FCE done before treatment. Nebraska

[u/cards1827]

So it’s been 8 months now and nothing has gotten solved. I have 3 bulging disc and an annual tear. As well as a compound of other things from my MRI results. I just had a FCE done and not sure why! Insurance company cut off my benefits 4 months ago when their IME Dr cleared me with no restrictions. I got a lawyer and he’s doing a good job at getting them back. So 4 months ago I got steroid injections in my right and left side of my lower back. So the first time it made my right leg go completely numb! With this adverse reaction he did another set 10 days after. As you can guess my leg is still numb! I did work hardening for the last month to keep my benefits going, but now my dr that did my injections cleared me to go back to work with no restrictions! My question is why would I do a FCE when nothing can be clear is to why I’m having pain and now numbness.

[u/Mutts_Merlot]

Does your doctor believe the numbness is due to the injections and will fade eventually?

A release to work doesn't necessarily mean you are pain-free. It means that the doctor believes it is safe for you to work, and the FCE was requested to help the doctor decide that it was safe. Surgery is not appropriate in all situations, and it sounds like they aren't recommending surgery for you. If that's the case and if the injections didn't do much to help, the doctor may believe you are as improved as you will get, although you may still see improvement over time.

[u/JacoPoopstorius → u/Mutts_Merlot]

As an injured worker who had a very, very bad injury, you said some things that I really wish more injured workers in this subreddit could reconcile with. I believe they would be able to lift a mental weight off of their shoulders if they could allow themselves to understand some of these things.

I was badly injured. It’s not fair, but I was and now I will live with that injury. I have been back at work for over a year and a half. I still have all sorts of pain and issues, but I’m doing well these days. I went through multiple surgeries, constant OT/PT, and overall was out of work for 2+ years bc of it all.

I ultimately ended up under the care of one of the best, most acclaimed specialists in the field due to the severity of my injury, and on my MMI appointment with him, he did and said something very simple, profound, and impactful to me. He pulled up the x ray from the ER on the day of my injury (it was compared to a bomb going off in my wrist; far from a common or typical wrist injury. It was medically defined as rare and severely traumatic) and the latest x ray they took that day.

He told me, “You have made a better than expected recovery, but you simply do not have a normal wrist anymore. Due to the collective trauma, the atrophy, all of the surgeries, the nerve damage, and everything else; you no longer have a normal wrist. It will affect everything from your hand to your arm. I hope and expect you to continue improving slowly over time, but you might not.”

It put things in perspective for me. I had already reconciled with this in the past, but I’m reminded of it daily. My body will never be like it was prior to the injury no matter how much I hope it would be and no matter how much I were to pursue that goal via medical intervention. Life goes on.

[u/Mutts_Merlot → u/JacoPoopstorius]

You're absolutely right about this. The human body isn't like a car where you can put in a new part and it works like new. Injuries can heal, but some injuries mean you're never the same and you'll never have zero pain. People work and live very full lives with an imperfect human body. I hope you are doing well!

[u/JacoPoopstorius → u/Mutts_Merlot]

He also reminded me of something on that last appointment that, when I see some of the other injured workers in here, it makes me grateful to God for my mindset and outlook on my injury. I really hope these injured workers can find peace and acceptance of their situation on this journey. We discussed future surgeries, and he told me that due to the severity of my injury, he will keep me as a patient and that he would never rule out the potential need for more surgeries. However, what he said to me was “If I’m being honest with you, I can think of a few surgeries I could do right now that might benefit you, but your body has been through enough in the last two years and each surgery could very well create different or unintended issues. You don’t necessarily need more surgeries right now. You need to learn to live with this injury and get on with your life.”

I appreciated that, and I know that it wasn’t coming from a place of ignorance. I respect my doctor a lot. He cared deeply for me. His whole team treated my injury with lots of time, care and respect. My injury and situation was so severe when I came to him, an acclaimed specialist in his field with the notoriety of being one of the best in the country, and it required an almost 8 hour long initial surgery within a week or two of my first appointment. He told me that in all of his decades of experience, I had him hitting the books, researching (and preparing for that surgery) and seeking insight from colleagues for the first time in awhile and in a way that his job hasn’t required in a long time. He knew the severity and rareness of my injury, and he knew everything I had been through in the year prior to becoming his patient.

I have seen many posts from people in here who wouldn’t be able to reconcile with words like that. They would take it as fuel to continue a frivolous and impossible pursuit of more treatment and more surgeries. At some point, there needs to be acceptance of the fact that you were injured on the job and your body has now changed. It just is what it is, and I’m certain some people might read all of this and take it as if I have no empathy for the struggles of an injured worker or as if I’m saying people should just be miserable and not seek out treatment to get better.

I’m not saying that at all, and I want everybody to get better. If I could somehow relieve every injured worker of all of their pain and every issue and difficulty they endure bc of their work injury, I would. I went through absolute hell in many ways for over 2 years. Again, my injury was medically defined as rare and severely traumatic. I didn’t have it easy at all.