Help Please

[Tirpitz]

Hey all,

First time poster here so I will do my best to be as thorough as possible. First a little about me and what I do. I live in Oregon; I work at a large Grocery chain here and work in the dairy section. I am technically a “Grocery Clerk” which basically means I do everything in the store, but primarily work in the dairy section. This department requires a lot of heavy lifting and moving around large pallets with pallet jacks, which can exceed 1600 pounds. I also divide my time cashiering when the front end gets backed up. The cash registers are front end bagging type, where the conveyer belt comes towards the cashier. This requires a person to be hunched over for long period of time with their knees forced against a board that holds the bags for bagging. I have worked there for almost 10 years.

Back in March of 08’ I hurt my back and right shoulder at work working in the dairy section. I went to the ER and then started to go to a Doctor that I was told to go to. I honestly didn’t think this injury was too serious in the long run. I have hurt my back in other places before and I ended up being fine, pull muscle or something. Anyway, the doctor wanted me to go to Physical Therapy, and pulled me off work. This is where my days of being totally in the dark began. I called my claims person and told her that the doc wanted me to go to P/T and they said they would set something up. TWO weeks later still no PT when I went back to the Doc, which was a different one now; it seems that the place they sent me too alternates doctors ever other day, so at the place I saw two different doctors. I told him I still haven’t been to P/T and he told me to get on that. I explained to him that I still hadn’t heard back from the claims person on which one to go to. I finally had enough of this and went to one down the road from where I live. I went there for a few weeks and the claims person told me that that wasn’t a PT that was covered by them, so I had to go to a new one they chose. This left me partially done with the work I was doing and having to start all over at a new one. However, I was getting stir crazy about mid-way through my P/T and the doc released me on light duty. Light duty involved standing at the main entrances handing out ads and what not for 8+ hours a day. This was doing more harm than good as standing in one place for so long was really brutal on my lower back. I finally had enough of it. With feelings of guilt because I was standing up there all day and people asking me when I was coming back to work started to really get to me. I had the doctor release me to full duty and did not go back to any more P/T since my shoulder was pretty much 100% and I didn’t want to deal with going to a new place and starting all over.

Things were going ok for almost a month. One day I was working really hard moving stuff around working the freight I was called up to cashier. My back was really hurting that day. I was bagging a wine bag that holds 6 bottles of wine, I picked it up and turned to my side to put it in the mans cart and I was hit by a stabbing pain so intense I didn’t know what to do. I called my manager and told him I had to go home and it was quite serious. There was no issue with this as I get along with my bosses very well. I went back to the same doctor I had been going to the next day because I hurt myself around 9 o’clock the night before and didn’t want to cause issues with more workman’s comp by going to the ER, which I couldn’t afford on my own.

The doctor was at a loss on what my problem was with my back. Since the X-ray’s he took before didn’t show anything wrong with me. He referred me to a “specialist” at the hospital. Since this was the same injury that I re-hurt I was still covered by the first workman’s comp claim. I was actually excited about seeing this new doctor as the word “specialist” to me means he knows how to make me better. However being taken off work again didn’t go over very well with my managers, but I couldn’t do much about it, I could barely walk. My first visit with the new doctor went pretty well, he examined me and I did all those “back tests”. He said he was pretty sure it was a strained muscle and it would get better in time. He wanted me to go to P/T again to make sure I was going to get better faster, I agreed. A few days later I stared my new P/T, the guy was really helpful and knowledgeable. I was going initially twice a week but ended up going only once a week. Not sure why, but that’s how it worked out. A few months went by and I wasn’t getting any better. The specialist then though that a MRI would show what’s going on in my back and see what was causing the problems. Three or so weeks later the MRI was approved and I went in for that. He looked it over and saw nothing that would be causing my problems, he did mention Arthritis but it wasn’t bad enough to cause the kind of problems I was having. He then wanted me to go to a independent medical evaluation to see if there was something he was missing. This is where I was beginning to have my doubts about this so called “specialist”. About a month later one was finally scheduled for me and I went. This doctor was moving me in ways I hadn’t moved for months and the pain was beyond intense. After it was over I laid on my floor for about a day and a half, not able to move.

While the IME was being looked over the specialist doctor suggested that it could be inflamed and requested a Cortisone shot. This took a long time to get authorized, since the IME never got my MRI and it had to be sent over to him 3 weeks after the IME took place. However it finally did and I was thinking I would be good to go after this shot. This wasn’t the case, the shot actually made my back worse. So here it is, August, I remember it because I was watching the Olympics the day I got my shot in the waiting room. It had been five months since my initial injury and I am actually feeling worse than I did initially. Things were look looking very grim for me. The Specialist doctor sent me back to light duty which lasted all of three shifts before I told him I couldn’t do it anymore the pain was too much. Finally the specialist suggested “work hardening” something I had never heard of, this was at the end of August.

