[achingback]

Went to the surgeon today he recomended surgery he is going to do a
l4-l5 laminectomy l4-l5 s1 microdisectomy he said it should relieve the pains in my leg .but the pains in my back are another issue.such as ddd and arthritis. i have 2 weeks to decide if want the surgery.if i go thru with the surgery. will i be released from workers comp with the back pain never had it till i got hurt in work . been out since oct.2. comp doc said i should have it since nothing else helped. had 4weeks of therapy 2 epidural injections.dont't know if i can do my job with heavy lifting and ladder climbing .

[Mr. Knowitall]

If you go through with the surgery and all of your injury-related issues are resolved by the surgery, I would expect that worker's compensation will try to end your benefits. I would expect them to argue that the degenerative disc disease and arthritis in your back are degenerative conditions, and that they are not responsible for any work loss associated with those conditions.

You can ask a lawyer in your (undisclosed) state if your state would permit you to make a worker's compensation claim based upon your degenerative conditions' becoming symptomatic as a result of the accident.

[achingback]

Thanks mr. knowitall I'am from pa.

[macdarvey]

Hi achingback I am also from PA and could have written the post you wrote. My surgeon also said I should have a laminectomy possible discectomy, and it would be 90-98% effective in relieving my pain from the nerve problem. The ddd will probably still bother me. The only problem I have is the IME Dr. said mine is all mechanical and surgery wouldn't help. My surgeon on the other hand said that this Dr. is missing the nerve problem. I had my appt. all set up for surgery and had to cancel to go to the IME prior to them paying for my surgery. If they would have listened to me back in Aug and done all of the tests and given approval, I would have been back to work by this time . I write to state reps all of the time and they have all written back that it is a shame when medical treatment is witheld by the IC just because they can. I will continue to write and be a pain in the butt until the laws are changed to benefit the working people in this country. They all have stated that they do get the occasional letter from people on WC complaining. If everyone would write that is having problems I believe it would be a much better impact on the elected officials and maybe something really would be done. Sorry this is so long...