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[rholmes]

In CA. we can change doctors after 30 days unless we have a predesignated doctor beofre injury. provided he is on the panel list of doctors, I just got lucky because I had treated with my doctor a few years ago in another office.

[Pooh]

Mel

everyone is entitled to a 2nd opinion - whether the insurance company will pay for it or not is another thing - sometimes you have to pay for the 2nd opinion yourself and then go to court to get that doctor assigned as your treating doctor. In other cases you can petition the courts for a change of doctors if you feel that you doctor is not acting in your best interest. I have given you the state laws for WC - check and see which apply to you - this is what the courts will go by.

Once you get an attorney they may also work with the Insurance company to get a change of doctor.

[mel1980]

ok thanks pooh now i understand what you are saying so yes you can get a 2nd opinion but you may be be able to def change drs

[Pooh]

What I am saying is that in some states you have to go to court to get an order for a change in doctors - plain and simple - there is no law allowing an employee the opportunity to change doctors after a set number of days. Even a 2nd opinion the employee may have to pay out of pocket - and I will tell you this totally up front - if you try to use your insurance and say it's not work related it will come back to bite you in the behind more than what the HR guy has done already. So no matter what doctor you see from this point forward you need to be totally honest with them and tell them that it's a work related claim.

As for all the pain your having - if you would calm down and quit stressing out so much - I am sure you would find your pain not as bad. Put ice on your wrist and alternate that with heat that will help. get a pillow put it on your lap and try not to use your hand - this includes typing since most of the letters that are typed most frequently are on the left hand side of the keyboard.

[mel1980]

pooh i have been honest with all drs..as far as pain goes i woke up today and its the worst i ever felt....and i cant type with left hand i type with my right hand only......

[Pooh]

mel

take it from someone that deals with nerve pain on a daily basis - stress only makes the pain worse - many have already told you to try to relax and to try ice and heat - yet it seems on weekends that your pain levels increase.

Not saying that dealing with comp isn't stressful but you can't change things that you have no control over and right now you have no control over what is going on with your claim. It takes time to process things, and if the current doctor knows the previous tests then why did he reorder them instead of looking at the ones that were already done. If he had them available to him this could have sped up the process already. I think you told your previous doctors that you were getting treatment under your insurance company that it wasn't work related otherwise your health insurance wouldn't have paid the bills

[mel1980]

pooh actually i explained to all the drs what i did for a living and they dindnt actually force me to fill out a wc claim form as i guess they know they wouldnt be able to still see me i went threw my primary dr first then referrred to sports med and then went to an ortho for a 2nd opinion thats where the red flag came up with him when he wanted to put me out of work to heal and get the right treatment from then i went back to my employer and filled out the form as far as these drs go i didnt tell them i had prior tests as the hr guy said they will need to order there own and go by them....

[Pooh]

mel

anytime I filled out paperwork for a new doctor or even my own pcp I was asked how I got injured - so it's documented all over. I think one of the questions on the intake form is "Is this a work related injury?" "What/How did it happen?

So all my doctors know the mechanics of my injury - even though my shoulders are not covered by WC by court order - the doctors still know how I was injured because they need to know what caused the problem.

As far as carpal tunnel - if you try to heal without surgery it takes time to heal the nerve and part of that is getting the pressure off the nerve itself. There are splints for carpal tunnel out there to hold your wrist in a position to help keep the pressure off the carpal tunnel and hold your wrist in a more neutral position. If you have one for your left wrist I do suggest you wear it. In my opinion it will help it just takes time. I wore mine when I wasn't working and my wrists were trained to a more neutral position.

Do I still have carpal tunnel? Yeppers sure do according to my last emg/ncs in January I still do. And I have been off work for 3 years at this point. However, I also have TOS which can contribute to my symptoms of CTS. So on any given day, I don't know if my wrists/hands are going to have electric shocks running through them or be numb or if my upper arms are going to be hurting. Part of daily living. As badboy told you - some of us deal with it.

I don't tolerate pain meds well, so my pcp told me to try alternative pain relief prior to reaching for any pain pills. Even the AD I am on for the nerve pain (neuropathy) helps some but does not put an end to all the pain. Weather changes, over doing something - like sweeping the floor or cleaning, can set off the pain level and take them higher and take a couple of days just to bring them back down. Now that said I also don't tolerate pain well either and I tend to sleep alot when the pain gets high. Along with me sleeping so do my cats and puppy - they are right there with me ........ lol

[sparkey]

Mel the first person you need to see is a Neurologist!!!!! They are the ones that will order the EMG and decide if you need surgery or not. Also that is where you will get a brace. I had one specially made as i had many here and they did not help. The OT will make one if those do not work.

Your EMG is going to tell them if you need surgery or not at this point. They will try many weeks of therapy before they do anything. I should say SOME doctors would do that. Others are quick to use the knife!

Good luck.

[mel1980]

right on i have had en emg done already months back and it did show positive for carpal tunnel i had to have to do it all over again