I was getting really upset at this point; the specialist appointments became a joke. I would sit in his office for 45 min to an hour each time only to talk to him for a whopping 4 minutes before he shooed me out the door. He never asked simple questions like “how are you feeling” or “is it getting any better”, you know the things you expect a doctor to ask. I actually spent more time with the receptionist than the actual doctor. When I told him I was experiencing intense leg pain especially in my calf his reply was “I’m not concerned with that, you should be fine”. This is about the time I got on the phone with the Claims person and kind of went off; I demanded that I get a new doctor. She told me to wait it out and see how the work hardening thing went and we could go from there, I was so naive.

So I had my last P/T appointment in September and I was in so much pain I told him I couldn’t do any exercises or anything and I wanted to talk about my options. Mind you my P/T guy had pretty much been my doctor this whole time, he wasn’t a MD but he talked to me like a person, spent time with me and from what I could tell actually cared about my well being. I told him I was at a total loss on what to do. I told him I started to think the specialist thought I was making the whole thing up and it was really upsetting me. A few months before depression started to sink in and my out look on life wasn’t good. I asked him what he thought about a chiropractor. He chuckled and explained that P/T’s and chiropractors weren’t on the same page about back rehabilitation. However he then proceeded to tell me that I should go see one, that thus far what he was doing wasn’t helping. I found that comforting actually, he suggested something that he normally wouldn’t do. That was my last visit with him, but he told me to come in, or call anytime and he would keep it off the books, even if I wanted to talk, that meant a lot to me.

My next visit to the specialist I was shooed out the door in a record 3 minutes before I even had a chance to open my mouth, I then talked to the receptionist for 15 minutes and she told me of a really good chiropractor she knew of and had the doctor write me a referral for him. Also she got me a prescription for Ambien since I was averaging about 2-3 hours of sleep a night due to the pain and I was mentally and physically exhausted. Also, I have been taking Vicodin for the pain but it was like trying to put out a 3 alarm fire with a squirt gun, I mean it’s nice you’re trying but….

I started to see the chiropractor shortly after, this was a big move for me as I have some serious phobia’s about cracking my spine. It went well I had 6 visits. The chiropractor said that he thinks he is pretty sure I have at least 2 or more slipped disks. He also said I was doing better in terms of movement, which I tend to agree I was feeling a little better seeing him. I talked to him about the MRI that showed nothing, something I talked to my P/T guy about as well. The both said pretty much the same thing. They said “an MRI isn’t all knowing thing, sometimes it shows something, sometimes it doesn’t, and you can take another one a hour later and it could show something different”. To me this was a shock, since I had been under the impression that if something was wrong, it would show it. When I told the chiropractor about the leg pain he said that could be something very serious, and this scared me.

The next doctor appointment I told the specialists what both the chiropractor and the P/T said about a MRI, and he promptly denied more referrals to see the chiropractor again, even after I told him that I think it was helping. This is when I started to think this guy has some sort of God complex, he would rather think I was lying about the whole thing rather than something is actually wrong with me, which would make him wrong, and that couldn’t be. The frustration and the mixed emotions of anger, depression, fear and confusion were taking its toll.

I finally had my first session of work hardening Monday of last week, yes December 29th if I remember correctly. So between August and December I was doing nothing other than going to the 6 chiropractor visits that I had to fight for. Had those never occurred I would have been sitting around for 5 months. I figure that since March of last year I have been sitting around 80% of the time, waiting for someone to call me, or tell me where to go. I was feeling really guilty about not working, and letting down my work. I finally got to the point where I told myself “It’s not my fault”, I jumped through every single hoop they set up for me and I am no closer to being better than when I started, and in some cases worse.

As for the work hardening, it has been torture. I don’t drive for one, and the place they want me to go too is two hours each way on a bus, during morning traffic so I usually have to stand for that time. The man working with me is very nice, but I don’t think he fully understands the amount of pain I am in. By the time I get home, I am done, physically and mentally. The pain is so bad I am getting even less sleep than I was before, even with Ambien. The doctor now took me completely off pain meds which makes this ordeal even more brutal. I honestly don’t know it I can handle this work hardening anymore. The pain in my leg has got so bad that I can’t walk right. When I do get some sleep I wake up and my leg is sometimes numb. The back pain is crippling. Bending over, or doing normal household things are pretty much ancient history. The thought of getting on the bus to go to this place is so daunting that I just don’t think I can do it any longer. The specialist guy told me this is essentially my “last chance” to get better. If this doesn’t work I will probably loose my job, which I can’t even begin to think about, especially in this job market/economy. I fear I will never be able to walk right again, or do any of the things I loved to do before this injury. My life has been literally on hold since March. The utter lack of caring I get from this doctor is so frustrating I don’t know how to deal with it. I am feeling very depressed. I also don’t know who to talk to. Here it’s easy, you all don’t know me. I can’t seem to talk to my fiancé about it, I feel so embarrassed. I live in my bathtub, hot baths are the only thing that seems to help even a little, and that is very fleeting.

