The W/C thing is a real pain as has already been said. In July 2008 I ruptured a fascia band in my left foot getting out of the truck I drove and stepped on something sharp which ruptured the fascia band. Employer which is self insured denied my claim and I had to fight for 6 months before winning. Now after 6 months with no treatment the point of healing was pretty much past. I fortunately found a great foot orthopedic doctor that finally found the ruptured band which none of the other doctors had taken the time to find out why I was in constant pain. He put me in a hard cast for a month and finally got it to heal somewhat. Then 2 months of physical rehab I finally returned to work Dec 2009, my foot wasn't perfect but as my doctor told me as good as it was going to get.
I go back to work and I need retraining as I haven't worked in 17 months and during my retraining with my trainer we go to load a load of diesel fuel and when we pull under the loading rack one of the loading arms has been leaking profusely for what I found out later over 2 weeks and there was diesel fuel everywhere in the bay. I stepped up on a platform to stow the loading arm and when I stepped down I slipped in the diesel fuel and fell backwards and tried to catch myself and injured my left wrist. I thought it was sprained and continued to work for 2 more weeks and it was still swollen and wasn't getting any better. I finally went to ER and had it Xrayed and they thought it was broken but wanted me to see an orthopedic Dr. the next day. Turns out it's not broken but the cartilage is all compacted and needs surgery. I decided to have it done on my own and had my personal insurance pay for it so I don't have to wait for W/C and maybe risk the same problem of waiting too long and not have it heal properly. Now the employer denies it and says I injured it previously and I'm fighting another claim again.
I know it's really hard not to be depressed but you will make it through this. I hired a W/C attorney both times and I know from going through it twice now I would never try to go it alone without an attorney. Mine works on 33% commission and though it's a lot of money to give up, I doubt I could have won my case on my own. My advise pay them 33% of what you'll get rather than try it on your own and have 100% of nothing.
My last injury I got pretty depressed too and they put me on some anti depression pills which did nothing for me basically. I did some research online and found a natural compound called 5 HTP. Upon reading I found out you can't take them with prescription antidepressants so I weaned off the script and started taking 2 of these each day for about 3 months. I have to say I have taken a few antidepressants over the years but the 5 HTP worked better for me than any of the previous meds did without side effects.
I'll pray for you about your situation and if I can help in any way please PM me on PY or E mail me at
Sirrotica@att.net. Prayer has worked for me in the past and hopefully it can help you in this bad time in life.
Brad Yost