My little shop of Horrors!!! It never stops..

In 1998 I went to the doctor for a simple case of carpal tunnel and tennis elbow. I had cortisone shots, physical therapy and surgery. No big deal. That's what you say.

The story gets real good.

This was a Workers' Compensation case because I was a Information Systems Manager for 17 years for the same company. So the doc says, turn it into Workers Comp and do what you have to do. I have the surgery and go through all the post op routine but my pain is now worse than before I had surgery. Uh oh somethings wrong here. So now my surgeon sends me to a pain specialist because he says I've developed something called RSD (never heard of it). Now my arm still hurts, my elbow still hurts and now I have excruciating burning and other various pains. And while I'm going through this whole mess, the Workers' Comp insurance company is saying, well, she's had her surgery and by our guidelines for the condition she came in for she should be all better, sends me to some quack that says i'm only partially disabled and they cut my payments from the wonderful $400.00 a week maximum to $132.00 a week.

In the meantime, I'm getting worse instead of better and I now have pain doctors concurring with my surgeon that I have this RSD and I need shots in my neck called Stellite Ganglion shots to relieve the pain that is now racking my shoulder all the way down my arm to my hand. The Workers' Comp. Insurance company sends me for another consult with their quack that says there is nothing wrong with me and instead of getting shots, I get cut completely off workers compensation as far as my weekly stipend goes. They are still paying for my regular medications and for my doctors visits, but they are refusing to pay for the the shots because their doctor doesn't agree that I have this condition that my doctors say I have.

After 2 years of fighting, the Workers' Compensation Board finally made the insurance company send me to a different doctor and that doctor concurred with my physicians and I finally started getting my shots. We are now like 3 years into my illness and I'm really suffering and still not getting paid by the way. My attorney at the time was doing absolutely nothing for my case as well. The initial attorney I hired left the firm to take a seat on the bench for family court and left me with one of his affilliates so I was kind of pushed to the side for a while if you know what I mean.

Finally in 2002 after harrassing the lawyer that took the case over it got back to court and the preciding judge made the ruling that I was to start getting my shots, I was to start getting paid $400.00 a week again and I was to get all the back money for all the years I hadn't been paid.

I got the shots but it was too late because now I'm totally disabled and I'm racked with cronic pain every day of my life. The 2002 decision appealed because the Insurance company found a period of time that I didn't go to the doctor for 50 days and they say you have to go to the doctors every 30 to 45 days in order to qualify for their benefits. The board of appeals recinded that decision but made the insurance company continue to pay me at the highest rate of $400.00 per week.

I've had another judge again award me the money for the years that I was not paid and tell them they have to pay me the maximum for the rest of my life which is $400.00 a week and again it has been appealed.

I'm riding a never ending roller coaster and the Insurance Company can do what ever they want with my life.