Work Comp is smoking rocks! Are they INSANE!?

I got a letter from Pam at Esis. It says:

Dear Ms. Baker:

I have scheduled an Independent Medical Evaluation with Dr. Schumpert on January 23, 2012, Monday at 9:15 AM. The appointment will take place at [address] Missoula, MT 59807.

If you decide to go to Missoula the night before, I will pay for lodging and meal fees. Please let me know and I will release a check to you.

If you are unable to make this appointment, please let me know at your earliest convenience. My phone number is [phone #].

This appointment has been made per State Statutes and you are required to attend. Please confirm with me that you will be able to attend.

Has she lost her mind? I can't drive to Missoula! It's going to cost me $100 in gas to drive there and back, for starters. It's hard enough for me to drive to Kalispell, MT and back, much less Missoula! I have to have someone go with me so they can drive me back. 


I am all for the Independent Medical evaluation but the Montana statue says

A. Section 39-71-605, MCA. Yes, the examiner is allowed to schedule periodic independent medical evaluations (IME). The  time and place for the examination, must take into consideration the  employee’s convenience, physical condition, and ability to attend at the time and place that is as close to the employee’s residence as is practical.

How the hell is a 4 hour drive, in pain, without the chance of any pain relief and a 4 hour drive back the VERY NEXT DAY, convenient? How the fuck is a 4 hour drive "as close to the employee's residence as is practical"? What they don't have doctors in Kalispell? Seriously!? This is BULLSHIT! 


If she thinks I can make it that far, she is smoking rocks!

Urologist and Sedentary Work

I went to the doctor on Monday to see the urologist. They had me pee into a special container under a funnel attached to a bedside commode. I didn't really feel like I had to go but I tried anyway. I felt like I had completely emptied my bladder so I went back to the exam room. They did an ultrasound to measure the amount of urine in my bladder. 


When I came in I had 15 ounces of urine in my bladder (or close to 445 cc's). After "emptying my bladder", I had 7 1/2 ounces of urine still in my bladder (or close to 222 cc's). At 222 cc's, I should be having the urge to go to the bathroom. But I am not having any sensation that I need to pee, even at 445 cc's. 


January 6th they will teach me to self catheterize so my bladder will empty. On the 11th, I have an appointment for urodynamics. They'll be testing my bladder to see how it reacts. 


On January 19th I will have a scope done on my bladder. I can't remember the specifics of that one. But they'll be checking out my bladder again. Plus I have an EMG at the Glacier Neuroscience and Spine Clinic, so that will be a long day of appointments.


Today and yesterday I have been having horrible pain in my bladder. It's so bad that I am doubling over in pain. 


I can't wait until the 6th so I can finally have an empty bladder again. When I went to the ER the Saturday after my epidural steroid injection, they drained my bladder. I felt so much better after they did but since then, I feel a constant fullness on my lower abdomen that doesn't go away and it's getting worse. 


I also go in on the 10th for another follow up at The Montana Center for Wellness and Pain Management. Hopefully they will do something besides just have me call in each week and diagnose how I am doing over the phone. I am really not impressed with that at all.


They released me to sedentary work only. That's awesome except I don't sit in a chair because my legs fall asleep and go numb if I do. Sitting actually causes me a LOT of pain, so I am not sure how I am going to go back to work sedentary only. 


I have tried sitting in a chair the last two days and my back is KILLING me now and it's getting harder and harder to walk. I think I will go back to my reclined position for now. I call in tomorrow fir the update but frankly, this is ridiculous. How can they determine how I am over the phone? I am SO not impressed! 

Epidural Steroid Injections and Burning Legs/ Leg Weakness

I spent my week on Benadryl so I mostly played video games, homeschooled my kids and tried to stay awake.

On Tuesday I had my follow up appointment with the Pain Doctor. I explained about that I think I am having a reaction to the epidural steroid injection and he actually agreed. He is also sending me to a urologist to make sure there isn't some anatomical reason why I am having trouble urinating if I stop taking Benadryl. He didn't seem too concerned about all the other symptoms I am having. But he was very interested in the urinary issues.

After the appointment, Nikky and I discussed how odd this was. We started asking around to see if anyone else has had an epidural steroid injection or knew someone who had. Then we asked about side effects and if it helped. We found quite a few people who have had them and more that knew someone who did. ALL of them, and I mean ALL, have said they had the same problems. All of them had teh  Burning sensation down the legs like acid being poured on you and most of them had leg weakness. The others reported other negative symptoms also like headaches, unable to stand up by themselves, extreme stiffness in the back and joint pain.

Mikky and I talked more about it and we think the reason the doctor isn't really concerned about my reaction to the epidural steroid injection is because it's a normal side effect they failed to warn me about... but the urinary issue isn't! That's why they are so interested in it.

I can tell you, I will NEVER get another epidural steroid injection again! But, if you had one and you are having side effects, I would love to hear your story too. Obviously my case is not that unique or they wouldn't be so "couldn't care less" about it.  And I am finding that reaction is not some weird or unusual reaction. It's common.

What do you think? Do you know someone who had an injection and had a reaction like this? I wanna hear it.

Working on Minecraft

My game testers are working on Minecraft. I have been pretty busy with paperwork this weekend. Wednesday we will start working on the blog posts for game reviews on Battlefield Play 4 Free and Minecraft and hopefully we will have them up for this week.

My Game Testers

Here are my kids in "helping mom test games" mode. We are trying a Halo trial. I am getting a lot better at first person shooters. It helps that I can kill my kids all day long and not go to jail for it LMAO! Oops, gotta go! They are trying to run me over!