have I covered all bases?

[Pooh]

Beth

We must not have lived that far from each other a few years back then ..... I have been to UI medical center and their top shoulder surgeon said basically the same thing - wait until I am old enough to have surgery - at that time I still had the AVN in the shoulder.

I now see an ortho at one of ortho hospitals here in OK and they say the same thing - wait. Although this one did order PT this year - about killed me to do some of the exercises - but we found out more about what is going on with the shoulder. All orthos I have seen have agreed on one thing - keep the shoulder moving to keep the rom as long as possible. I think my last ortho visit - he explained it like my muscles have relearned themselves to avoid doing things that would cause more damage to the muscles that are already damaged - like the trapazoid and supraspinatas - so now it is a matter of working on those muscles to try and teach them to work properly again if they ever will work properly again.

Thanks for asking though - but they say the damage is already done - so now it's a waiting game to see how long my rom will hold out. They don't want to do any type of surgery until I am older because they feel I may need TSR and they currently last only about 10-12 yrs which means I would still need about 2 revisions in my lifetime under normal wear and tear.

[beth_qirn]

Tuffy Wrote:Beth, I do have a question? You stated the hard ware cracked, What kind did you have and are we talking total hip?, Was the hardware at fault?

The hardware that cracked was made of titanium, and had been in since 2000. Surgeon didn't feel that is was the hardware after that length of time. Thank you for your great input. I sure wish I had found this sight when this all started. It's nice to hear from others in the same situation. Though, of course, I wish none of were in this situation!!

[beth_qirn]

Bad Boy Bad Boy Wrote:Beth, Tuffy supplied great input along with the others. You did cover your bases well. ( I only wished you made it to this Board before you obtained an Attorney. For I have one heck of a great W/C Attorney that mainly deals with Hospital employee's mainly Nurses and CNA's, oh he is great for you type people also.) But still that is ok. Now your treating doctor is the one that states more PT or not. If that Doctor states you need more, you inform your Attorney right away with such report, and then also ask the Doctor's staff to seek the approval.

Settlement when Hardware is in the picture? It's always been my Attorney, and Attorney friends that would say, never settle for 6 months to a year, after released from the treating Doctor, for if the hardware fails, you can then still get it covered. Where if you settle here in Illinois, they close the medical also, meaning no futher coverage, and if you agree to the settlement terms, and something happens, hope SSDI or Medicare will pay for it, but mostly not. Also since SSDI accepted and Awarded you, you will now need a Medicare Set-Aside done before settlement takes place. Those bases now need to be covered for you protection when you do settle.

Need more answers, ask more questions. it's that easy.

And oh, welcome aboard... Oh, I collect Illinois work comp Attorney's by the way Only the good ones though...

Well, I called my surgeon this afternoon when I got home from therapy and believe it or not, I got a phone call back within 10 minutes. He actually wants to see me on Monday now instead of January for a check up. His nurse states he absolutely wants me to continue supervised therapy until January at least. She already told me he'd be dictating a letter that day and put all in it that I need it to say for WC and therapy to substantiate the continued treatment. Thank goodness he's on my side!!
So far, the attorney I found (Joliet) has done very well for me. Hopefully it stays that way.
It doesn't appear that the hardware was at fault, it had been in since 2000.
Thank you for the welcome. I do wish I had found this sight sooner!!
Thanks!
Beth