What's new

Career Ending Operation???

Just for Schlitz and giggles, i just sent an email to may lawyer. last week when we were coming out of the court room, my lawyer had told me, the insurance company wanted to know if I had wanted to settle, i not only said no, but i said, HELL NO....

I had just asked my lawyer (in this new email) if any figure was thrown out there.

so in the email, i threw one out to him.....(i will not disclose that here, but IT IS HEFTY indeed), as the lawyer by law, will get a 20% fee from that, from me, (the settlement).

it's a matter of do i stall and hope that i can get these other operations and hope for the best outcome, or take the money now and run.

of course, i'd want to have the operation(s) as i want to have a longer pain free life.

but then too, what "if" i am denied any more, (operations and such), then the insurance company can settle for far less, knowing that they got ME by the short hairs.....

see where/why I am going in this direction now...??

right now, everything is still pending.....MRI's (at least 2), @ $5,000 each..then xray's, more costly pain meds, more days in the hospital (after each operation, and this is a neurosurgeon specialist, not a general surgeon), more rehab (after each individual operation), more court time, more lawyer's fee's, more court fee's.....etc..etc....

the insurance company may fool me and actually pay for all the above costs just as easily too...........

then also, i have "on stand-by", another lawyer ready to get me on full disability.......

so, maybe the cards are in my hands right now, then again maybe not, it's a crap shoot.

it WAS STRANGE that the insurance company wanted to settle, usually they bleed you till you give up, then settle for far, far less.....

if they want to be done with me, i want them to pay.


wouldn't many of you say so as well.........????
 
I would rather get my surgeries and rehab done first. Than go for a final settlement with some kind of permanent medical treatment attached. IMO the older you get the worse any non corrected pain will get. If you settle now and get a big payout, you might just end up spending a large amount on medical bills pertaining to your injury.
 
Dockworker said:
I would rather get my surgeries and rehab done first. Than go for a final settlement with some kind of permanent medical treatment attached. IMO the older you get the worse any non corrected pain will get. If you settle now and get a big payout, you might just end up spending a large amount on medical bills pertaining to your injury.
Click to expand...
there is no permanent medical treatment, once one settles. it's a done deal. but i can always ask my lawyer if in my state, there is such a long drawn out clause.

i have been privy to a few "settlement cases" while waiting for my case to be heard. i can assure you that no long term clause is or was ever mentioned.

yes, the older we get, the worse off we are, pain wise. but i was told that if all surgeries are done, rehab, etc,etc, the settlements are lower.

i was also told by the doctor's P/A, that there are no guarantee's of anymore surgeries being successful.......then what do i do..????

well, i am weighing my options at this point. i see no way i can (nor will) ever return to trucking from the injury date, and into the future. at my age, so close to retirement as it is now, i also wish NOT to be retrained to do anything but stay home and do things around the home. if i want to "seek out" some type of employment, it would be to just keep me busy. maybe i'll become a greeter at the local wally-world, and tell every one to ****-off..???



(according to) the GRID Rules of total disability, i am not really a good candidate for any retraining, (age and NO college degree) so this is why as i said, i have another lawyer on stand-by to help me get onto that.

so this is where i am now, in a situation of many thoughts and doubts......

also too, here it is after 7 PM, and i emailed my lawyer at 6 AM...no response from him. and he ALWAYS get's back to me on the same day....., so maybe he has already spoken to the other lawyer, and maybe they are hashing out a settlement...???
 
Lawyer finally called me back this afternoon. he says it's not in my best interest to settle at this point and time.

i told him ok, i was just throwing out a number to see if they would bite, he said not now, they will try to low ball since they know you want out. i said, they want me out, they gotta pay.

he explained to me the workings of the settlements, and that i could never get the amount i threw out in my emails.

so that's it, i still have to wait for the new set of MRI's, EMG's, and x-rays, then another round of surgeries.....!!!!!!!!!!!


i guess i have to put off that new Buick i was drooling over.....
 
Keep that Poker Face until the end. Ask your attorney if going to trial for an even bigger payout is an option. I know in some cases it's a LOT of work for an attorney as they start the payouts at a lower denomination as opposed to a back and forth (non trial) settlement sum up to the last best and final offer. If the insurance company has a bad track record in handling your case a trial might work out in your favor.
 
