Defense RSD/CRPS - Worker Comp Case
On October 26th, 2004 my life was changed forever by a work injury. This injury brought on a condition known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), which also goes by RSD. In December 2011 I had a spinal cord implant to try and help me recover my life and start living again. It helped for a few years, but the pain came back.
If you Google RSD, you'll find that this is rare syndrome with fewer than 200,000 cases per a year in the U.S. Though 200,000 may seem rare, this shows there's a lot of us out there with this syndrome, a very unknown chronic pain. A website that truly expresses the impact of RSD really well is Belt & Bunner's rsdinforcenter.com which states:
"RSD/CRPS can be a lifelong condition that can have a significant impact not only on the patient but also on the family and friends of the patient. This condition can seriously affect the patient's ability to work or maintain gainful employment. This condition can also force the patient to give up leisure activities or exercise regimens. Finally, patients with chronic RSD/CRPS often have difficulty sleeping, lack of energy, and overall loss of ability to enjoy life."
I know this all too well. I won my case with Workers Comp in 2007, where they are to pay me until I can find a job where I make as much or greater than what I made at the job where I was hurt. After I got my spinal cord stimulator, I really did think I could get another job and live again. Though in less than a year we found there was problems. These problems, which I've been working with my doctor on trying to fix, cause pain attacks that take me down for hours unexpectedly. Usually after I use my arm, swim, go for a ride in the car or go out in public, I will anticipate an attack within a week as it doesn't always happen when I'm using it. I call these attacks spasms, but as the years went by they look and feel more like seizures. These attacks range from small to large, but they put my life to a complete stop when they happen. This problem is only getting worse as they are becoming more intense and more frequent; and we have yet to find a way to help.
To try and not just sit in depression, in hopes of having a life, I started a blog based on what I feel passionate about. It’s something I can work on it in my room when I'm feeling up for it and at my own pace. I do not make money from this blog, it's not a real job. And every year there's been months where we'd get very few posts in, because I could not handle running it.
I do not record myself in pain. I put on a smile and try to make it a happy blog, as I don't want to be remembered only as the girl with RSD. I do share RSD awareness stories and I've written multiple stories about my injury, court case, surgery and more, knowing people need to know RSD is out there.
Recently, Workers Comp has decided that they think I can work a full time job. They have been sending me to their doctors, which are only there to try and debunk my case. They ignore the things I share to let them know how bad it is and look for reasons to send me out to work. In December 2015, I was informed Workers Comp is taking me to court again, now to stop my income. They had me start seeing a woman who was to help me find a job, though during one of our meetings, she saw me go into an attack and called off the job search realizing how serious this is. Workers Comp, however, has not dropped the case.
A quote that I was told came from Workers Comp "Have you Googled her? She can work." This is basically saying that if you have pain, you can only whine, cry, and moan about your pain online to be taken serious. I personally feel people should be allowed to escape from their pain whenever they can.
My case is real. My pain is real. I have many witnesses. I've even had a service dog react to me being in pain, when I was trying to hide it from others, as I don't want people worried about me when there's nothing they can do to help the pain. I have been informed by my lawyer that this case is going to cost me $20,000 or more to fight this in court. My court date has been set to begin in mid-April. And I have also been informed that you can not counter sue for legal fees. Meaning this would all have to come out of my pocket with no chance of recovering any of the money spent.
I do not have this kind of funds and I am looking into every area for help. I am seeking to keep an income until I'm healthy enough to move forward with my dreams and life. I'm asking for hope to keep going forward, a reason to keep fighting this pain and depression. I am not asking for anyone to drop all their funds on me, but help a little wherever they can.
Donations.... Sharing... Liking.... If you do not wish to help me, please at least look into CRPS/RSD and help spread the awareness of this horrible lifelong condition that so many people are currently living with.
I will try and pull myself together, get the funds, and go into this case for those of us with CRPS. I will have a voice. Just because we hurt does not mean we should have to let the world see us in pain.
Money will be used for all court fees, paying the lawyer, paying for doctors, tests and anything else needed to win this court case. Money is needed asap, as court case is next month and we have yet to hire our lawyer. To sign on the lawyer we would need at least $12,000, which is included in the overall goal. We need to do this fast.
To any who help, I can not thank you enough for helping. As of right now, Workers Comp has me feeling like I’m a criminal. As if I did something wrong in just trying to live. Though I know I am the victim in this case, I was injured by negligence at a factory job. My life is forever changed, filled with pain. Stress and depression only makes it harder to have guards up from the pain, which has been clear recently. Any help will cut from the stress that they’ve placed upon me. And I will remain thankful to all who can help.
