Career Ending Operation???

[Dockworker]

i thought my black humor was understood....

It was understood..I was just using it back at you. I totally get your jokes. Sometimes I don't respond back to jokes and make people think I took it literally. Your humor reminds me of by older brother.
Seriously, work comp pays for a walker. It's 100.00+ retail, 40.00 thru medicare and free thru work comp.
Even the most basic one helps, it props you up. Drive Walkers

 

[pro1driver]

well using that walker and wearing that damned steering wheel bone stimulator, i should be able to travel anywhere's...

this is what i have to wear, 30 minutes a day, each day up until i see the doctor in November.

 

[pro1driver]

quickie update

i just had come back from therapy in a pool....

it sucked big time.

the water does allow for buoyancy, but i had to stand in place for the stretching exercises.

i told the gal that i cannot stand for too long, and after several reps of the few stretching exercise, the pains shot out of my back and down to the foot. she told me to sit on the step, which only aggravated the pain, and i had to stand up after all of about 5 minutes.

other points too, is that when i was a kid, my cousin and i were in a pool on a family vacation.

my cousin held me under water for what seemed like an eternity, and i could not break loose, and i took in some water.

been about 45 years since that day....and i ain't been in a pool or the ocean ever since.

so here i was fighting that nightmare, trying to do the therapy, and in pain.

i see the other therapist at thier other location Wednesday (tomorrow), i''m going to tell her that i do not like the pool therapy and i do not want to go anymore. i'll like to have both feet on the floor instead, and no water to think about.

i was hoping that i could get over that near drowning experience, but i just couldn't....memories are too powerful.

and believe it or not.....45 years ago when that happened.....was the last time i ever wanted to see my cousin......and still ain't seen him, and still do not want to.

he turned out, to be a Harvard Lawyer........no shyte........

 

[pro1driver]

Update...not so good news

well this morning i went to the main location of the physical therapy place. i had to go over to that p/t my reasons for not wanting to go to the pool. she said she too nearly drowned from an undertow or riptide, i cannot remember which right now, but her uncle pulled her out..

i had no one pull me out, but hold me under instead. totally different i think.

well she was to evaluate my progress, or shall i say lack of it.

i had to fill out a questionnaire. i did not like the choices, so i used one of these...>... to indicate more than one answer fits.....she said no, you must choose one answer.....

she took measurements of my back, which i cannot bend either too far forward (as if to touch my toes), nor can i bend backwards.

i cannot twist too much, in either direction.

i cannot raise my legs too high (when laying flat on my back).

i cannot push against her hands as she tries to hold my legs down, nor can i lift high either.

she wonders how i can walk.....

so do i....

i get into painful situations if i stand for more than 10 minutes, or walk or sit.

the physical therapy worsens the pain, while doing it and after i leave, and into the night, then i cannot sleep.

my right leg sometimes flails like a fish out of water, when i am sitting in my recliner. the right leg was the leg most affected by the bad disk. she said it is a spasm, and there are meds for that..oh great, more drugs..??? (i don't think so)

she tells me that she is going to write a letter to the doctor telling him i am not improving, after all this time, and that in all good ethics, she does not want me to keep going there, but she will wait for the doctor's response. so as of now, no more p/t.....

i typed up some notes about all of this and will be seeing my lawyer next Monday, as i want him to know my lack of progress.

so yeah, a major back operation, about a month later p/t, and THEY wonder why i am still in pain...??

my first major back operation, it was at least 3 months BEFORE any p/t....

but i am told, "do not compare to the other operation".....

what do these people think anyway's (the doctors and p/t's).......that WE ALL HEAL AT THE SAME RATE AND TIMES......??????

more updates as they arrive...

till then....

back to your program

PS...by the way, i had to ask my folks when that vacation was we took with my relatives.....

it was back in 1969, so i was right about it being 45 years ago.......wow.....

i just "guesstimated" the years...!!

ok..now back to your program, in it's entirety.......