Dockworker said:
Keep that Poker Face until the end. Ask your attorney if going to trial for an even bigger payout is an option. I know in some cases it's a LOT of work for an attorney as they start the payouts at a lower denomination as opposed to a back and forth (non trial) settlement sum up to the last best and final offer. If the insurance company has a bad track record in handling your case a trial might work out in your favor.
Click to expand...
well some people may have the wrong idea on how w/c settlements actually come to a settlement, so here it is, at the very least, in my state, which one can be on w/c for 6 years, (and had this been a Mass claim instead *where i actually got hurt in*, w/c can be taken on for 5 years)

what the w/c does is this, they take your yearly salary, and x's that by 6 (years in RI), this then gives the "total claim" for the injured....

then of course, they only pay weekly a percentage of your usual paycheck, tax free of course...

let's say a person earned $65,000 per year, x's 6 = $390,000 is the total claim's worth.....no more.......

so during the course of time, in the 6 years, the weekly checks are deducted from that amount, set aside.....of course, year after year, it whittles down....it has to...

so if by (say) the beginning of the 6th year, there is a "balance" of.....$65,000 (if i did the math right)

so that is ALL the settlement money that we here (in my state) can get, minus the lawyer's 20% fee.....or $52,000..... for the injured person...

there is NO WAY one here in my state can ask for say, $500,000 to settle, as the insurance company will simply not pay any monies above what was "set aside" for the total claim's worth.........

now of course, a person can "settle" at anytime.....however as explained to me, even though there may be a high balance, the insurance company still wants to pay lower, and the lawyers go back and forth, to get the highest settlement. it is rare (i was told) that the insurance company pays you ALL the balance left on your claim.........


now here is yet another kick in the ass....

once a person is "deemed" maximum benefit...those weekly checks get cut by 30%, now one is down to a weekly check 70% less that what he/she started out at...

as it stands now, i am NOT at maximum, yet, and with impending operation(s) and physical therapy(s), that can still be years away.....


this is how w/c works here in my state.......other states may follow suit, or not.....regarding years of collecting, settlement monies, lawyer's fee's...

i have a buddy in Nevada, where there, the lawyer fee's are at 15%.....of the settlements........

in closing, and to make sure it is understood, the "set aside monies" are for the weekly checks only...(salary one would have gotten)

ALL operations, meds, tests, surgeries, lawyer's fee's (other than the settlement), doctors visits, therapy sessions,hospital fee's, home care, TENS machine, and pads ($400.00 monthly..!!), etc, etc, are paid in full by the insurance company, VERY separate from the weekly set aside monies/settlement.......


i have to "just think" thus far, it has cost the insurance company well over $200,000 for all the above costs so far.
 
Last edited:
UPDATE: September 14, 2015

I have an appointment this up coming Thursday (Sept 17th) with the surgeon's P/A.

my appointment LAST month, I was told that i would be in need of another MRI and an EMG, hopefully before this appointment.

Well all things being what they are in the w/c world, as of this writing, nothing has happened.

i still await approval for those to take place.

it will not be a wasted appointment for me, hell i got nothing to do, but the insurance company WILL BE BILLED for the visit. so who loses...??

certainly, NOT ME.

i got ALL the time in the world, all the way to the full 6 years of being on comp, if i have to.

and they still have to pay me for it, all that time.......
 
UPDATE: September 17th, 2015

So i went to my surgeon's office today, for an follow up with his P/A. I still do not have the MRI or EMG approval as of yet. This is something that the P/A is so familiar with, when it comes to worker's comp issues.

so i have yet another follow up date, in late October,

But here is an email, i just minutes ago, sent to my lawyer. and of course, i had to "edit" certain profanity from it, as i ripped into this..

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Good afternoon Mike;

Sam at Dr. Smith's office told me he did not say that I did not need surgery, as he claimed he spoke to no one at your office. If Dr. Smith himself said so, then he must have said so to have the MRI AND THE EMG DONE FIRST, then we proceed from that point.

He (Sam) STILL NEEDS THE MRI AND THE EMG to be done. This is per Dr. Smith as well, I do believe I was told today.

Please make those xxxxsuckers at the insurance company approve of these. They accepted responsibility for the claim/injury.

I left the notes from the visit, with the front desk.

He, (Sam) ALSO wrote down the NEED for the TENS PADS........

If the insurance company continues to play ****ing games, put an end to them. It IS MY BACK that needs to be taken care of.

AS I SEE IT, they accepted the claim, now they have to pay.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


i tire of the BS the insurance company is putting me thru......

my language was VERY strong this time to my lawyer, and ALL names were changed...........
 
