Depression claim

[lfoster21]

I am very happy that they are paying for your Pain clinic and I do hope they pay for the hotel. I know in VA, they do pay for the transortation and hotel...if the Drs. office is further out. I want to share with you, that once I began pain management, it has been life changing for me. I finally had a Dr. who believed in my pain..after all, pain is what they specialize in. So, after hearing everyone else tell me that it was in my head or saying the the films look good etc., I finally had someone that told me that he knew that often, Drs. did not take pain seriously. But not only did he believe me, he also knew what was causing my pain.

It is possible that they are paying for this, even though they denied adding depression to your claim, because they know that pain can bring on depression. If they can treat the pain, hopefully your depression will lesson or go away. Then you could get back to work. However, if they just claim you depressed and don't treat the pain, you will always be suffering and they will have to cont. to pay you. I don't know, but that is definately a possibility. Also, once you are approved for the PM Dr., anything that he says is wrong with you, goes a lot further than any of your Drs. from the past. (At least, that is what happened with me.) So, if your PM Dr. states that he believes you are in pain and depressed from the pain, they could add it to your claim. But that will only happen, if after the PM Dr. does all that he can think of and you still have not gotten better. Obviously, if you go for treatment and you get better, it won't make a difference if the depression is added to your case or not, as you won't get a settlement or any type of pay out after that. However, if your PM Dr. finally says that you wont be getting better and you are depressed, because of having to live with the pain, then your lawyer will want to add the depression and you may be entitled to a higher amount, when you ask for a settlement. Does that make any sense?

As far as what happens after Voc. rehab, that will all depend on what your PM dr. says you can do. If he says you can work with restrictions, They will likely have you cont. to look for work or train for a new job, that would fit your new restrictions.

I would not be afraid of Pain Management, Ireally believe you will begin to feel better than you have been feeling. They are not there to judge you or to try and catch you doing something that you can not do etc. They are there to help you find something that will help your pain. It may help get rid of some pain and it may help you learn ways to take your focus off some of it. But within the occupational therapy, physical therapy, vocational counseling, counseling, & swim therapy...you will be able to find out what helps you the most and will also help you find what you can do for some enjoyment or as a hobby when you are finished with the clinic. For me, it was the swimming & Accupuncture therapy. I never expected either of those to do anything for me. In fact, I thought that the swimming would hurt me even more and the accupuncture was worthless. Both of those have gotten me on my feet, about 25% more than I was able to do.

I truely wish you all the best and hope that PM works for you. Please let us know how things go. Also, please do not worry about going to this clinic. If there is anyone that will understand and believe what pain can do to a person, it is a pain dr.