 

[pro1driver]

Update

went to the lawyer this morning, gave him my typed up notes of the therapy place putting me on hold.

i had told him the therapy p/t gal had (or was going to) send a letter off to the doctor's office about my lack of progress.

he said that it can take time for each to communicate with one another, and i didn't do anything wrong, as i followed whatever program they were giving me to work with. we got into a quick few scenarios about my rehab, some of which was said here on the thread, about age being a factor, as the older we get, the longer it can take to recover, and of course a previous major back operation, already weakening my back to even begin with.

lawyer said to wait about another week, maybe even by the end of this week, i could have an answer. (it has only been since Wednesday of last week, (when i gave you all my last update). then he said to let him know when i start therapy again.

i had asked if this could mess with my insurance checks in any way, he reassured me that it would not, as it needs to be determined how my rehab will continue. i was just concerned that the insurance company will question why i hadn't had any p/t, since last week, and then make things difficult.

i told the lawyer that i wanted to keep him up to date (and he says he appreciates it), with whatever happens with therapy or the doctor, the x-rays, or the continuing pains, because if i don't and something crops up weeks later THEN i go to him, he might ask/say.."why didn't you tell me of this sooner"..???

as i see it, it may make his job difficult to help me or defend me when needed. just best to keep the lawyer informed.

also as i "see it".....i like, no LOVE to make paper trails....one sure fire way to Cover MY Ass.....!!!!!!

that's all i have for now.
thanks

 

[RickyRicardo]

well using that walker and wearing that damned steering wheel bone stimulator, i should be able to travel anywhere's...

this is what i have to wear, 30 minutes a day, each day up until i see the doctor in November.

I see you got a nifty CB microphone to keep in touch

 

[pro1driver]

LOL....yeah, what a freaking weird piece of work that thing is...

 

[pro1driver]

Update

ok, so yesterday, (Tuesday Sept 16th, i get a phone call from the lawyer's office.

apparently, the nurse case manager, assigned to my file, was making an inquiry into my progress with the doctor's office.

they told her i was discharged from physical therapy because i am not making progress. (which is true, i have mentioned here before the extreme pains during and after therapy).

so the nurse case manager called my lawyer's office.

well it's all too much to type up here, but suffice it to say, between the doc's office, lawyer's office, me, and the nurse case manager, we kept Verizon very busy.

in the end, i will be going to a new therapy place, about 10 minutes from my house, starting as soon as they get the ok from the insurance company.

the doctor's office, gave me some MORE drugs, this time, Vicodin.

how wonderful, feel pain, get MORE drugs......

the nurse at the doctor's office is now the 4th person to say, that i may not be able to go back to work, as a driver. i said oh....??

she said that many times, and it stinks to say it, after an operation, some people will be forever in pain....maybe your company can offer you an office job, since you got hurt working for them...??

i said, i live up here, they are in Georgia.....

well.....i said,

i was fine BEFORE my injury...then the injury and pains, then the operation, and the pains continue.....

i do not see why i have to live the rest of my life in a constant pain. does that mean constant drugs as well..???

all i can do for now is wait a bit more, before i go to this new therapy place.

4 "professionals" saying i may not be able to return to driving......

i dropped off the referral letter to the new therapy place to my lawyer, along with what the doc's office typed up about my continued pains....

making a paper trail.......making a DOCUMENTED...paper trail.......




i am feeling now like Kiwi Ray did months ago................

never ending meds and pains.............

 

[Dockworker]

Are you doing the generic form called Hydrocodone/Apap? If so what mg.
All this stagnant waiting for insurance authorization and lack of therapy is going to cause bad scar tissue.

 

[pro1driver]

Are you doing the generic form called Hydrocodone/Apap? If so what mg.
All this stagnant waiting for insurance authorization and lack of therapy is going to cause bad scar tissue.

Hydrocodone/ Acetaminophen 5-325 TB

which is why i make notes, and hand them over to the lawyer........

 

[Dockworker]

Hydrocodone/ Acetaminophen 5-325 TB

which is why i make notes, and hand them over to the lawyer........

That's a very light dosage seeing that you got a lot fused.
I'm not sure if taking 2 every 4-6 hours at that dose even takes the edge off the pain.
I know Hydrocodone/ Acetaminophen 10-325 (same as apap) takes the edge right off at the expense of a little dizziness that's easily controlled by....staying at home.

 

[pro1driver]

That's a very light dosage seeing that you got a lot fused.
I'm not sure if taking 2 every 4-6 hours at that dose even takes the edge off the pain.
I know Hydrocodone/ Acetaminophen 10-325 (same as apap) takes the edge right off at the expense of a little dizziness that's easily controlled by....staying at home.

the nurse spoke to the doc's P/A, and this is what was given for me to take about 30 minutes before i go to therapy, then take another one when i get home.

but if the pain is bad, she said take 2 before i go.

i know that it is basically all Tylenol over Hydro, but this is what i was given, as it is stronger than the Tramadol, but "lighter" then the oxycodone.

the oxycodne was giving me problems, the Tramadol wasn't really working all that well.....

