Surgery, Rehab And Work

Discussion in 'Not Sure Where it Goes' started by Cody Fousnaugh, Jul 19, 2018.

  1. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
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    Have you ever had to take time off of work for a surgery and rehab........I had to twice. Any problems at work, concerning number of weeks off or "restrictions" from surgery, after returning to work?

    First time was for a hip replacement. Surgery and rehab kept me off of work for about two months. Short-Term Disability and PTO covered every week for pay. When I returned to work, I used a cane, but absolutely no lifting in the warehouse, so I mainly stayed at my office desk and doing computer work.

    Two years later, same job, had a rotator cuff surgery w/rehab. Was off for a little over two months for that. Again, Short-Term Disability and some PTO helped, but was two weeks short on pay. I was on a "lifting restriction" when I returned to work and my supervisor/director told me that HR didn't like that. After a week, my supervisor/director told me that if I didn't get the "lifting restriction" lifted pretty quick, I could be fired. I told my ortho surgeon this and he said "just let them try to fire you. You are under my care and I'll lift the restriction when it's appropriate. If they fire you, I'll see them in court and ask the HR person for their medical degree." After an exam by the surgeon two weeks later, he lifted the restriction.

    The time off for both surgeries and rehab did stop me from getting a promotion to Jr. Buyer. When I ask my supervisor/director, who was the Buyer, why I didn't get a promotion to Jr. Buyer, but was now doing the job of a Jr. Buyer, he told me that I'd taken too much time off of work for the surgeries and rehab. I wasn't happy, but accepted it.
     
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  2. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    While driving tow truck, I broke my hand loading some chain one day. I was back at work, on light duty, later that same day. At Champion Bag, I got stuck with a piece of metal in my forehead, far enough that it had entered the eye socket and was impaled in my head. I was off for about a week with that one, but Champion paid us at 48-hours a week while off for injuries. At ACT, I got a strangulated hernia that was complicated by one of the 3rd-world bacterial infections that are too common along the border and was in the hospital for more than six weeks. But I was part owner of ACT so it didn't affect my income.
     
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  3. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Ken Anderson
    Good grief! A "like" is self-denouncing on this one, serving only as a flag. Was your eyesight unaffected?
    Frank
     
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  4. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Yeah, it didn't affect my eyesight, although it was close. I lost all sensation in the left side of my head for about eight years, though, and it's still not the same as on the right side. For years, if I touched that side of my head, I could feel it in my fingers but not on my head. I had deeper sensations though, so if I hit my head hard on something, I could feel that. About eight years later, my head started itching and tingling and, before long, the nerves had joined up again. Most of the scar is along my eyebrow.
     
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  5. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    My only serious injury was 4 days AFTER I retired, falling 10 feet or so off a low roof and landing on ice. Broken back (T12) and after some trials had surgery with pins and screws and such. The surgeon said since I had such an active lifestyle, I wouldn't need PT...he was wrong. I never had PT, but I should have. People surrounding the surgery thought I had been a weight lifter due to the muscle development in my back. I guess they aren't familiar with what is required to heft water buckets and hay bales.
     
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  6. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Don Alaska
    I saw a guy unloading 10-gallon stainless steel milk cans, full, off of a truck and hefting them up onto a loading dock, at least 4 feet high. Two cans, simultaneously, one with each hand! Amazing!
    Frank
     
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  7. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    I did some relief work after a major wildfire and saw two guys pick up a shelter that weighed almost 800 pounds! That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen.
     
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