Reached MMI in under 8 months??

[bamacableguy]

Hello all - From Alabama....
The details of my injury are in my sig. I was injured in a fall back in Jan '09, (been out on TTD ever since) I have had PT, 3 epidurals, and just recently had an FCE done. Today I had my follow up with my Dr. after the FCE. he told me he had my disability rating and FCE results but told me nothing about any of it other than he was releasing me to return to work on sedentary duty, and cant lift anything over 5lbs. & I suffer from chronic spasms. I was told they are going to put me into pain management, and the doctor even told me "in my personal opinion, I think IF you have ANY chance at improvement it will take time and rest". I do have an attorney but my question is how can I be at MMI so fast and released to return to work when I can't really do anything!!! And if he's telling me I need rest why is he putting me back to work with restrictions when I told him that my employer won't have any work for me with those restrictions. I work for a cable company,and I've already been told that I don't need to return to work until I am at 100%. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?? I read lots of people saying that there spending 1 to 2 years sometimes more with doctor appts. and here I am in under a year already having seen 3 doctors and having used my right to request a panel and everything. Should I consider myself lucky to have gotten through the process so fast or am I being railroaded through?
ANY advice or comments will be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks in advance

[AQA]

The issue of MMI (Maximum Medical Improvement) means just that. They are saying that there is nothing else they can do to improve your condition. Pain management is just that. They try to manage your pain. I will be seeing a pain management dr. until I die.

The issue of the time frame really doesn't mean much. Some conditions are not as severe as others and others have to go through the legal system to get the care they need.

If your employer does not have any work that meets your restriction, then you may want to apply for unemployment while you look for another line of work.

I would suggest something that does not involve using your back muscels. Back injuries can be very severe. To the point that they can leave some people disabled and never able to work again.

I wish you well, Take Care

[inpainokla]

hi hope this can help a litte...i was also injured in january of this year and was told to have 2 buldging disks a ddd..for treatment he suggested i have a epidural steroid injection first didnt help so i was given 2 more..they also helped very little..so he did a discogram witch found 2 herniated discs which required surgery..for some reason i guess he couldnt see much from the mri except the bulgding in the disk so i would talk to your dr about maybe getting a dicogram.so now i have had the 2 leval fusion and am in recovery at this point..and another thing i dont understand is that you have had pt the surgeon that i have been seeing said that pt will do nothing but make the injury site worsen but i guess each surgeon have there own way of treating ppl..good luck with geting what you need but i would ask about that discogram good luck and take care

[bamacableguy]

Thank you for the insight, i will ask about the dicogram. I felt like I was being quickly dismissed and pushed out quickly.

[Ill911]

bamacableguy Wrote:Hello all - From Alabama....
The details of my injury are in my sig. I was injured in a fall back in Jan '09, (been out on TTD ever since) I have had PT, 3 epidurals, and just recently had an FCE done. Today I had my follow up with my Dr. after the FCE. he told me he had my disability rating and FCE results but told me nothing about any of it other than he was releasing me to return to work on sedentary duty, and cant lift anything over 5lbs. & I suffer from chronic spasms. I was told they are going to put me into pain management, and the doctor even told me "in my personal opinion, I think IF you have ANY chance at improvement it will take time and rest". I do have an attorney but my question is how can I be at MMI so fast and released to return to work when I can't really do anything!!! And if he's telling me I need rest why is he putting me back to work with restrictions when I told him that my employer won't have any work for me with those restrictions. I work for a cable company,and I've already been told that I don't need to return to work until I am at 100%. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?? I read lots of people saying that there spending 1 to 2 years sometimes more with doctor appts. and here I am in under a year already having seen 3 doctors and having used my right to request a panel and everything. Should I consider myself lucky to have gotten through the process so fast or am I being railroaded through?
ANY advice or comments will be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks in advance

[Ill911]

You need 2 get a really good pain management doctor. I think you should still should get your TTD payment's. I think 8 months is way to soon to release you. I would ask your treating doctor to sent you to a orthopidic doctor, or nurolgest. sorry about spelling up with back pain just took meds. You need to take care of you and dont settle any thing until you know what you are going to deal with in the long run. I have been dealing with my injury since 12/2006. and it get worst and worst. and with age its not going to get better. sorry to hear about your problem. I would fight for my rights to the best care and for the best treatment

[bamacableguy]

Ill911 Wrote:You need 2 get a really good pain management doctor. I think you should still should get your TTD payment's. I think 8 months is way to soon to release you. I would ask your treating doctor to sent you to a orthopidic doctor, or nurolgest. sorry about spelling up with back pain just took meds. You need to take care of you and dont settle any thing until you know what you are going to deal with in the long run. I have been dealing with my injury since 12/2006. and it get worst and worst. and with age its not going to get better. sorry to hear about your problem. I would fight for my rights to the best care and for the best treatment

I kinda thought 8 months was a bit too soon as well considering the extent of my injuries. I feel as though there are still other options out there to explore, but I think WC is beginning to get cheap. They have already screwed around with my weekly TTD checks 3 times, once it took them 5 weeks to finally listen to me and my lawyer and realize they in fact did not send me a check, and then they sent me 2 checks that following week. This whole process has been a total nightmare, I still get numbness in my legs, severe spasms that go from my back into my legs everyday, and they think I'm ok to work??? LOL!!! I wish I had the chance to make some of these genius decision makers spend a week in our shoes, let them see what it really is like to have a serious possibly crippling injury and then tell them they need to get back to work!!!
Sorry this is so long, just took meds, and well feeling pretty good for the monent wanna enjoy it while I can