L4-L5 work related Back Injury

Hi there Rhonda, I am so surprised to read that you still worked with your condition your a tough cookie girl, I'm 35 and have facet joint dysfunction, lumbar spondylosis I have chronic pain to my lower back up spine neck shoulder in buttock down leg to foot all on left hand side of my body, I can't work as I need to move about all time due to pain and I'm drowsy due to medication, can't walk far without severe discomfort, had trigger point injections now waiting for branch block injections. my mri scan shows mild broad based posterior disc bulges at L4/5 and L5/S1. I'm also to have general re hab work and CBT for long time. Suffer from depression which is getting worse. Feel so trapped as unable to get out unless I go with my partner.

Seems to be how my luck is going now days. I just put on this big huge rant and bam the internet went out right as I posted it and the whole thing got lost in the storm. I dont remember it all but I'll try.

I would say im pretty strong and tough willed. I got hurt Nov. 17th and worked until the DR put me off on May 3rd. May not have been 40 hours every week but I worked. I was also told the week before the DR put me off that due to my absences, including DR appointments and my sons gradutation, that unless it improved I would be fired. A little more recent background: On May 7th my house a/c blew up and it was $1700 to fix, on May 11th my husbands car had to have $400 work done on it (he did most the work as a mechanic by trade) my sons truck had to have tires befor they blew out with all 3 of my sons in his truck on May 9th $200, I cant get medicine refills until they are 11 days past due, My son also then had a wreck on May 11th to which he was probably 85% at fault of so im still waiting to see what that runs us, then today I find my ex-husband has canceled the boys insurance which he is court ordered to pay, back in April. So they no longer have medical insurence. I called and found out at least they can be put on medicaid but theres no help for lack of food. Yes instead of having internet and cell phones we could cancel them, but we looked into that and it would cost us more in cencelation fees than it cost us to keep it. Being my only source of entertainment before I lose my sanity I think I'll keep it.
Now back to the man is she tough statement. I guess I would have to agree. But I would also say that I am about to lose it and end up on a nut farm.

 OK short (I hope) update on whats going on. After they sent me to their independent eval. (which just happens to be the DR who first treated me and sent me back to work) The insurance company  (work comp) approves my surgery. My attorney says he is still going to push for the court order so that surgery comes and the night before they back out (work comp) and deny it. I guess that happens to some cases. I still am not recieving TTD yet, but after court on the 27th I guess it may start. Surgery is set for Aug 6th with a neuro surgeon and my ortho spinal specialist for a disc decompression and L4L5 spinal fusion. They have had to change my meds because the spasms and pain are so bad I hurt 24/7. I really hope they dont back out because my daughter has to make plans to come from London to take care of me. Please say a prayer for God to shine on me and heal my mind and body.

Well surgery is done and Im back home, they accidently cut into the dura of my spinalcord which set me back 2 days, I had to be flat on my back for 48 hours while the surgical glue and stitches held the tear closed, they found a significant inpenment of the ganglia nerve up against the bone. The nerve was swollen and very bruised and they hope with time it will heal. It may be damaged permanently. I have high hopes that it wont be. I have left sided weakness real bad and still drag the foot along with new numbness in the right foot. The lower back pain however is better, it still hurts but its a different hurt (surgical?) but the burning nerve pain is unbelievable. So pluses and minuses, but at least I feel I have a direction now. Love to all and prayers are always welcome!

Well I finaly got to start PT (2 months plus) but its in a pool which is wonderful. Ive also strained something by jumping up from a sleep and moving to fast to the bathroom half asleep. My PT lady keeps telling me "I dont know why you cant point your foot right" to which I normaly reply "Me neither but I cant". I now have 3 diagnosis Degeneration Lumbosacral Intrercostal, Displacement Lumbar Disc (fixed w/fusion) and Thoracic, Lumbosacral Neuritis. All I know is I am in pain off and on everyday. Some day worse than others, but I walk alot better than I did. PT helps one day but hurts the next. I had a DR visit yesterday and he said at LEAST 8 more weeks of off work and PT 3 times a week. The fusion hasnt solved all my problems but I'm not sure anything will solve them all. Anyway, One step at a time. 

Rebel_Rhonda,
I also injured my back at work. I'm an ICU nurse and haven't worked in a while. My employer refuses to accept any responsibility for my injury; I have absolutely no income. I could write pages and pages about it all. Going to see a neurosurgeon this month (I hurt my back in May, lifting/repositioning a 400+ lbs patient). Wondering if you could send me a PM?
Btw, I decided to join after reading your post, as it sounds so much like what I'm going through. Though I haven't been diagnosed with it yet, looks to me I just may have foot drop (it "hangs" differently from the other foot, I have scuff marks on that shoe, etc.), plus I'm incontinent (I really noticed this about a month after the injury)! But the hospital "expert" (a doctor who gets paid by them, a doctor who's never seen me) claims it may all be psychosomatic!! The nerve! According to this "expert", I can just get by using OTC meds. They claim I can return to work with NO restrictions... and the MRI shows I have a lower back that looks like Old Man River... the physical therapist (PT did not help, btw) read the MRI report and said "You've got quite the monster there, don't you?" Yup, I do, but according to them it's all in my head... Oh, it also shows spinal canal stenosis - that too is in my head?!