 

[Dockworker]

the nurse spoke to the doc's P/A, and this is what was given for me to take about 30 minutes before i go to therapy, then take another one when i get home.

but if the pain is bad, she said take 2 before i go.

i know that it is basically all Tylenol over Hydro, but this is what i was given, as it is stronger than the Tramadol, but "lighter" then the oxycodone.

the oxycodne was giving me problems, the Tramadol wasn't really working all that well.....

I agree that Oxy is too potent and addictive and Tramadol is weak. They can always up it to 10/325 if needed and when you start getting stronger and weaning off of it you can get into Tramadol territory. It's is so beneficial in the healing process if you take your meds with a timer 4-6 hour at a time or longer.... and not let the meds wear off and the pain creep in. You will always have that pain in check.
Hope you have better success at the next therapy session.

 

[pro1driver]

problem (to me) is that the pain meds "mask" the problem of the pain. i know that all healing, even a bruised knee, there will be "some pain". but to me, i have always felt that if you have to "mask" the pain, you are missing a possible reason for such pain. could there be an under laying reason for the pain, that the x-rays did not find..???

i also DO NOT want to "get hooked" on meds, especially the narcotics. if, and i do say IF, i can return to trucking, i know that i have proof of taking narcotics, so a drug screening does not concern me. it is the "damage" to the internal organs that long term meds can do to a person...and to some people, what really does "long term" mean..???

can it be 6 months, 6 years, 6 weeks..??

just my feelings towards the meds. so i do take them, but i watch out how much, and how often.

 

[pro1driver]

Update on me getting BULLIED....!!!

yep, that's right....

someone "tried" to BULLY me, into doing something i do not have to do..

a "vendor" for the worker's comp insurance, named Align Networks, got my name from the insurance company, since my first physical therapy place discharged me, because i am not making progress, meeting goals they set..

BUT...MY DOCTOR'S office, referred me to a place they like....

ok.....i got approval to go where the doctor's office referred me, and i start this Friday....

well that "BULLY" of another company, the Align Networks, called me, twice last night around 5 PM

i answered the phone, and told the gal.."Samantha" , that i was approved to go someplace else....

she asked where, who, etc,etc.

but i told her "i had to go".....

i had to take my dad to his doctor appointment, and i was running late....

so, she calls me a second time, and left a BEAUTIFUL message.....(to be used against her later)......

she says that she needs to know where i am going, her company has my file and if i do not tell her what she wants to know, she can and WILL NOT pay for my therapy, and i'll have to pay it all on my own....

well.....again......it was ON MY answering machine, what she said....


1) at 8 AM.....i called my nurse case manager.....

she said she will call her and straighten her out...


2) i called my LAWYER, and spoke to his secretary/para-legal.....

i played the message......she laughed and said that so and so, cannot BULLY ME.....(which i already knew)...


so miss so and so at Align Networks, (by now or in a bit)...

will be getting an earful..........


i was told by the nurse case manager, AND the lawyer's office, since i was APPROVED BY the insurance company.....

i can go to my other place, worry free......

thank God for stupidity, in leaving such a message....

thank God for lawyers....

thank God for red bell peppers, which i need to buy today, for roasting, then freezing, so i have some through out the winter months.....

i let them thaw, add some olive oil, some garlic, then put some on many of my cold cut sandwiches as a topping.....

ah yes...life will be good for me...

as for that BIOTCH....????




i hope she gets her ass chewed out so much............

she'd be begging me for olive oil to soothe her pains......


PS.....i tried speaking with the worker's comp adjuster, a really super nice gal.....

but she reminded me, that since i have a lawyer, she cannot speak to me, that i must go through the lawyer...

i forgot that.....and she was really nice to remind me, which i appreciated......

 

[Dockworker]

I know this will be repetitive info that you just provided but here it goes:

LOL...Align Networks/One Call are third party people. They are like schedulers and have a network of medical facilities that are probably local to you. You employer or there work comp carrier most likely has them involved somewhere down the infancy of your paper trail.
To me they are like the Keystone cops....late for arrival and always one step behind. I think they mean well in regards to trying to get caught up with your updates with what info they already have on you. They got lost and are just know arriving.
They seem to get in the way at the most inopportune time and appear like bumbling idiots. Sometimes they can spill the beans with medical approvals you might be waiting for. i/e They might call you to schedule an appointment with one of their providers because they got an approval. You have a right to choose your own facilities but they too are only trying to do their jobs with what info they have on you.

Bottom line: If everything seems to be going well for you in regards to getting your doctor, patient, work comp updates in a timely fashion is to just let them know you are being represented by an attorney. If they don't already know.

