injured spouse

[Lilly]

Hi,

MMI = Maximum medical improvement ( as good as you're gonna get)

Good Luck, Lilly

[stressed wife]

I really appreciate everybodys help. i just wish i could get
my husband to come on here and talk with you all. i think it really
helps to talk with someone who can provide answers and comfort.
i think he suffering from depression, but having a hard time get him
to talk to the doctor about it. he's usually pretty tough when it comes to things, but he has broke down a couple times crying which is not him at all. i'm hoping he will open up to the psychologist.
AQA= i just had not really thought about it when he said L6, so i need to ask my husband again as to were they maybe went in at, i know he said he would not have a spinal again after what pain he went thru afterwards...thanks for the info.
Well if the ic calls with a settlement and we decide no settlement. will the judge be making a decision on settlement or weekly benefit?

[1171]

you have good instincts--he has all the signs of a major depressive episode.
men (big men especially-have an added problem --difficulty asking for help and fear of showing weakness (other side of the same coin).
emotional/psychological problems are almost immune to self-help (there is no perspective or yardstick to gage progress or even know you have it).
P.S. you need to put your state in your profile as the rules for settlement and court etc, are different for each state.

even if he won't post here he can read. there are a number of prior posts on this board on the depressive effects of serious life-changing injuries. It's well known in medical literature and too bad his doctors haven't picked up on it already.
he absolutely needs to get counselling before it settles in and becomes chronic.
depression and injury are a double whammy that have wrecked far too many lives.
P.S.S.
watch out for yourself; take extra care to recoup and get personal time --- such strains on spouse and children can hurt family/married life. even if he won't do it for himself he should do it for the benefit of those around him.

[Still in Limbo]

1171 has just given You Advice that is Absolutely Spot On!! I am 46, (42 when Injured) 6"2" 225lbs, and a Class A Tractor Trailer Driver and a Mover. I have been Injured going on 4 Years, and I have been through the Entire Gambit of Emotions, Many More than Once! It's a Miracle these Days if I don't Cry at Least Once a Week, so You let Your Husband know that He can PM Me on this Site and I would be More than Happy to try and Assist Him through some of these Hard Times. A Professional would Certainly be the Best for Him, but if He Refuses to go, I'm Available for Him. My Very Best, and I Hope His Spirits Lift!!!

[stressed wife]

you all have put a smile on my face...
how do i update my profile? i went in but it would not let me
enter any info.
Thanks so much....

[1171]

after you've logged in select "user CP" at the top of the page; then select "edit profile" from the left side menus and go to the "location" field.
Be well.

[sparkey]

After reading all this post, everything is great advice. The reason the doctor suggested a therapist is because like others have said, chronic pain comes depression. Is he on any anti-depressants? If so, most of the time they will recommend therapy while on them. I had many times and still do but not as bad, find myself locked in my room with the shades shut and laying in bed crying. It effects everything in your life when you have a injury of that sort. Being a man I would think would also be more difficult to deal with. Most being the bread winner of the home etc. Especially with a back problem, it limits you to what you can and cannot do. It certainly is a blow to ones mind when you can no longer do the things you loved to do before your injury.

I had to give up a career I loved that I had for 15 yrs. due to my dominant hand. I was a phlebotomist and could no longer hold a needle without feeling I was going to drop it and hurt someone, or myself. I knew I could not do it anymore. I can barely open jars, packages, get change out of my change purse etc. I also just bought a brand new Harley after my husband and I got our license before my injury. Mine is still sitting there brand new with 300 miles on it, while my husbands bike has over 2,000 miles. I am hopeing to get on it again by myself someday. I refuse to think I won't.

I still go to pain management and they are always thinking of new treatments to help relieve my pain. I still get asked to go to a therapist to talk about my depression. The wc ic stopped paying for the anti-depressants so I stopped taking them. I have really improved alot without them. I have learned to accept what I can and cannot do anymore and that this new job pays much better even though I do not like what I do. I hate waking up everyday to go to this job, but it is a job and it has helped my depression by getting up for work everyday and keeping my mind off my pain.

Do what the others have said on here. Have your husband talk to someone, or you yourself should get some therapy to learn to deal with what he is going through. It is good to be involved in his injury. Support is a big thing for the injured person when the spouse fully understands the pain and loss of things they cannot do anymore. Even if it is going to the doctors with him. My husband never did that. Seemed I was talking and complaining about my pain all the time and my husband felt very helpless. Your way of helping is to support him. I wish you both luck, and hope he gets the help he needs.

[Cycler]

Many states, and maybe yours, recognize that a seemingly minor event may substantially aggravate a pre-existing medical condition so that the IWs condition does not return to baseline in the expected or usual time frame for the injury.

These same states will distinguish between an exacerbation of a pre-existing medical condition, defined as an increase in symptoms for a period of time following an injury or illness with a return to pre-event status, an aggravation which is NOT substantial meaning there may be some minor subjective permanent complaints and neither of these conditions would be considered a work related injury versus a substantial aggravation where the IW has significant medical findings and impairment that did not exist prior to the work related event although the underlying condition did previously exist, and this becomes a work related diagnosis and covered.

While this concept may apply to just about anything and came to be when patients would be hospitilized with an infection, burns etc that would be slow to heal because of a diabetes problem previously untreated and so the diabetes had to be covered under workers comp until the primary condition was healed then no longer covered ( too much information.....) it is most commonly seen in workers comp in cases where there is pre-existing spine DJD/DDD mostly asymptomatic until a relatively minor event flares it up and does not heal up - essentially what your husband is experiencing since even ALL disc herniations in adults are due to DDD absent major trauma.

My long winded point is that it seems logical and accurate that your husbands lumbar strain has long ago reached MMI but what's really wrong has not been accepted into the claim yet - aggravation of pre-existing DDD/DJD at L5-S1 etc etc. Maybe your atty and Drs can help with that.