Have questions and need help. Not sure what to do.

[Durant]

I injured my knee while on the job here in Texas in August. After pt it wasn't getting any better and dr and I decided surgery was best option. It was approved so mid nov I had the surgery. Recovery time that I have found is anywhere from 3 to 9 months. I have been going to pt twice a week since the surgery and improving. My job paid me for the first two months I was out until January then they had the insurance people take over my payments and I started getting weekly checks. First 3 checks were for $889 then they started only being for $743 without notice I don't know why they dropped. The $889 is equal monthly to what my job was paying me while I was out. I have been off of work this whole time since nov. I had a follow up in december with my dr with nothing new happening then I had a follow up at the beginning of January and I was still not able to bend my knee all the way and still have pain and swelling and quad was still dead. My work does not offer light duty due to it being industrial lifting heavy equipment and usually around a slippery floor. Dr put me on light duty knowing I wouldnt have to go back to work because as she put it it makes "them happy to see your status change from out to desk duty" didn't matter to. Me cause I wasn't going to have to go back to work either way.

The Adjuster is a very rude and Mean lady. I haven't dealt with her in a while. At the beginning of jan I got a call from guy who works with the same insurance company of the adjuster who is a medical case worker??? He was nice at the beginning giving encouragement then said he wanted to go to my check up dr apt on feb 1st. I. Didn't care because I have nothing to hide. I went to the apt last week and he also showed up and was in the exam room with me and the dr. He took notes. I told the dr I still am unable to fully flex my knee and have pain whe putting pressure on it. I am unable to go up stairs with out holding onto the rail and unable to go down period only using my good knee one step at a time if I try walking down stairs normal I will fall the second my bad knee hits the step. I also let the dr know i am still having the constant aching and swelling and having to take the vicodin daily because the i 20 Advil pain pills just aren't cutting it. Dr said she only wants me taking the vicodine once every 2 weeks and that ain't happening cause my knee feels like its about to explode while just sitting on the couch not to mention the pain when and after I do my pt.

During the exam the dr lady said I should be almost ready to go back to work and the case worker guy from. The insurance company spoke up and said that he would expect me to go back to work around feb 20 so they set up another dr appointment on the 19th I guess to try to clear me.

After the exam the medical case worker guy talked to me and did the usually " you gotta get back to work by the 20th cause they will be expecting you and that's the day expect you to get cleared." I told the case worker that the qaulificatio s for my job are squatting, bending, stooping, lying down lifting and moving 75lbs and all this usually on a slippery floor. He said well you should just try to go back and stoop and squat a diffent way or use a pillow or just find a way to work around your injured knee when you go back". He then told me that my medical for my knee injury was covered for the rest of my life no matter what, like of I needed pain shots 19 years from now or whatever it didn't matter it was covered.

The medical case worker guy also told me he expects me to go back to work on the 20th and that after about a month back at work I will have to go take a mmi test and that it will be graded on a percent point system and each pint is worth 3 paychecks?????? I told him ok and left the dr office. Well this week I get a letter in the mail that I have an mmi exam with a different dr next week on feb 15th. I am not sure how I can do this exam when I am still out and why it is happening a week after my last exam and after he said it would happen until I theoretically got back to work for a month.

I got a call from the medical case worker today and he wanted to check in on me and how I was doing. I told him getting better but still having issues with strength and pain and he basically blew that off and said well you only have two more weeks to get your Knee better because they are expecting you to be cleared on the 20th. I told him also what excersies I was doing at pt and at home. I told him I used a lit 2lbs weight at the pt and he suggested I needed to use a phone book as a weight at home since I didn't have any. That just seems obserd to me cause first a phone book is more than two pounds and how is that safe.

My questions are

Why did my paycheck drop after the first 3 weeks.

What am I having the mmi exam right now instead of the month after I get back to work.

What happens when I go back to the dr a week after the mmi and I still know that I am unable to do my job safely?

Last thing I just don't know what to do or how to respond because I fell like he is pressuring me to go back before I am physically ready and would unable to perform my job.

Please help with any info or suggestions or if you have any other questions please ask me. Thanks for any help.