Need the forum families thoughts and advice

[Still in Limbo]

Ks, from Reading Your Original Thread, 2 Dr.'s said NO Bending, and the w/c Dr. said no constant repetitive Bending. From Reading those, it is clear that You are disregarding all 3 Dr.'s Advice and restrictions, and Working above Your Restrictions. If the Employer can catch this on Tape, You could Possibly Lose Your Benefits! I don't Understand why You would put Yourself through this Torture, when 3 Dr.'s Specifically Stated either NO Bending, or no Repetitive Bending. As You know I am a Lower Back Patient, Disabled from My Injury, and as Collateral has Stated Correctly, it sometimes Takes up to 1 Year or More for Compressed or Impinged Nerves to Regenerate and Heal. My Personal Opinion, give Yourself Adequate Time to Heal, You Answered Your Own Question when You said that if You take it Easy, the Pain is Manageable. Your Body is telling You something when You start Bending and the Pain Returns. I Hope this Helps, and Have a Great Day!!

[ksgirl]

Thanks again everyone. It is so nice to know that I am not crazy or a wimp. I had to start taking pain meds again which I had been able to stop, so I knew I was hurting pretty bad. From what I have read bending is right up there with heavy lifting on the no no list with back problems. Does this wc dr just not care if I end up having to have another surgery? I'm sure I'm not the only wc patient he has had. Does he just want repeat business from all of us? I can't wait to be out of this system! I have decided that if he won't change my restrictions I am going to quit my job and hope I can find something else soon. I'm sure that after quitting I won't be able to get unemployment, so I had better hope to get a job soon. I can handle some pain, but it was getting worse than before my surgery there.

Thanks for letting me fuss! I feel a lot better.

[tweety00]

KS the lawer I consulted said Do not quit your job ...... Complain about the pain to w/c doctor and maybe they will take you off the job ...
But never directlly ask to be taken from the job ...
So yes Like you I worked ..... But not above my restrcitions only 1 day that I didnt after listening to manager and asst manager who said you should be moving more .... then IIIIIIIII think a camera came in and took my pic ... Not heard anything since but in my mind why did they stand right there and say the HR sent us .. and every time that I turned back around The camera was on ME ???? then moved fast to another area ..

Stay within the restrcitions because I think the doctors also get to see the film and base their opinions on what they see ............
Remember ...... Back injuries are Invisible to the eye ..so to everyone else U look fine ..
Unless they see your face become pale or in pain and after awhile co workers get use to it also ... I use to be told That I turned white as a ghost ......

So complain be and loud and take in the detailed list of complains so that they HAVE to deal with them .

[sparkey]

You really need to go back to that WC doctor and tell him that the stooping is aggrivating your injury and only making you worse. They will have to find another position for you for light duty within your restrictions. If they cannot find that at your company they may not take you back. If you can find another job that would be much easier on you, then i would try to start looking now. I gave a letter to my HR dept. the last week i was going to be working for them. I wrote that i have to give up my career and start helping myself heal and the only way i could think to do that was to find another job.


Make sure you have another job before you leave and give a notice. It will make you look better and if you choose to stay at your place of employment, you need to tell the doctor what is going on. Ask him why he is making the restrictions so high, as you are only injuring yourself more. Good luck.

[ksgirl]

Limbo, The first dr that said no bending was the dr my attorney hired and I was informed that since he is not my treating dr that we can not follow his restrictions unless we go to court to dispute the wc drs restrictions, and even then it would be up to the judge to decide which restrictions I had to follow. The second dr that said no bending was the one I went to after MMI and I haven't been back to work since then. My employer also said that the work I have been doing is not considered constant repetitive bending. I am going to ask the wc dr when I see him tomorrow exactly what constant repetitive bending is.

Tweety, I'm sure my attorney doesn't want me to quit either, but if I have to choose between going to work and being in pain or quitting and hopefully finding something that doesn't cause as much pain, I'm going for the one with the least amount of pain. In the end the settlement could be smaller doing it that way, but I don't care. To me not hurting and hopefully not messing my back up worse, is more important than money.

Sparkey, I get to go back to the wc dr tomorrow. My husband is going with me and this time between the two of us I think we will get some questions answered. I don't want to just quit, but if he doesn't change my restrictions, I don't think I can go back. I still have what I call low pain and discomfort when I'm not working, but when I work it goes into high pain. It's just not worth it anymore.

Thanks for all of the good luck wishes. My appointment is early in the morning, so I will post probably by noon with another update. I really do appreciate everyone here. I'll let everyone know as soon as I can.

[AQA]

KS, I am interested in the word constant. I recall doing some research on the words occaisional, frequent and constant. All that I was able to find was, occaisionally = 1/3, frequent = 1/3 to 2/3 and constant = 2/3 to 3/3 of the work day. If you can, let us know what the dr. defenition is.

[Pooh]

KS

I hope your doctor listens to you and your hubby today. Because I know even with my back injury and my are only slight bulges that I have restrictions where I can bend and stoop occasionally - no squatting at all - so it allows me to do housework and take care of my furry family members ......... and that's about it.....

So 500 times a day is a little much with recovering from surgery

[Lilly]

KS girl....break it down. Say you work a total of 7 hrs a day (minus breaks & lunch) 7x60mins = 420 daily. Divide 420 minutes by 500 bending episodes....you are bending every 0.84 seconds! That's excessive!!!!
Lilly

[ksgirl]

Here's the update. I still didn't get most of my questions answered and it turns out that he didn't even look at my new MRI. He said that the bending is irritating my back and the healing nerves. He changed my restrictions to bending less than 50% of work day. I asked him why my right butt, leg and foot were hurting and somehow he never answered me. He did say that he was going to write the adjuster and ask her to have work figure out how much I bend. I would have to be the one timed for it to be accurate, so I don't know what they'll do. You know it's kind of funny. My dr will be talking to me one minute and the next thing I know, I am following the nurse back out to the waiting area. I swear he's not only a Dr, but he's a magician too!

I took my paperwork to work to show them the change in restrictions. They will decide and let me know. I did finally find out that my vacation days did accumulate while I was out, so they are letting me use vacation for this last week. That will help out some.

For now I really don't know anything. I was wondering if anyone knows where to go to get MRIs compared? I am going to ask my attorney that question and whether there is any way I could go to the surgeon who did my surgery almost five years ago and see what he thinks. Actually since I am dealing with wc I doubt he will see me again.

AQA, the dr did say that constant is 2/3 of the day or more.

[ksgirl]

I called the radiology department that did my last MRI and asked if there was anyway they could compare that one with the one from before the surgery. They are going to see what they can do. I think I will feel better if I know the two discs that are bulging aren't any worse. If they are, maybe it will help understand why my right leg is hurting.

My attorney said that we will wait and see if work takes me back with the new restrictions before we file for any hearings or anything. If they do take me back, I will try and give it my all, but I will not bend more than half of the day.

Thanks for being there for me. You are all in my prayers!