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11/02/2007: "Underwhelmed"
I went to the occupational medicine doctor today. Because my injury happened at work it's covered by worker's comp. This is a good thing because all of my copays and other fees for the surgery, hospital stay, trip to ER, labs, PT, etc are covered. The downside is that I have to see two doctors instead of one (the orthopedist and the occupational medicine guy), which is not too bad, though it does mean more appointments. The real downside is that I have a case manager from the worker's comp company and... she's kind of a pain.
It's not that she's not nice. She's very anxious to help and gather information and whatnot. It's more that I just find her sort of... irritating. It's all in the little things. When she first contacted me, she introduced herself with her name and said she was a case worker but didn't tell me from what company or anything useful like that. She'd sent out a letter that had, apparently, arrived the day before but which I didn't see. Not that I would have remembered her from that or anything. We got it straightened out but not without a lot of back and forth because she's got a very heavy accent (she's Chinese). Now, I know from not speaking the language that well during my time in France that working in a second language is tough, but really, I do find it annoying to have to have her repeat herself every other exchange we have.
We muddled through and she arranged for us to meet before my occ med appointment today, which she had to attend with me. This is pretty much where the whole case worker thing gets completely irritating. First off, I don't fancy having her tag along to all my damn appointments. I know it's all part of the worker's comp thing but that doesn't mean I have to like it. She's a total stranger to me and I'm a private person so having her hang around at medical appointments is going to get old. Second off, she got the appointment time wrong and was relatively insistent that the appointment was at 11:45 and not 11:15. Wrong. Who needs that aggravation?
Anyhow, we met up at the office and she asked me about 50 questions that I've already either answered before or filled out forms about which... whatever. It's not like I'm changing the story or anything. Several times I had to explain medical information to her... and she's supposed to be a nurse. But, for example, I had to explain that gestational diabetes goes away after the baby's birth so, no, I'm not still on insulin and no, I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary to control my blood sugar because it no longer requires controlling. She's fun.
Then we went in to see the doc and got to really check out all the x-rays, including the ones they took during the surgery, which sort of made me queasy. 7 screws look gross. I also found out that it appears that I have three fractures, not just two. The big one is, of course, the fibula, which sheared completely at an angle, so the break is long. The second two are in the tibia and will heal simply by being immobilized. We reviewed that, yes, my foot had shifted out of place and that yes, I have quite a bit of healing ahead. The good news is that, with luck, everything should be back to normal... eventually. The bad news is that I'm going to be feeling this for months and months to come.
Throughout the appointment Case Worker Lady (I'm going to need a new name for her... suggestions?) asked all sorts of annoying questions that occasionally had something to do with my leg, sometimes had to do with the software that the doctor was using and a few times didn't seem to have anything to do with anything. She extended the appointment at least 15 minutes longer than it needed to be and if she keeps that up, I'm going to have to say something. I need to sit in uncomfortable chairs for more time than absolutely necessary like I need a hole in the head.
After all, I already have 7 holes in my fibula. Who needs more than that?
Replies: 2 Comments - Read 'em!
on Saturday, November 3rd, Zarah DelGreco said
Hey.... I love you!!! I think about u and your hubby and ur baby every day! I really hope things get better! if there is ANYTHING I can do, lemme kno. I got dessa the worlds cutest sweater/jacket thingie. idk the difference. lol. but it is amazing. i was gonna get her this cute skirt with rainbow leggings too... but i quit at old navy and never wanna go back. so she will just have to do with the sweater .i keep tryin to get my grandma to send it but she said there is no rush since its 12/18mo. I said u could just roll up the selves. If i was there, i would have volunteered to clean ur classroom for u and wut ever else. I really do hope things get better. Think positive thoughts! Optimistic ppl live longer. well... i just made that up. i think i dreamt it... or maybe i saw it on tv. idk. but for alll we kno it could be true. lol. well email me some time. miss you! -Zarah :D
on Saturday, November 3rd, zarah said
and hey... wuts uncle dave's email?
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