Monday, February 20, 2017

A Nightmare of Clutter

I missed a lot of blogging time last winter.  My work got crazy and I just had no time.  Unfortunately, what started as a dream job turned into a nightmare culminating in 12 hour work days.  A few actually stretched out longer than that.  Try as I might (and I tried hard), I could not get my work-load adjusted.  The result was that long days at a desk led to a repetitive stress injury -- in both my left and right arms.  I developed ulnar neuropathy along with some carpal tunnel thrown in.  The nerve irritation triggered problems in my neck, shoulder and upper back.  Early in December, I had to stop working for three weeks so that the nerves could calm down.  I worked part time until mid January, and am now back to full-time.
My employer offers very good benefits.  I have quality health insurance and 100% paid Short Term Disability.  However, when you are hurt at work, you must go through worker's comp -- which my employer insisted I do.  The problem with that, is that the comp carriers like to deny claims, which is what they did to me -- claiming my injury was not work related.

The short of it is that I am now in litigation -- which is never a fun place to be.  Between dealing with lots of bills, I have to deal with legal forms and papers.  The result is my dining room table is a mess.   My employer has refused to step in and demand the company pay.  On the other hand, my supervisor (not the same one I worked for in the fall that was responsible for my workload), has been as sympathetic and is as pissed as I am.  I have a good attorney and a bunch of doctors supporting my claim. It just galls me that I have to go through this.  What I hate as much as the stress of the situation, is the mess it's making in my house.

When I had surgeries last year, my table was a mess of bills as well.  I'm thinking I have to do something to keep away from doctors an attorneys if I ever want to have a clear dining room table I can eat on!  As for my legal woes, I expect to win my case and rattle some cages at the corporate level once it's over.  

8 comments:

  1. Right thinking -keep away from doctors and lawyers as much as possible. Nothing good comes out of them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do want to see my orthopedist again but this is so embarrass. I hope he doesn't have to actually go to Court to testify. I am mortified!

      Delete
  2. Well that sucks! Our system is much different in Canada and rarely do you have to fight for disability when it is clear that your job caused it :( Glad you are doing better though

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The comp system here was "designed" to keep people out of court but it seems you have no choice. It's so stupid!

      Delete
  3. That's a crappy situation to be in. Good luck to you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just want this to be over -- and appreciate that people are so supportive of me!

      Delete
  4. I am so sorry. So frustrating, I have suffered from carpel tunnel and nerve pain from the shoulders when my arthritis flares and it is painful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The "independent" doctor I saw didn't want to believe that putting pressure on my elbow would send nerve tingles to my neck. If you haven't experienced it, it's hard to imagine. I don't want surgery for my wrists -- do you?

      Delete