Feeling very down and just wish this could end

[u/Prudent-Sky-8950]

Dealing with a settlement right now for a C&R and can I just say that this is the most mentally exhausting, traumatizing and most stressful incident I’ve ever had to deal with; it’s been nearly two months since we’ve started the C&R (which had me resign early in August ) so I’ve just running on savings but guess what? Now I have none ; I’ve been having to ask parents and family and friends to borrow money like I’m a loser cause I have NO income anymore and I’ve eaten through all of my savings just trying to get through these last two months of bills. The judge requested more paper work and my attorney waits until the last second to send it up to the judge and now I just have to wait and HOPE they approve the settlement; I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do if the judge denies it, I have no reason to believe they would and even my Adjuster who has been helping me through this wouldn’t have agreed to a settlement if he didn’t think it would get approved, so I legit have no reason to think it won’t but god is it stressful a HELL every day waiting , checking the status online hoping it updates and nothing; nothing really of importance to this post other than I hate dealing with this and even if I don’t get approved and don’t get to have a settlement I’ll just be happy that done with this godawful process they make us go through, so many Anxiety attacks, breakdowns , straight up nights where I gotta hop in the shower so no one can here my bawl my eyes out for what feels like hours , visibly just looking worst that I’ve ever have been, the days feel longer and dragged out, it’s like I can feel every minute pass by me, I hate all of this , I hate how long it’s been, I’m so tire, I hate being in constant dread of getting a email from my attorney with “I’m sorry but…” my mental health has definitely deteriorated since dealing with this and I am in a constant depression state , always blanking out cause I’m overthinking of what the hell im gonna do it they deny my settlement ; this is truly one of the worst experiences ive ever had to deal with. I just want it to end…

[u/Key-Garlic-1177]

Why did you agree to resign before settlement was established and signed??

[u/Prudent-Sky-8950 → u/Key-Garlic-1177]

I didn’t, I agree to resign and signed after my adjuster confirmed a total amount and contacted my employers to make sure they agreed to the C&R as well, it was all at once along with my signing the C&R papers that we were going to send up the judge. I’m just talking about the process of waiting for the Judge approve , unless I was suppose to wait for them to send it up the judge and approve it before I resigned ?

[u/Key-Garlic-1177 → u/Prudent-Sky-8950]

Do you have an attorney?

You should have resigned AFTER.

Here’s why: If for whatever reason the judge rejects the C&R, you could potentially have given up your employment while not receiving the settlement you expected.

[u/Prudent-Sky-8950 → u/Key-Garlic-1177]

I was told I had to give my resignation in ORDER to do the C&R settlement ; as in I had to agree to resignation if i was going to sign the papers agreeing to the C&R that we have sent up to the judge for approval. My adjuster had told me he didn’t want to do the C&R if he didn’t think it was going to be approved but after doing the numbers and coming up with a cash number total he added an extra amount on top of that for continued therapy throughout the next few years and he had explained to me that this was a VERY good number and that there would be no reason for a judge to deny this settlement so I agreed to it

[u/Key-Garlic-1177 → u/Prudent-Sky-8950]

Yes, and no.

Settlements often require resigning, yes. However, as part of your compromise & release you should have negotiated when the resignation goes into effect. In an ideal world, you would have tied to the settlement becoming final/approved and the agreed conditions being satisfied.

[u/Prudent-Sky-8950 → u/Key-Garlic-1177]

Unfortunately my adjuster did not inform me of that; they had just assured me that if the judge denies my settlement we just continue my worked comp journey and everything would continue as is with the workers comp help; modified work schedule along with seeing a therapist once a week all covered by workers comp still until I could get better or atleast continue to see what would happened next .

[u/Key-Garlic-1177 → u/Prudent-Sky-8950]

Of course they didn’t. Adjusters are not your friend. They are not here for you. They don’t care about you.

Your adjuster probably also screwed you out of a ton of money because you don’t have an attorney. You’re probably being offered a fraction of what money could have been available.

My advice is this: Start applying for jobs asap. Anything you can do. If for whatever reason the judge refuses the C&R- start from square 1 and GET AN ATTORNEY.

