How to document ongoing disability after surgery

  • Thread starter Thread starter azrebel
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azrebel

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I am 15 months post op from a triple selective endoscopic discectomy. While I believe the basic surgery was a success, my nerves are recovering at a glacial pace. While the progress is slow and steady, I am still unable to function at a level where I could return to work. My disability carrier cut me off three months ago, saying that they felt I was healed. They have no basis for their claim other than they felt enough time had passed. When I go to the spine surgeon who operated on me, his response is that of a surgeon, "I fixed you, you're healed."

My question is, should I see a neurosurgeon to help test the level of my nerve recovery? I have the usual sypmtons seen here throughout the board, weakness, tingling, hip pain, limited flexibility. I agree with my surgeon that I am fixed. However, the regeneration of the damaged nerves is taking forever. The nerves suffered trauma over a period of 18 months.

Your thoughts and advise would be appreciated.

Thank you
 
I've been able to keep my disability benefits going by documenting on an ongoing basis. Especially since I went out of work 5/2009 and it wasn't until Noveraber that surgery was scheduled for 2/2010. There is a form the insurance company senRAB to the surgeon/doctor called an Attending Physician Statement. It asks the doctor what you can and can not do, what your limits are, etc. I took the form and answered each question based on what I know about me. I also then detailed out for my surgeon exactly what my job required. There was no available job description that detailed what my job required so I carefully thought about everything my job truly required and then created a bullet point list of what my job requires followed by why I could not do that requirement. All of this together helped the doctors fill out their forms as they better understood what my current symptoms were, what I could do, and what my job required that I could not do.

Are you currently in active pain management and do you see your PCP regularly? Both my PM and PCP doctors (along with my surgeon) have also been supportive of my ongoing symptoms, the medications I take, how they effect me and how they effect my ability to work, etc. If you have been denied STD or LTD be sure to appeal right away as there is often a time limit in which you can appeal. Ask your surgeon for help after you put together your own documentation.
 
besides the really great advice as usual from AZ up there, i just wnated to mention a particular type of really great specialist who really could help you alot with first really identifying ANY real problem areas where muscle and nerve connections are problematic/velocity loss either partial or total and also get you more on track with telling you more speciafically just what neeRAB to be done and where here? that would be a really good type of physical medicine doc called a 'physiatrist". this is NOT any type of 'phsyc" doc at all. this was the type of doc who was in charge of my ongoing care while i was in an actual acute rehab facility having to relearn how to walk and get some real use and dexterity out of my L hand that had eight fine motor muscles hit and lost, among other collateral damage during a nasty surgery i had to have done on my spinal cord. the sick part was i was fully aware that the leg and the fine motor losses were going to occur and had to have it anyways or become eventually paralyzed with one more bleed from what was a glob of vessels i had been born with up at the c 8 nerve level but directly IN my spinal cord. i spent two weeks or so at the U of MN, then was transferred to the acute rehab hosp where they DID give me alot of what was lost/possible back and i walked right out those same doors i had been wheeled in thru just a few weeks before. but this one type of doc who really just KNOWS all of the tiniest of nerve/muscle connections within like our entire bodies was truely the major 'key' for me in actually being able to walk again and get some usefullness back in the L hand as well. i still see him from time to time for certain movement issues that can esascerbate themselves from just the massive levels of real cord/tract/system damage i suffered.

this type of specialist for you right now, really would be able to, with many different types of both hanRAB on testing and the use of other testing, really be most helpful in first identifying anything that is NOT going to be rehabbable to any real degree and helping you to regain the absolute MOST out of what you still have good flow velocity to here between the nerves and muscle levels. this type of specialist would seriously be able to really give you the best possible type of real eval of YOU and your body as a whole right now, and any real impacting damage that your doc appears to think is either not there, or in his head anyways, your just as good as new??? love those egos these sickos actually have with some.

but if you truely want the very best overall picture of your post surg situation and ANY possible nerve damage or losses, please DO seek out a good knowledgable physiatrist. they can even tell alot by just watching how you walk, and turn and simply move certain body parts too. just something i thought you may need that would be very helpful in your particular situation, esp since your NS thinks everything is just hunky dory in there??? hope things do get better for you. marcia
 
I agree 100%, a Physiatrist is a great choice!!! They can help state in an objective way your current issues and to some degree your prognosis.

GREAT idea and I need to remeraber that when helping people who are fighting for disability coverage!
 
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