UPDATE of sorts

i am as set as i can be for Wednesday the 30th of September.(this upcoming). i have to go and get my 25¢ sized kidney stone blasted at the doctors office.

i had to get blood work, an EKG, and an x-ray done last week.

i still await for the approval of the MRI and EMG for my back.

the insurance company continues to play a game of "hide the weekly compensation checks", and i just got a check this morning, from them for missing my payments for 2 weeks. Still no penalty monies as well.

i told my lawyer, that he can tell the other lawyer, i can go the full 6 years of collecting.

they accepted responsibility for my back injury, they can continue to pay, if they wish to play waiting games to get more work done.

so as a result of all these delays, i had told my urologist, since i am in limbo waiting, let's get this huge boulder zapped.

funny how i still do not have any pains or feelings of this huge stone in me. although, i highly suspect, when it gets blasted, I WILL FEEL pains each time i pee out......and hear clinking in the terlit....~~!!!!!!!!!!!~~
 
dam...dam....dam...

got to the doctors office this morning, to have my stone blasted.

weather was terrible, rainy here like a summanabeach.

got there, they prepped me, took yet another xray to track the exact location of the stone.

woke up out of the anesthesia...

was told....the procedure did not happen.

i have many, many cysts on my kidneys, as a result, the doctor said something like the stones are hard to define, but i was still trying to wake up when he was telling me this, so i may have some of the details wrong.

i got a follow up appointment in Oct, then he will discuss this with me, and said he will send me out for contrasting CT scan

so here i sit, just have happened to eat 2 sandwiches and some coffee, as i was hungry....

now i wait longer to get this frickin stone blasted.
 
UPDATE: October 4th, 2015

i got a court date for this upcoming Wednesday. it has to do with back penalty pay, my TENS pads (which have stopped coming) and the push for the testing, MRI/EMG that the insurance company is stalling.
 
Come drive in Hawaii. You have to drive and lift 75#. You can do that with your disability, can't you?
 
Truckngirl said:
Come drive in Hawaii. You have to drive and lift 75#. You can do that with your disability, can't you?
Click to expand...
i'd love to go and live in hawaii...(you don't get any cold, ice or snow there, do you..??) but i am lucky if i can lift 20-25 pounds, and can walk about 25 feet before i lose my balance, and have a sharp pain in my back and leg.
 
UPDATE: October 7, 2015

today's court date is to make sure the insurance company gets blasted, for being llate, in paying me the late payment penalty money, which has been due since Set. 24th.

then we blast them again, for not approving the TENS pads that i need.

then we blat them again fro not approving the MRI and EMG that is needed.

i hope it's a nice day for me, and an embarrassing one for thier lawyer.
 
UPDATE: Oct 7, 2015

well court went well. when my lawyer told the judge of this continuing delay in paying me, he (the judge) asked the other lawyer, what the clients problem, in not taking care of him (me). He (the other lawyer) was nearly speechless, as he was also told that my lawyer also was not paid for the court appearance. the insurance lawyer promised the judge both of us will be paid soon........yah.......ok...... here we go again.

then regarding the TENS pads issue, my lawyer said to mail in the order form i got just this past Monday, as the other lawyer said it should all be clear now to keep getting them. my lawyer provided proof that the TENS machine was indeed prescribed to me from the original doctor at Concentra. as a result of that original prescription, i am of course entitled to the pads to continue using the machine.

on the issue of yet another operation, my lawyer for the time being dropped that petition since we still have to wait for the approval of the MARI and the EMG, which the court ordered IME doctor said that i needed to confirm another operation.

and so it goes..on the workman's comp, merry-go-round.......
 
I have some good advise you get a good workman comp lawyer a good one make sure this decision will affect the rest of your life
The company wants to push you out the door They Are Not Your Friend good luck.
 
Trkphil said:
I have some good advise you get a good workman comp lawyer a good one make sure this decision will affect the rest of your life
The company wants to push you out the door They Are Not Your Friend good luck.
Click to expand...
i guess that there are way too many pages for you to have read, but if you had done so, oh say the last few posts, you WOULD HAVE SEEN where i do mention lawyer.

in fact, the posting just above yours..????

did you not read that at the very least...????
 
UPDATE: October 16, 2015


i had to email my lawyer this morning. i went to court over a week ago because the insurance company owes me penalty money for missing 4 payments to me. this has been going on now for about 9 weeks.

my lawyer was in court Tuesday, and the judge held the insurance company in contempt, and ordered them again, to pay me.

my penalty money "should arrive" by the 27th of this month, if not, i have to notify ,my lawyer again...

the penalty money is a percentage of the weekly payments, (times) how many weeks they were late.

they (the insurance company) is also behind in paying my lawyer's fee's, judge is royally pissed.
 
KIDNEY STONE UPDATE:

as of now, i am going to the hospital next week on the 28th, to have the cysts on my left kidney drained out. supposedly a long needle will be inserted in my left side, while the x-ray machine is on to locate each cyst.

then the following week, Nov. 4th, i go to the doctors office to have the stones blasted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top