Before I do one of my normal introductions, let me just say this is a rant post. There’s no hidden lessons or morals in this post. This is a post outlining what’s happening in my life at this moment. This is an inside look at living life with a workers compensation case.

I had my fifth follow up appointment with my surgeon and it was by the far the fastest appointment. For those of you who are new here let me give you some backstory. I was hit by a washing machine on May 14th, 2018 and I had surgery on my right shoulder on January 29th, 2019. In order to recover, I’ve been prescribed therapy three times a week. And honestly the therapy helped me recover most of my movement but I still haven’t recovered even half of my strength. There’s only one problem with my therapy, it hasn’t been approved in over a month. My last day of therapy was on May 30th and it doesn’t seem like they will approve any more visits. Sure the doctor cleared me to return on light duty but my job refuses to take me back unless I can return to work at full duty. And the only way for me to return to full duty is by continuing my therapy, which the insurance company refuses to approve. From my understanding, the insurance company feels that I’ve already benefited from the therapy and my condition will not get better. My job requires me to lift up to 75lbs unassisted and in my current condition, I am lucky if I can lift 20lbs.

That’s all right Josh because you are still getting paid while you are out from work. That is correct but the insurance company is only paying me half of my benefits because they think I am partially disabled. According to all the paperwork, my doctor has submitted, I am considered fully disabled and I should be receiving full benefits. To make matters worse, the insurance company is also denying my other medical needs. Next week on Thursday, I have an appointment with my neck doctor. I’ve been experiencing muscle spasms and headaches because of my accident. The only thing that seemed to have work is a cortisone shot into each of the vertebrae in my neck. Unfortunately, they didn’t approve it and opted for a botox shot instead which only lasted a couple of days. In other words, right now I’m living with pain and on a very limited income.

Sounds like I need a lawyer, well I have one and this brings up another issue. Lack of communication. As of writing this post, it took me four phone calls to reach the paralegal who is handling my case. No, I cannot sue my current employer and nothing can be done until a judge reviews my case. It’s going to take up to another four weeks for a judge to review my case. Which means I have to survive for the next month on the reduced pay and try not to dip into my savings. I also have to do my own workouts in order to build my strength back. Do I have the same equipment, no but I do have the knowledge from over four years of weight training experience and over a year of therapy. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stay home and let time pass me by. I’ve actually been applying to jobs because there is no way I can or want to return to my previous place of employment. So far I’ve interviewed with a handful of companies and if I keep applying, I’m sure to find a new job in a different industry.

As you can probably tell, being on workers compensation sucks. You have to jump through hoops in order to get anything done and you might still experience pain. Who knows, what is going to happen in my situation, but only time will tell. Thank’s for reading Josh.

Remember to be successful it's your right, duty, and responsibility.