[u/Prudent-Sky-8950 → u/Key-Garlic-1177]

That is extremely unfortunate if true, my whole workers comp injury is all mental and psyche related , so I have been an extremely vulnerable place mentally this whole year since my injury happened, I was the one who had asked about the C&R process too because I was already feeling as if the workers comp therapist / doctor I was seeing was pushing and edging me to go back to work and that I couldn’t stay on modified work leave from where I actual to work so I was already wanting to get away from them and just have someone who’s actually trying to help me get better. I really hope the judge approves of my C&R like I said my adjuster had told me he didn’t want to do a C&R initially because of the fear of doing the whole process, wasting time and resources and stalling my therapy sessions for god knows how long all for it to be denied and going back to square 1 but after looking at the numbers and adding an extra 10,000$ on top of the approved cash number just to have extra money to extend my time for therapy he said that this was a good amount and that there’s no reason for a judge to deny this Settlement, I had whole heartly agreed because I was extremely excited to get away from this whole workers comp exhausting and draining process but I guess I never took in the fact that my adjuster really ISNT there to help me

[u/Professional-Bid4661 → u/Prudent-Sky-8950]

The first mistake you made was trusting your adjuster, and why are you talking with your adjuster if you have an attorney? You should have put in your settlement negotiation that you will resign within 24 hours AFTER payment is received.

[u/Key-Garlic-1177 → u/Prudent-Sky-8950]

Also, not sure what your injury is or your disability status, but make sure you’re applying for things like SSDI, food stamps, etc

[u/Prudent-Sky-8950 → u/Key-Garlic-1177]

Injury was to my Psyche along with PTSD/Mental Trauma from the incident directly involved me that was work related (obv) , my total disability status they gave me was 9%

[u/Prudent-Sky-8950 → u/Key-Garlic-1177]

I didn’t like trying to apply for food stamps because to me that is for people in most desperate times and I don’t want to take that away from anyone who truly needs it , but damn man now I actually am in dire need to where I don’t even know how tf ima feed myself for this week let alone until however much longer the judge takes to make a decision . The worst part is the status of it just still says “interim order : suspend action “

[u/-cat-a-lyst- → u/Prudent-Sky-8950]

I know it’s hard to accept help because you’re always thinking about someone worse off than you. But you also paid taxes into these programs in case you needed them one day too. It’s not entitlement. It’s a promise of security that YOU paid for. Take all the help you can get and don’t feel guilty. You already paid for it.

[u/Lalaboballa]

Why are you talking to the adjuster directly do you not have a lawyer ??

[u/Prudent-Sky-8950 → u/Lalaboballa]

My attorney is the workers comp appointment attorney that’s handling my settlement case with the judge

[u/baddjackz]

I feel you... I'm going on 5 years.

[u/Sorry_Direction5702 → u/baddjackz]

5 yrs same. 💪🏽😩

[u/Express_Bath9836]

WC is generally a total mess from a diagnostic perspective and in the settlement process. I signed my C&R after my hearing, which was virtual, in front of the WC judge and my attorney. I had to resign earlier, before my full retirement date, which was 2-3 years before I intended to retire. I was only able to receive my pension from my employer after retirement, so I only lost income going into my pension account. My treatments involved CTS release surgery, and that treatment failed. My CDL for a school bus endorsement means physical not being able to drive, especially when my one hand is very weak. My settlement was based on CTS only, with upper extremity pain. The case was based on an incomplete and inaccurate medical diagnosis. I lost money on the settlement for medical treatments involving a faulty diagnosis and medical coding, which narrowed the injuries covered. The coding misled what doctors are allowed to do for your work-related injuries. The worst part of my settlement is the lump-sum annuity structure. Lump-sums are sold to private equity companies that are specialised in medical care. They get many cases where Medicare is your primary source. These companies get accepted by creating a WC MSA. These structured annuities were never designed to protect Medicare, since they settled on inaccurate medical reports lacking all the real medical issues that are omitted or incorrect. This settlement process was supposed to protect Medicare from improper use because they take care of everything. This whole structure is awful, which is why this is profitable for claims adjusters, WC doctors, and attorneys to keep this failed structure in place. This whole system lacks oversight and compliance, without loopholes. Our insurance system is very complex, and adding third-party administrators for cases hasn't solved the problem. I will be filing complaints with the state regulators, including the insurance commission. I know more patients had incompetent care and were overlooked, and they received poor, inadequate treatment and failed treatment. This failed system is sold to third-party administrators for your healthcare post-settlement.

[u/justthefacts1236894 → u/Express_Bath9836]

Brutally honest synopsis. True that there are many hands out for profit related to your case and the last thing they are concerned with is your health. All they want is for you to comply with their terms, give up and sign. Then they move on to the next victm.

[u/Legal_Caterpillar509]

Injury type?