To top it all off I have been without insurance from work for the last 6 months without me knowing about it. I had to get a wisdom tooth taken out after Thanksgiving that set me back 800 bucks. They told me that I didn’t have enough hours the last time I was working or something, even though I work close to 40 a week and all you need is 20 per week. I find it comical that I hurt myself at work and they will pay for that, but anything else I am on my own, to me that’s not right, nor does even sound remotely legal.
Sorry for such the long ramble, but again, I wanted to be thorough and make sure I didn’t leave anything out, which I probably did. This post has actually been therapeutic for me, as it shows me all the crud I have been through over this last year. Even though it took me hours to write since I can’t sit anyplace longer than 20 minutes.

So what are my options?

What can I do at this late stage in the game?

In Oregon I can change doctors a certain amount of times, but do the specialist and the 2 other doctors I ended up seeing at the same place count against me? The 2 P/T’s I went to or the chiropractor?

I tried reading through all the laws for the Oregon Workman’s Comp rules, but it’s so over my head. Should I get a lawyer?

Can I call somebody about this doctor not having my best interests in mind?

Each time I talk to him he brings up the MRI not showing anything, though I never saw the MRI, X-Ray, or IME report. How do I get a copy of these? Not that I would understand any of the information on them.

If I do loose my job, what then? What can I do?

Since there seems to be no medical proof that I am truly injured according to this doctor how can I prove to someone I am in as much pain as I am in?

I have been extremely bad about keeping records of what’s going on. I never thought this would turn into the ordeal it has.

If anyone can shed some light on this ordeal for me I truly thank you. I have been in the dark with what I am supposed to do. I am always the last person to know what’s going on and it’s extremely frustrating. Thanks for reading.

[AQA]

The issue of a lawyer is something that only you can decide. You mentioned a mri. Was that with and without contrast??? Have you contacted your states Dept. of WC and ask them about changing DRs.???? As far as not keeping records, have you contacted the DRs. and requested copies of your medical records??????

I am not looking for answeres to those questions. I am just giving you something to think about.

Take Care

[Bummer Knees]

I was injured in 2005, I had meniscus surgery 5 months later and was placed at MMI with my medical closed. At the time my medical was closed I could do little walking and used a scooter most of the time.

I hired an attorney and my medical was reopened. My attorney sent me to a doctor and I learned I needed bilateral knee replacements.

After 2 years of court hearings I received the 1st replacement 31 month after my injury. Due to the delay in treatment I now have major problems with my back.

I use a cane to walk and have difficulity moving my right foot due to the nerve damage. I also have carpal tunnel of the right hand and elbow from using the cane.

What I am saying is the delay in treatment will only lead to more medical problems!

You need a work comp attorney on your side!

[jayne]

get a lawyer now!!!!!!!!!!!!! interviews are free pick one that you feel comfortable with.....I dont know off hand who on here is from Oregon.....But you can PM Timothy Belt and see if he knows of one there, he is a lawyer from PA. you need help now.....now go over to the off topic forum and join the bingo game

[katicabogar]

Hi, Tirpitz,

I agree, you need to hire a good w/c attorney and as soon as possible. It is awful how these quacks treat you, but I am not suprised. I had/have same issues and still fighting after four years of injury. Maybe the attorney can find a really good doctor for you and your treatment will not be delayed. As you have no private insurance, you really don't have any choice but to fight for treatment.

Regarding the work conditioning program, you should go to ER if you are in severe pain and worry about the bill later. I believe you need a good attorney really quick who can fight for you. You can end up loosing your job, your wc checks and still in pain if you wait too long.

Good luck and don't give up.

Kat

[Still in Limbo]

Hi Tirpitz, and Welcome to the Forum!! I Firmly Agree with the Others above that You need some Protection from the System, and Only a w/c Attorney is the Answer for You! They are Dancing You around, and the Longer without the Proper Care, as Bummer Stated, is Only going to Lead to More Problems! I Wish You the Best, and Please Keep Us Updated!!