Well, I wanted a vacation..just not like this...

[ZooKeeper83]

My current job is doing inspection services on construction sites.  Definitely a lot easier than doing the actual construction work, but there's still a decent amount of heavy lifting and exersion involved.  Well, yesterday I stopped at one of my sites to do a quick concrete test.  Testing involves taking samples that will be broken later to make sure it's as strong as they wanted it to be, checking to see how much air was in it (sidewalks and such have air added to them, so they are able to expand and contract with the weather without cracking), and take it's 'slump' (which is just a way to try and keep them from adding tons of water to the mix - water = bad as it weakens a mix).

Anyway, I got all my supplies ready, they gave me my same of concrete, and I placed my slump cone for the slump test on the ground.  As I stood up to turn and grab the rest of my supplies I felt a pop in my lower back followed by a decent amount of pain.    After that I couldn't bend over at the waist anymore or pick up most of my supplies, as they're nice metal buckets and such.  Heh, I did finish all my testing, but on my knees and taking about 10 times as long as it normally should have.  Then when it came for clean up of all my stuff, the very nice construction guys helped me hose off everything, put it all back in my car, and even did little things I forgot like measure out the area, and writing things on my samples.  Heh, so I guess I could have found a worse place to get hurt. 

I warned my office about what I did and then headed in.  They had someone replace me for the rest of the day, but my boss kept trying to convince me that I probably didn't do any major damage and could hang out in the office if I wanted and just do paperwork.  I could barely sit at my desk, so I told him I was heading home.  He didn't seem to want me to set up anything for workers comp and just kept telling me to go take some advil, lay down for the day, and I'd be fine.  I got home and tried that for a few hours (heh, well I fell asleep on my couch), but then when it was feeding time at the zoo, I could barely walk (and a basset hound at dinner time gets very demanding - injured mommy or not  ).  After that I basically called back and made them tell me how I could fill out a workers comp report and then my mom drove me to the hospital. 

Current diagnosis is it's a lower back strain.  Rest on my back for two days taking lots of vicoden and valum.    But if the pain isn't gone in two days, off for an MRI I go.

So, now I'm basically stuck at home, only partially mobile, with all my children to still take care of.  My other half better get over the fact that he doesn't like to clean up after them really quick. 

Wow, I didn't want this to be so long, but I'll blame it on the fact that I feel my medication kicking in right now and the wooziness is taking over. 

Yeay for back problems at 25!!! 

~Melissa

[whtnyte]

Be VERY VERY careful! I hurt my back at work and thought it was just something minor. I've now been stuck in workman's comp land for nearly 5 years! I'd suggest getting yourself to a specialist and getting that MRI now rather than waiting.

[ZooKeeper83]

I'm a little worried, too.  I'm just also paranoid that something's going to go wrong with the worker's comp and I'll end up paying for these bills.  My boyfriend said people at his work have had their claims denied unless they're doing something directly related to work.  I wasn't lifting anything heavy or doing anything that would cause my back strain (since I hadn't started the actual testing yet).  All I did was stand up straight.  And if they deny the claim, my insurance is only an HMO, so they have the right to choose if my going to the hospital was an emergency or not, since I didn't go to my primary care physician first.   I hate HMOs.  I know it will probably all work out, but I get so paranoid when it comes to insurance companies, because I know how they try to find loopholes to get out of paying for things if it's at all possible.  So I'm just going to listen to the doctor's orders for now.  And even though it's hard, I am just laying here on my couch with my dogs rather than doing all the things around the house that I want to be doing. 

I definitely know how bad back injuries can be.  About a year and a half ago, one of my coworkers was lifting a 20-30lb gauge we use out of a trench and ruptured two discs and had some other injury to her spine.  She was out on workers comp up until she finally quit and moved down south with her family just a month ago.  Toward the end, my office was actually being very mean to her and basically trying to force her to quit because they were tired of paying for her to stay home and it was obvious she could never come back and do our job again.  I think that's why they weren't all that happy about me trying to file a claim.    They were already joking that I'm going to be the next "Renee."

I can't even begin to imagine being on worker's comp for almost 5 years though!  I think I'd go insane...

[forkyfork]

If you are permanently injured or have a long term injury. You are legally entitled to extended compensation regardless of whether you are with the company anymore. You are rated for your disability. If your coworker is unsure have her contact the state.
Workers comp is a private insurance, the state steps in and makes sure the insurance and employer are in compliance.

If you have any problem with this claim at all, involve the state workers comp board.  I have had a few workers comp injuries and was worried about some. Especially a back injury that showed 2 wks later after I walked away from a rollover auto accident.

Good luck. The stress of the unknown on the employers part makes the situation worse.
Don't let the employer guilt you into coming back before you are cleared by the doctor.
You only get one back and one life. You will have many jobs in your life, its not worth being miserable because of an inconsiderate employer. Also dont let money scare you out of getting a thorough diagnosis. Again its just money you only get one back... blah blah blah. 

[whtnyte]

The "Employer" doesn't pay you when your out on workman's comp. They had no right to pressure "Renee" into quitting, it wasn't coming out of their pockets! Anyone who employs people has to pay workman's comp premiums to an insurance company. When you have a time off work injury, that policy kicks in and pays 2/3rds of your normal pay. The only possible cost to the employer is if they have a lot of claims, their premiums will go up...FAST!

My former employer never fired me until I took an FCE test (Functional Capacity Evaluation) that determined I'd only ever be able to do a medium duty job with a max lift of 50 pounds. The ins co went back to Ikon and said "can he do his job under these restrictions?" I worked on 1000 pound digital color copiers so of course their answer was "HELL NO!" While my particular employer desperately wanted me back,  they could not legally fire me until it was determined that I'd never be able to do that job again.

After fighting with the ins co for over a year with no income (one of their idiot "Independant Medical Exam" doctors said "He's fine, he can return to work full duty" before I completed the FCE) After the FCE we agreed outside of legal channels that I'd return to college to learn a new profession and they would continue to pay me as long as I'm in school. I graduate next April with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Computer Forensics (YES! You betcha I picked the most expensive 2 year degree program I could find rofl!) After all is said and done, and I'm employed in my new profession, then my lawyer has to get a doctor to give me a degree of disability rating and after that, we sue for a settlement because I'm perm damaged.

So all that...just to give you SOME idea of what workman's comp land is like lol. Watch out when they throw around terms like IME (independant medical exam) it means a doctor THEY pay, looks at you for 15  minutes and gives his opinion on your status. MRIs aren't bad, but if they ever mention doing a Mylogram on you...run from the office screaming NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I'm still waiting for my knee replacement surgery in Oct, after that is healed and therapied, we'll see what my staus is and if my back improves any or not. I'm saying it will and have been for FOUR years! Workman's comp ins wants to get it done, it's my own surgeon that kept saying "your too young"

Good luck to you! If you have any questions or need any info feel free to drop me a private message on here. I get notification in my main email of msgs on here.

[tonivan]

resting your back for a couple of days before doing the mri is an ok thing...but that means truly resting your back...and when yiou go back to work remember not to twist as your are bending/straightening...it doesnt take weight to hurt your back.  does your company do back safety inservices (can be very cery short) every year?  My employer requires that we prove to them we know how to properly lift an item..we have to show how we lift items and then there is a check off sheet that needs to be signed by managment...its kind of a small pain (no pun intended) but it is a nice reminder on how to protect your back as much as possible.

good luck to you!

[BlueBalloon]

Just wanted to say "ouch" and rest up. I recently dislocated my knee at work so I know how crappy stuff like that is.