[ejreiss11]

I was injured at work on more than one ocasion and now suffer from chronic constant pain. the doctors have said i will not be able to return to any form of gainful employment. in 1999 i had a back injury that wasnt work comp because i didn't know how i was injured and my condition got worse by the day. I had laminectomy\discectomy and felt 100 percent and returned to work. two years later in 2001 i injured my back lifting a car battery and after an mri revealed a recurrent herniated disc I had another laminectomy\discectomy of the same level.
I also had multiple injections and physical therapy but never totally recovered however I was ok enough to continue work at the same job
with some discomfort and pain. Then my back went out at work again
and the pain went down my right leg now which was odd because my pain was usually in my back and my left leg. after another mri I had another surgery in which they fused l5-s1 and removed another herniation from l4-l5. Now I feel better than before the surgery but still have serious problems. I have had more injections more pt and multiple
tests including emg which revealed nerve damage and other tests revealed scar tissue. I hardly sleep and am very limited in sitting standing walking and just about any other activity. I finally went for final evaluations from ins carriers doctors and mine . the results I got was 100% disabled from my doctor and I didn't get results from theirs
I was just wondering what kind of settlement I can get as the bills are piling up due to my loss of wages my loss of family medical coverage
for my entire family of four and everything else that accompanies this type of injury. The ins carrier also suggested that I apply for the second injury fund in new jersey, and I was wondering if anyone had any information about this as there isn't much on the net and my lawyer
dosn't seem to have much of a clue about it either. now I am at mmi
and ttd stopped. I have been getting ssd at an offset amount due to my collecting work comp also. now I am only getting offset ssd and
i can't even get an appointment at ssd to resolve this. I did talk to someone from ss and they told me I need a final order from the judge in order to receive full ssd. what the heck is this and how do I get this
how long does all this crap take and what can i expect to get as the bills keep piling up less money keeps coming in. please help

[aaron]

The New Jersey Workers' Compensation Office of Special Funds explains:

The Second Injury Fund was created in 1923 for the purpose of making benefit payments to workers already partially disabled who subsequently experience a work related injury which together, render them totally disabled. The concept behind the Second Injury Fund was to encourage employers to hire disabled workers by limiting, in the case of further injury, their liability for compensation payments to amounts only applicable to the latest injury. Payments from the SIF commence at the conclusion of the payment of benefits from the employer or the insurance carrier and continue until the death of the beneficiary or gainful employment.

[ejreiss11]

thanx for the help> I kind of found that info but I was wondering about more specific info as to how this is going to help my financial future.
maybe things like how long is this going to take effect as I have just filled out the petition for it last week and maybe how much it would be as I was getting the max work comp in nj and now i get nothing. I have already found out from social security that if i get accepted for this 2nd injury fund that my social security disability will not be offset if i am totally disabled. anybody out there that has been through this procedure?