TGIF

I'm so glad to see this week come to an end. It's been a tough one but it's ending well. This will be a long post so hang onto your hats...and don't feel bad if you don't read it all the way through. :o)

Before leaving the surgeon's office last Wednesday they gave me a consent form that needed to be filled out by Worker's Comp then faxed back to them ASAP. This form would let the surgeon know that Comp has approved my surgery and once they received it, they would then schedule a physical and set a date for the surgery.

I promptly brought the form to the HR gal at the hellhole, told her that it needed to be filled out by Comp and faxed back to the surgeon. She assured me that she would email the form right away but that the reps at Comp may not see it until Thursday morning because they only check their email once a day...usually in the morning.

Since I knew that I would be getting a call sometime in the next few business days I stayed off the phone and didn't get online until after office hours. I didn't expect to hear anything Thursday and probably not Friday either but I still stayed off the phone just in case.

After the wild weekend weather, Monday arrived and I started getting nervous again. Knowing that I will soon be going under the knife scares the you-know-what out of me. But it appears it has to be done if I am ever going to able to return to work. Anyhow, I stayed off the phone and offline Monday...no calls. Tuesday came and I was pretty sure I'd hear something...but no calls. Certainly Wednesday would bring a call...but I heard nothing.

My fear kicked in some time Monday. I became convinced that Comp was going to dispute the claim because I hadn't reported the injury to my knee right after it happened.

And here's why...

I was working the 4th of July when I twisted my knee. I felt it pop and after moaning out in pain I could see and feel that my kneecap was cock-eyed. (Turns out it was the cartilage) I pushed it back into place, bent my knee a few times to see if it still worked, then continued on with the rest of my workday. It ached a bit but wasn't unbearable. I was even able to go to work the next day. I worked in the shoe dept that night and did a lot of deep knee bending putting out shoe stock. It hurt a bit but still wasn't bad enough to really even give it a second thought.

That night after work I sat at my computer for 3 or 4 hours. There was no pain nor any indication that something was wrong until I went to stand up. As soon as I put weight on my knee it felt like a knife was going through it. It was swollen and very painful. I knew I had the next 3 days off so I just figured I'd keep it elevated and iced and everything would be fine by Thursday when I had to return to work.

Well, that didn't happen. By Thursday it was still swollen and painful. I couldn't put weight on it and I knew there was no way I could spend 8 hours on my feet. So, I called in, hoping that one more day of rest would do the trick. I will do almost anything to avoid doctors. I don't like doctors. But by Thursday night I knew I needed to see one.

Since the injury happened at work I called my union steward to find out what I should do. She told me to go to the hellhole and file an injury report and they would send me to see the Comp doctor. So on Friday that's what I did. My supervisor at the store was nice about it all. She did ask why I didn't report it immediately and I explained that it didn't swell up or cause unbearable pain until Sunday night after sitting at the computer and that I thought after a few days rest it would be okay. (I believe I also mentioned the fact that I hate doctors.)

Not reporting an injury at work immediately can put your claim in jeopardy of being denied by Worker's Comp. Knowing this, and the fact that I still hadn't heard from the surgeon was really stressing me out. And to top it off, my comp check didn't arrive on it's regular day. I tried calling the HR gal at the hellhole yesterday and she had already left for the day. It was 3:10PM. Great hours if you can get 'em.

Today, the check still hadn't come and there was still no word from the surgeon nor Comp. I was in a total state of panic...convinced that my claim had been denied. I once again tried to call the HR gal at the hellhole, even had her paged...couldn't get her. I kept calling every 15 minutes until she finally answered.

I asked her if she had sent that form to the Comp office and she said it had been taken care of and that she hadn't heard anything about my claim at all. She suggested that I call them direct. So I did.

The Rep who is/was handling my claim is on vacation so I got another Rep who looked up my file and he said, "We have no record of receiving a form. If it was sent to the Rep who is on vacation it is in her mailbox and we don't have access to her mailbox. Your surgery will be covered, we're just waiting to hear from the surgeon."

Oh, brother!

He went on to say that the surgeon's office only has to call and they will approve it over the phone. I knew that wasn't gonna happen but I told him I'd call them and let them know what's going on. Of course when I did, they said they can't accept authorization over the phone...they need that consent form.

After speaking to the receptionist at the surgeon's office, I called the HR gal back and asked her to please be sure that form is filled out and faxed to the surgeon. She assured me that she would do so right away. (I do believe I heard that before.)

So, all this worry could have been avoided if I hadn't been so convinced that the worst was going to happen and just checked into it sooner. I never learn!

Oh, concerning the check that I haven't received. It was mailed last Friday, Aug 7th. The Rep told me that if I haven't received it by today to call them back and they'll put a stop payment on it.

My mailperson is notorious for delivering mail to the wrong address. I get mail for other people quite often, so who knows where that check is. If someone has cashed it they'll be able to see it's not my signature. He didn't say they would re-issue the check so I have no idea if or when I'll ever see that money.

I'm so glad this week is nearly over...I need a drink!