Saw Neuro yesterday.........

[bagpussinamerica]

Hi everyone. I saw the neuro yesterday and the news isn't so totally bad. Apart from being told that I am not a spring chicken any longer and would not be able to return to the work I was doing. The disk can not be mended, and fusing isn't an option. The main problem is still the bit that came away and lodged into the spinal canal. It is compressing the nerve so badly that the MRI couldn't even find the nerve. I will be trying steroids orally initially, with muscle relaxants. If that doens't work, then we will go for the injections. After that.....if it still is bad.....surgery to remove what is in the canal. So a few options left.

He did say that he could not, just looking at my size and the damage done, release me back to the work that I was doing.

One question I do have. Has anyone ever done the vocational rehab and does that work at all? I need to work, but I have problems not only knowing what I can do......but getting to the point where I can do it. I.e. your phone systems here are different, etc. Would voc rehab help at all? Is it worth looking at? Or should I just forget about it?

[AQA]

I contacted my state voc. rehab. About 2 months ago. After the interview, I was sent for a pysch exam/educational exam. I received a phone call two days ago from the counclor. She told me I do qualify, but I would have to pay $700.00 for any program that I go into. That dollar figure was based on what I had in the bank at the first meeting. I see her next week and will talk with her about that. What I had in the bank back then is not what I have in the bank today.

After I pay whatever my part is. The state will pay the rest. I still have alot of questions in reference to voc. rehab.. I don't know if all the states are the same or not. You may want to check into it. It took me 2 months to get to where I am now and It will take longer before I get into a class room. Take Care.

[bagpussinamerica]

AQA Wrote:I contacted my state voc. rehab. About 2 months ago. After the interview, I was sent for a pysch exam/educational exam. I received a phone call two days ago from the counclor. She told me I do qualify, but I would have to pay $700.00 for any program that I go into. That dollar figure was based on what I had in the bank at the first meeting. I see her next week and will talk with her about that. What I had in the bank back then is not what I have in the bank today.

After I pay whatever my part is. The state will pay the rest. I still have alot of questions in reference to voc. rehab.. I don't know if all the states are the same or not. You may want to check into it. It took me 2 months to get to where I am now and It will take longer before I get into a class room. Take Care.

So really it is another hurdle to leap though, if you can still leap........which I can't. No way in heaven would I ever be able to come up with any money at all to pay for classes. I can't even make my bills at the moment. Well, that shoots that one down as well. Guess it will be another low paying, no benifits job.........again.

[AQA]

Don't give up yet. I think voc. rehab. is different from state to state. Just like wc.. Voc. rehab. is state run. What will it hurt to do some research, make some phone calls. That does not cost anything but time.

[bagpussinamerica]

AQA Wrote:Don't give up yet. I think voc. rehab. is different from state to state. Just like wc.. Voc. rehab. is state run. What will it hurt to do some research, make some phone calls. That does not cost anything but time.

Thank you for that really good input. I don'tgive up, but it is hard, sometimes to keep cheerful. I am not expecting the worse, but I like to have the information to hand just in case. It's part of my nurses training. No, I never was a boy scout, but I was the scout leader in a small village in England........Be Prepared.

I will be collecting what infor I can find. I guess the steroids are making me feel a little bit down.