I know what you mean, Rhonda, I feel useless, I feel like a burden on my husband.  Two doctors have told me to forget nursing  ("no more pushing, no more pulling, no more lifting..."); well, you know we do a lot of that as nurses.

So I'm now considering going back to school to get my MA in counseling psych.  I need to work, I want to work. 

You know,  interestingly, that both doctors warned me that if I go back to work it'll be just a matter of time before they fire me as now I'm a liability not an asset.... hhmmm.  Well,  I do know of 2 nurses who were fired because they were seriously injured at work, so the docs may be right after all... Have a feeling this is going to drag; wish me luck - I sure could use some!

Thank you, Rhonda. Sometimes I feel I could easily go paranoid, afraid that someone might read this and identify me and use it against me, lol (not really laughing, actually). Like you, I just hate taking pills. Prior to this injury I was only on blood pressure med, now it's like a little pharmacy. Lyrica makes me feel worse, so I stopped taking it, just makes me feel "weird", but the tylenol 3 isn't cutting it. My doc said he could prescribe Darvocet, but I hate to give in to stronger meds. My husband doesn't understand why; he sometimes says "You nurses are an odd bunch; some of you pop a pill at every little thing, and some of you - like you - have to be near death's door before taking one... why suffer when you don't have to?" Guess he's got a point, but then I think that pills may help with the pain, but what about my stomach, my liver, etc? I'm sure you know what I mean. So I try to reach some sort of balance"...

Turning in bed was such an easy thing, used to take me 2 seconds, now it's more like 2 minutes. Often I get up even if I still feel sleepy, but staying in bed is worse. Some say the supine position is best for your back, but not for me; if I lay flat, it hurts, if I use pillows and go to a 30 degree angle, it gets better for a while. Though I cannot say that I'm in excruciating pain 24/7, I do feel the pain and discomfort on a daily basis. Standing at the sink peeling potatoes, and within minutes the gnawing starts, so I walk. If I bend at the waist, it takes me forever to straighten up and I assume the "skier's position" and walk several steps like that. When I go to the grocery store, I lean over the cart (my doctor told that's the typical position of a person that has canal stenosis).

My health coverage will end in a matter of weeks; bills have been piling up, a few weeks ago the bank was threatening foreclosure. I hate to see my husband work 7 days a week because my income is gone... talk about feeling useless! I know we will not have an extra $800+ a month for the health insurance premiums... can't wait until his health coverage kicks in - hopefully in less than a month!
Well, better quit my ranting here. Thanks for listening, Rhonda; it helps.

Hi RR I am glad to see that you have posted something current. it sounds like you are still having a very rough time gal. I do hope as time goes by and you continue to heal from your surgery that things will get better for you. You have had such a hard time of it. How long have you been in PT and how is it going, any help at all? I know what you mean having the pets, I would probably be nuttier if I didn't have my two pooches to deal with. They do keep me company.

Please keep us posted on how you are coming along. Gentle hugs coming your way.

Thanks SD, Yes its been a time of trials and tribulations. The PT so far has help but now Ive learned that the insurance company is going to refuse to pay for anything over 18 visits, which I have 5 left. So whats helping is going to get cut off unlessm we go to court again. The Dr says I need at least 8 more weeks so we will see what happens.

I would assume so, but I also know that when a company constantly puts off and causes a litgant to go to court for every little thing Judges normaly get very peeved and end up making them pay dearly. This is what Ive been told. I have followed everything a Dr has told me except when I believed my body hurt and no one else did. My attorney is doing everything he can to get me the treatment the Dr orders. The DR orders one thing, the insurance company refuses, we schedule court, the day before court, they go oh well ok, then I finaly get treatment, which is normaly after Ive sat and back peddled for 6-10 weeks. Tonight is a bad night, the cold is making me very sore and stiff and the amount of pain meds is almost not enough, but what do I do. I cant stand being on the meds but I also cant stand the pain.
I know a bit about the Texas problems. I have a friend down there that is almost beside himself with problems because of a workers comp case, whose attorney just up and quit cause they didnt think the case was going to be worth anything in the long run. He is so lost and not only that he has done more than a year without little or no pain meds. So at least I have some kind of meds to help me along.

What is really ironic is ive known him for about 10 years and had lost touch with him for a year or so and when he got back in touch with me, withing about 2-3 weeks we had both had L4-L5 injuries but he also has one in his middle upper back and neck. He was carring pipe (hes a plumber) and getting on a lift to go up to another floor to work and the company that had been contracted to do the sidewalks and curbs had been using a cutting saw of some sort and its used water which left a slimy surface and him and his 50 lb tool belt and pipe all went down. He does have a new lawyer now but instead of just having a suit for workers comp he has a suit for several of the companys that were working on the site. They have also got him an omnibudsman (sp) to take over his case which they have found he was actualy never sent or assigned a Dr. Now a year later he is just started. He asks me questions but I dont have the first clue about Texas comp laws. So I have no way of helping him. I just follow the advice of MY attorney on my case, and go to what im supposed to and do what they tell me to the letter.

According to the attorney he has like 4 3rd party suits. But like you said, ask the attorneys thats what they get paid for. He just sounds off on me and I sound back. Without a support system this whole mess can really destroy you emotionaly. So Ive shared the site on my FB cause sometimes had I not been able to shout yell and scream out my frustrations here, my family would have bore the brunt of it and trust me they are getting realy tired of it also.