At this point in the game (so to speak) work comp should already know you have an attorney and should not be speaking with you other than there nurse case manager, which is allowed to. If it's over the phone and you requested that you do not want the conversation recorded? Well they have hands and can write things down instead.

It's no longer a nice casual conversation, everyone has their poker face on. The nurse case manager for work comp? Well....you know where any updated info she gets on you goes to. Yep...it goes to the people you are not allowed to talk to. So be careful with how chummy you might be towards them. Poker face, neutral answers. Align Networks also passes the info, any doctors appointments you set up through them to work comp.

Anyway, how is that bone stimulator going? Hope your at least fusing and the "healing" pains are starting to subside so they can figure out what's working and whats not.

 

[pro1driver]

just got a call from the nurse case manager, as i was starting to read your posting...

she said, that she called the insurance company, and spoke to the gal that cannot speak to me, due to having a lawyer..

the insurance gal said..."go, you're approved"....don't worry about it".

"one call medical", is usually the company that calls me about 1 to 3 days after i receive some sort of device (ie) the bone stimulater, TENS machine, etc.

i never heard of Align Network

yes, third party Keystone Cops...... or.... Three Stooges Gone Wild.......

in any event, the bone stimulator is probably doing it's job. i had to replace the original battery 3 days ago, and that "amounts" to aprox 20 days ( or more precisely, 20 times of use, at 30 minute timed intervals) of use.

pains "subsiding"...???

hardly, yesterday, i had to "ferry" dad as his car was in the shop, and i couldn't drive for too long, just sitting the pain hit me.

i was outside earlier this morning, looking at some of my Italian green peppers, just looking mind you not bending.....

sharp pain drove down my back like a bolt of lightning....

last night, i was outside, in the garden, looking and choosing peppers to be picked, by my helper....

again sharp pain...



like, Jesus H. Christ, i am ONLY looking, not bending, not stooping, not twisting......W..T..F.....????


oh yeah, and that so and so BIOTCH at the Align Network...??

the nurse case manager called her......

gal didn't answer her phone after 3 tries.....


nurse left a message........




nurse told insurance gal about this, lawyer's office was supposed to call as well......

Align Network BIOTCH.......probably got the message.......(or i can only surmise she did)

 

[Dockworker]

Align is a division of One Call. It's funny how they don't seem to be able to communicate among themselves.
Kind of reminds me of my two dispatchers who sit right next to each other sending two drivers for the same pick up.

 

[pro1driver]

Align is a division of One Call.

It's funny how they don't seem to be able to communicate among themselves.
Kind of reminds me of my two dispatchers who sit right next to each other sending two drivers for the same pick up.

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NO...what's really FUNNY, is your second sentence.....

i started laughing before reading the 3rd, as already, i kinda knew where that was going....!!!

 

[pro1driver]

Bunch of BS just happened.....

well i got an interesting phone call from the nurse at the surgeon's office.

seems that i cannot go to physical therapy, as a doctor at the insurance company has said they will not pay for the therapy.

the insurance doctor wants me to be re-assessed for any more therapy.

but, the insurance company has already authorized therapy, gave the p/t company the needed approval, and such for 8 visits and an evaluation.

so, p/t company, calls insurance company, gal at insurance company has no notes as to what is going on, and i am still good to go to p/t...

i called the nurse again at the surgeon's office, got more information from her, this is when she gave me the insurance doctor's name, that does not want me to go to p/t.

i called the p/t place again, gave them the doctor's name, they called the insurance adjuster, and inquired further.

p/t place calls me back, insurance adjuster still says i am good for therapy, and i tell them, "well if something goes wrong, and they deny the entire p/t sessions after i had already taken p/t, i cannot pay for any of it".

gal at p/t place said, there should be no problem(s).

this HAS to be the work of the BIOTCH that threaten me over the phone the other day, i cannot see anyone else having anything to do with this BS....

i have also called the lawyer's office again, left a message for the para-legal, to inform her of this new BS.

so, here is where i stand as of right now...

i go to p/t this Friday, my first visit.

then next week, i have the visit at the surgeons office for an "assessment".

then i guess i make more p/t appointments, this place however wants 3 days a week, they say worker's comp usually wants 3 days....

but the last place, i only went 2 times a week.

whatever....

pain still exists.

still cannot bend, twist, stoop down. the pain limits that kind of movements.

can only walk, sit, lay down for short periods of time, then have to change positions.

when i was talking with the surgeon's nurse, she said many times this is how the insurance companies work. they try to **** you off so much, you say, "screw it, i wanna go back to work"......

well.........

i'll see about that...if the pain is still there, i will not be going back to work any time too soon...