If you had read my first several posts to this Blog, I humbly ask for your forgiveness. This subject is far too important for me to have left it wallow in the shadows. I'm very sorry. There are no excuses for me to offer other than a foolish error on my part. That's it. But now that I'm back here, I plan on making good and continuing the blog.
When I read over the last post I made in 2013, I have been in touch with my friend, "Fred" since that time. Fred has had a very painful and difficult time with his back injury. It cost him the job that he loved (a Florida deputy sheriff and K-9 officer) and hours and hours spent arguing with Worker's Compensation, having to hire an attorney, etc. And as bad as this sounds, it's all too common for those of us who have suffered severe back injuries. Fred faced one of the common arguments with his employer, he was milking a minor injury to get money from the county! Yet, even providing hundreds of pages or medical documents from his doctor, from the Workman's Compensation doctor, as well as an independent third physician, the department fought with him at every turn. The MRI's and CAT scans meant nothing. Not even the fluoroscopic pictures taken during his surgery, were dismissed out of hand.
As I said, neither his injury nor his story, is unique. My situation back in 1992 did even last that long. The last day I was physically able to get out of bed and go to work was on September 15th. By mid-October, shortly after undergoing an MRI where it was determined that I had a significant herniation at L4-L5, the owner of the company where I had worked for over two years as the operations manager, sent me my check for September, hoping that I would feel better soon and good luck with my future. I could check back with him when I was able to return to work and he would be kind enough to see if there might be a position for me somewhere in the company.
What truly saved my ass was a disability policy I had purchased, against my judgement, mind you, when I was 30 years old. I figured that disability policies were for people on crutches, in wheelchairs, etc. I was an able-bodied young man, a volunteer firefighter/EMT. Why did I need this type of insurance? Who could have know that almost ten years later, that policy would help me continue to pay for a new home that I had purchased just two months earlier. Thus, if you're not too far into your journey with chronic pain, you may want follow-up with an insurance agent to see what you may be able to do to secure disability insurance.
Next: To Cut or Not To Cut - THAT is the Question!
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