Owwww

[congodwarf]

So, I called Workman’s Comp today, on the off chance that they actually care how things are going with me. When I got my new new new caseworker’s voice mail, I left her a pleasant message reminding her that I am still waiting for someone to make a decision on whether or not my right arm is their problem. I also commented that it would be nice if someone made a decision about my left arm.

I told her that for the most part, my left arm is fine. This is, of course, as long as I don’t try to do anything too excessive, such as carrying a whole load of laundry up the stairs or even, god forbid, rake my yard. But, as long as I remain sedentary, my arm is fine. Of course, that’s just the left arm. My right arm gets worse every day. Since it’s my dominant arm, it does tend to get in the way of my life.

Unfortunately for me, I jinxed myself. As I was walking down the basement stairs, with my hands on both railings, I slipped just a tad. My hands reflexively gripped the railings, sending intense jolts of pain up both arms. Luckily the pain mostly subsided in my left arm after a few minutes. Now I just have to deal with the throbbing spasms every 10 minutes or so. My right arm has been ablaze with agony ever since. I can’t get comfortable in bed so here I am, lying on the couch at 4:30 in the morning with intense pain radiating from my elbow down to just above my wrist.

I have to say, it’s a damn good thing I can still type without excruciating pain (as long as I type lying down), because otherwise the goddamn $2000 we spent on my medical transcription class would be totally wasted. As it is, I’ve been working on it for over a year and a half and I’m going to need another extension soon.

I can’t fucking get a real job. I can’t work in a factory anymore. I can’t type at a desk. I can barely make a cup of coffee. Even trying to write a sentence sends agony shooting up my right arm.
But, my left arm is mostly ok so I’m sure Worker’s Comp isn’t concerned about my right arm. After all, the right arm pain didn’t start until AFTER I lost my job. I’m sure the fact that my right arm was overused for over a year, causing severe tennis elbow, is completely unrelated to the fact that my left arm was pretty much out of commission for over a year due to work related tennis elbow.

I don’t know what to do. My sister keeps insisting that I get a lawyer. How am I supposed to pay for a lawyer? I don’t have a job. I work on my MT class as my arm pain allows. I don’t get money from worker’s comp because they can’t decide if I’m still disabled. Even if I could pay for a lawyer, do I get one in MA or in NY? If it’s in NY, how the hell am I supposed to meet with them? I don’t have a car and we can’t keep paying for me to rent one every time I have to go back there.

I just want someone to fix my damn arm. I can live with my right arm being only fixed as my left arm is, even though it’s not perfect. I’m just sick of living in horrible pain.

I can’t even get the fuckers to call me back. Every time I call I have a new caseworker. They sent me for an IME to make a decision on both my arms and he didn’t even make mention of my right arm. The ortho doc wont treat my right arm until WC tells him it’s ok. One fucking cortisone shot will most likely make my life so much more pleasant and I can’t even get one.

I’ve filed for health insurance through the state of MA but even if they approve me, there’s no guarantee they’ll fix my arm either. They might say it’s WC’s issue.

I’m only 30 fucking years old. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life being completely useless. I can’t help my fiance replace the floor in the bathroom this weekend. It gets harder and harder for me to control my puppies as they get bigger. They’re not even 25 pounds and I can’t even control them on a leash. Adam has to work all week, supporting me because I’m useless and he can’t even rest on the weekends because the little I can do around the house isn’t enough. I can keep it clean but I can’t do the major stuff like yard work or repairs.

I don’t know what to do.

[EvilTOJ]

Become lefthanded. It works for me! But seriously, your problems are awful, and I feel for you. I’ve had work related RSI in my wrists before, and I know of the pain of which you speak. You just want to cut your arm off the pain is just constant!

Call your local Department of Labor and complain about worker’s comp claim giving you shit. I would start here.

Regardless, you’re looking for the government agency in charge of unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation, finding new work, and fraud prevention for all those groups. Complain to them, especially if the insurance company in charge of your work comp claim is dragging their feet.

Or go to the Regional Office Case Assignments office and talk to someone there. There’s a link on that site I listed above in the FAQ on how to find the closest one. If you have one, wear an arm sling even if you don’t need one. We’re going for massive sympathy here people! Crying ‘in frustration’ is acceptable too, but not off the bat, it has to be after a long series of heart wrenching stories.

I hope this helps, I really do. IANAL, but my ex-wife went through something similar, and I remember the steps she took to get it all resolved.

[congodwarf]

I got a call from WC today. Apparently they have a gauge for determining just when their clients are in the middle of a nervous breakdown.

The message basically stated that they are not going to cover my right arm and that they sent me a letter a couple days ago. She also mentioned settling.

I called her back and…big surprise…got her voice mail.

My mother asked if this was a good thing. I told her that based on how my luck has been lately, they’re going to give me $1000 and a don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Honestly, money isn’t the issue here. Documentation that their investigation proved that the right arm isn’t related to my former job and therefore is in no way covered by WC is what I want. Obviously, money would be nice. But I more want the ability to have my arm covered by insurance. Even if they offer me money, it’s not really going to do me much good if I can’t get help from somewhere else.

I decided this morning that it’s a good thing that I haven’t found a painkiller that works. The fact that I took 4 Motrin, despite knowing they wouldn’t work, leads me to believe that I’d be addicted at this point if I had something that did work. Of course, I’ve taken so much ibuprofen over the last 18 months that I wouldn’t be surprised to find out I have a massive hole in my digestive system.

[congodwarf]

I finally talked to my caseworker.

They want to close out my left arm. I can wait until June and have an exam to determine my loss of use (I’d estimate it at about 5%-20% depending on the day) and if their IME doctor agrees, they’d pay me based on that amount.

The other option is to go with 12% loss right now and that means my total payout would be about $13k. After deducting what they’ve already paid me, I’d be entitled to a bit over $5k.

I have the option of getting a lawyer and fighting this but I agree with the percentage and if I fight it, I’ll have to see a doctor who might put the percentage at a lower number which means I’ll end up owing them money. Since I think the 12% is accurate, I told them to draw up the papers.

The problem, of course, is the right arm. I am not going to sue over this. I understand why they are refusing to cover it. My caseworker does understand my side though and she is going to talk to the lawyers about giving me a nice neat legal document stating that their examinations have proven that it’s not related to my prior job.

Since they aren’t going to cover it, and I was in some massive pain today, I just decided to say screw it and go to urgent care. Luckily my best friend is an MA at urgent care and she let me know that the only doc who will give cortisone was working today - but he has to agree that tennis elbow is present.

Well, the doc was wonderful (he should definitely get out of UC and go into ortho). He full on agreed with my own assessment, which was pretty damn bad tennis elbow. He gave me a shot (motherfucker that hurt!) and sent me on my way. He also agreed with me that my lack of a demanding factory job might make this shot actually work (unlike the 4 I had in my other arm). Now I just have to wait 3 or 4 days to see if it’s going to help. At the moment, my arm hurts more than it did before the shot but I’ve gone through this many times and I can deal with it.

I’m still not happy. I’ve actually spent most of the day crying. But, it’s nice to have closure, which is pretty much what I’ve been looking for. If they can give me that letter, I’ll be satisfied.

Of course they wait until AFTER I have an embarrassing meltdown on the internet before they finally call me.