is your case and your LIFE. I believe that all lawyers keep us in the dark about what is happening. I believe they believe that time is money and all of us having the full scope of whats happening is just too much education. Please let me know if there is any thing I can do to help you. You said you are going to talk to your doctor, but you don't have to wait if you find your thoughts spinning out of control. We are here. Be safe. Be happy. You are cared about.

Hi Punk,

Well you know me...no info that applies directly to W/C, but I have been in school for the entirety of my case. My feelings on that are GO FOR IT. If all my classes were online I would be doing much better in school right now. I have missed more than half my classes this semester dur to pain, but if they were online I could manage to keep up. All these nights when I can't sleep I could be online doing schoolwork. Because I am taking courses on campus my grades have suffered tremendously and I am very far behind.

If you want to continue your education or they are forcing you to, in my opinion these online classes are definitely the way to get you there. Just my .02 worth, hope everything will settle down for you soon.

6.0 Monster

:PPunk, take 2 rides on the washer, and I have some things for you to think about Monday morning when I post. But atleast you will feel better after 2 rides on the washer.