Distal bicep tendon tear

[disneyland fans]

My hubby was told by the dr. that his injury is probably a bicep tear. They sent it to WC to get an MRI approved. They approved it, and the MRI is set for tomorrow. Also he was told that they only had 3 weeks from the date of the injury to do the surgery. That would be this Friday. Has anyone else seen WC move this quickly to approve treatment. I am just wondering if he will really have surgery this week or not? We are in Nevada.

[jayne]

Boy that is fast I really dont know but hang tight someone will come along that will know more for you Good luck

[Lilly]

Hmmm....I donno either, but someone on here does!
I'm bumping this question up for you.
Good Luck, Lilly

[Timothy Belt]

That is rather fast for WC, but with a bicep tendon tear it is my understanding that the tendon starts to shrink almost immediately, so any delay in surgery could result in permanent impairment, which in bean counter terms could also be permanent liability.

[jayne]

hope you have a good lawyer

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Well, if the Doctor calls it an emergency surgery, then it must be done RIGHT.

I had 1 emergency surgery, never had any problems since then...

[disneyland fans]

We have been told that they have the best results if the surgery is done within 3 weeks, but they can go out as much as 4 weeks. After that no dr. will touch his arm. Today he called both the wc and the drs to see what is taking so long, and was told that the dr never told wc that surgery was needed so they are under the assumption (and told my hubby) that the MRI was needed to disprove a bicep tear. Also the drs office is telling him that they can't get him in to go over the MRI results until next week. It almost seems like they are dragging their feet on this one so he will be permanently disabled. We are not out for money, we just want his arm fixed so he can go back to work and support our family.

[disneyland fans]

Okay I have decided that this whole WC system is not set up to help the IW. The MRI shows a total bicep tear, also the Dr. says that the muscle has moved up his arm 3 inches. They are doing the surgery on Tuesday, but they wont know if they can even repair it until they get in and see how much the tendon has shrunk. Also the Dr. told him that he will have a loss of range of motion in his arm, and it could be as much as 30%. We called a lawyer and he told us that since WC is paying for the surgery and the claim was accepted that we have no need for an attorney.

Is there a time frame in which we would need to hire an attorney? Or can we wait until after the surgery and PT to see if he does lose any range of motion.

We were also told that if he can never go back to his original job, that the company is going to create a new position just for him, but at about 1/3 of his pay before the injury.
What should we do, we can't support a family on the amount they are going to pay him.
Any advice would be great, Thank you.

[1171]

your husband can obtain legal representation for his comp claim at any time.
Your husband should familiarize himself with the Nevada work comp laws governing vocational rehabilitation
http://dirweb.state.nv.us/WCS/Handouts/Voc%20rehab.htm

[Timothy Belt]

I am admittedly bias, but in my opinion it is best to have a lawyer from day one. The IC starts working on cutting or terminating your benefits from day one, so it is important to have someone on your side to monitor what is going on to make sure everything is on the up and up.

disneyland fans Wrote:Okay I have decided that this whole WC system is not set up to help the IW. The MRI shows a total bicep tear, also the Dr. says that the muscle has moved up his arm 3 inches. They are doing the surgery on Tuesday, but they wont know if they can even repair it until they get in and see how much the tendon has shrunk. Also the Dr. told him that he will have a loss of range of motion in his arm, and it could be as much as 30%. We called a lawyer and he told us that since WC is paying for the surgery and the claim was accepted that we have no need for an attorney.

Is there a time frame in which we would need to hire an attorney? Or can we wait until after the surgery and PT to see if he does lose any range of motion.

We were also told that if he can never go back to his original job, that the company is going to create a new position just for him, but at about 1/3 of his pay before the injury.
What should we do, we can't support a family on the amount they are going to pay him.
Any advice would be great, Thank you.