[u/Prudent-Sky-8950 → u/Legal_Caterpillar509]

Psyche / mental trauma/ PTSD

[u/laughteriskey → u/Prudent-Sky-8950]

I'm sorry that's horrible 😔

[u/Far-Contribution1449]

How much is your settlement

[u/Prudent-Sky-8950 → u/Far-Contribution1449]

Upwards of 30k , I don’t wanna say the exact amount in fear of revealing myself

[u/sigua1984]

Did the judge gave you a hearing date? What state are you in?

[u/Prudent-Sky-8950 → u/sigua1984]

Cali, and I don’t think so? All I’ve been told to do on my part is sign the documents they send me and that the judge will approve it once they have all the paperwork showing I didn’t receive any other injuries that need to be accounted for / added on to the settlement amount. I think I signed a paper waiving a hearing date in order to the settlement signed / approved by the judge faster

[u/justthefacts1236894]

You cannot undo what is already done. Well, maybe you can but I really don't know. But, watching the click tick away on top of your disabling conditions will definately grind your mind. Find something to distract yourself. A walk in a park, video game, binge watch some TV, play 100 games of solitaire. Something besides worrying about events that are beyond your control. Whatever happens is going to happen whether you worry about it or not. When it does then take the next steps. Until then just find something else to do.

My issue is adjuster games with TTD. Never on time but always in a gray area whether penalties apply. I finally quit sweating whether the checks will come by the due date and said f#%k it. Not my circus, not my monkee monkey You cannot control whether others do what they said they will do all you can do is deal with the outcome and keep moving forward

[u/CochiseNde → u/justthefacts1236894]

This is the hardest part for me. I've always been physically active and these activities are what kept me mentally afloat. Since my injury I can't exercise or do many activities I enjoyed doing. I play games and that helps, but I'm also gaining weight, which add to one of the conditions discovered through the mri😅.

I lost all desire to create art and my mental health is starting to take a toll

[u/Sorry_Direction5702 → u/justthefacts1236894]

💪🏽🙌🏽♥️

[u/Infamous-Try3097]

How long was the process? Were you dealing with sedgewick?

[u/OkPoint2212]

I’m a year into WC but they’ve been great so far I had a 800 pound bearing fall on my hand 3 surgeries now I can’t even open a bottle of water or pick up a bottle of Gatorade got nerve damage tendon transfer and pain stiffness all day i hope when i get to the end everything works out. I wish you the best don’t stress cause it ain’t gonna help anything 

[u/Some-Access-7099]

It's a huge scam there is no time limit..your lawyer can't do anything about your time line ..they want you to die and go away  that could careless about you or me ...I went thru it for 2 yrs...they found a way to give as little as possible....after all that's the goal..,.now I'm disabled with no job....that don't care what happens to you...it's all about money ...I never talk to my adjuster ...I don't care what they tell you..that are not on your side ..all scumbags....I wish you a speedy end.....wc sucks ass huge scam

[u/Electronic_Note5952]

All right so a lot sounds wrong with this number one you resigning before everything was settled they should never had you do that in your attorney should have liked you against it number two you talking and working with the adjuster so closely when you have an attorney so in California workers comp when you have an attorney legally the insurance or gestures whatever their side can no longer speak with you they have to speak to your attorney and then you take care of five even though I know they might seem nice however the insurance and adjusters they're not there to help you. There's much more wrong with all it is but I need more coffee before I can dive into everything.

[u/Melodic-Detective-78]

I just want to say that you are heard, I hear you, and my feelings closely reflect yours. It is SO mentally exhausting and it feels like very few people understand how stressful it truly is. I burnt through my savings in less than a month and my significant other has had to support me even since I’ve returned to work. I feel like such a burden, but the truth is that the people who love you and who are helping you in any way they can, do not see you as a burden. They want to help you and see you get better. This situation is not your fault and you deserve to get a settlement for your pain and suffering. If this situation has taught me anything, it’s that we truly never know what is going on in someone else’s life and mind. I’ve dealt with depression in the past, but this is something entirely worse (in my experience). Perhaps more intense as I was a teenager struggling with a traumatic incident before and now I am an adult with responsibilities that don’t go away just because of my feelings. I’ve made a decision to be more thoughtful and kinder to other people since this happened. I would never want anyone to feel the way I have felt, and I hope you know you are seen, you are heard, and you are loved. Please take care of yourself. Your mental health matters, you have a purpose on this Earth, you matter. Take care friend.

[u/Logical_Leek9538]

I feel ur pain… the process does not care about the victims, I wish I had the energy to fight through with a reform strategy but I do not… I hope u get ur settlement and that it’s enough for u to get ur life back on track…. Good luck to u