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It all started on September 10, 1999. I was working at a local teaching hospital in the Emergency Room, when I bashed my left kneecap into the bottom of the drawer in the front of the desk. Yikes! Ouch! Then the fun began.
A little pre-history: I'm an RN, (have been for oh, about 20 years now) and have worked ER/ICU (mostly ER) for all of those 20 years. Prior to that, fresh out of high school, I was a Ward Clerk in various ER's in Winnipeg. So, now we're talking 30 years of ER time (sounds like a sentence doesn't it?). I also have the misfortune to have been born with wonky knees. (I'm actually one surgeon's "Poster Child" (at age 47) for what NOT to do for patello-femoral syndrome).
This syndrome is prevalent in women, in fact almost everybody has it to some degree (so much for evolution), and ends up with "wear and tear" (osteo)arthritis. In my case, I had been quite a "jock" (jockette?) in school. Baseball, basketball, high jump, judo, karate, track and field all took it's toll early. (My sisters have noted knee pain in their 40's - they say it's not severe enough to do anything about as yet).
At the tender age of eighteen years, I had my first of a long line of surgeries on my knees. (NOW, of course the treatment that was considered "state of the art" at that time (1972), is now highly NOT recommended for this problem). So, for the last twenty-odd years, I've had chronic and acute problems with my knees. I've injured my knees at work multiple times and the Comp Board covered the injury each time until September 10th, 1999.
On with the show: I finished my shift that night and went home, limping into the mobile we were living in at the time. I was supposed to work 4 more shifts. I noticed a red line across the middle of my kneecap, while disrobing to go to bed that night, but thought nothing of it. After all, I'm a bit of a klutz, and have bumped my various body parts multiple times and never had a catastrophic result, things get better on their own, usually. (Yes, I am anatomically correct, well..except for my left knee which is metal.. but I digress).
The next morning, I got up with a very sore leg, but, again, I thought it would get better on its' own. I went to work that evening and by the end of my shift, my poor left knee was twice the size of normal. The redline remained across the kneecap and there was definitely an effusion there. (Commonly called "water or blood on the knee"). I called in sick for the rest of my shifts, and on the Monday phoned my doctor's office for an appointment. (Unfortunately for me, no one at work remembered me injuring myself at the Triage desk, or taking the phone call when I called in sick and stated the reason for my illness on the telephone. I (stupidly) didn't fill out a little teeny green form on either the night of, or the evening after the injury, either). And, to make matters even worse (if they could be...), I couldn't get in to see my own doctor for over a week. (I know some of you are tsking and shaking your heads right now...silly rabbit...but, please understand that my problem was not "acute" after 4 or 5 days, so going to the ER was absolutely out of the question).
The upshot of my poor reporting skills and the 'lateness' of seeking medical attention blew my case with comp. They told me that if I'd had a witness, maybe, just maybe they'd consider an appeal. Since I already had arthritis, they just didn't want to cover me. So began a terrible period of depression and fighting back and forth (between me and comp). I also neglected to file for Employment Insurance (called pogey here in the great white north) Sick Benefit, and almost didn't get that! However, the Canadian Government came through for me in January of 2000 and I was paid out my sick benefit all at once. About 3 days later, my Long Term Disability kicked in.
In the meantime, I had been to see an orthopedic surgeon (who would have made a great plumber or window-washer or something else, anything else, if you catch my drift). So, I tried to use a little "pull" at work to get in to see one of the really good guys. I didn't get to see him (we'll call him Dr. A.) until mid-December, when he asked me if I'd like to appeal comp's decision. I asked him if it was worth it and he said it wouldn't hurt, but likely wouldn't help either. He was right on that one.
The upshot of the whole thing is that I was "scoped" and told that I needed a new knee. Okay, (so I thought), that shouldn't take overly long to happen. After all, my arthritis was fairly severe, and I still have some productive years before retiring to the ranch. I was given an appointment to see the new orthopod (Dr.B. you can see where we're going here, can't you?) who could replace my knee joints. The waiting period this time was two weeks from the time that I saw Dr. A and was scoped! This was a momentous occasion! It usually takes about 18 months to get an appointment with Dr. B. (He is the best at what he does, here in Winnipeg.
When I went to see Dr. B., he didn't even examine my knee. He griped some about me being underweight, and not liking to see patients "just post op". He then, did his level best to talk me out of having a knee replacement. (The old saws all came out for this one: "it's extremely painful", "people like me don't, as a rule, do well", "there's no turning back"..well duh!). He even tried to scare me with the fact that I might require a bloood transfusion!
Despite his gloom and doom, I asked him to slate it, and he informed me that it (the surgery) wouldn't likely take place until September of 2001, but that I should think long and hard about the "facts" before coming to a decision. Then he silently slipped out of the room, and I was left not knowing what was to come next.
About a month later, I spoke with Dr.A. again, and informed him that I thought Dr.B. was reluctant to "do my knee". He told me that he would speak with Dr. B. and the office would let me know what was happening. In the meantime, Dr. B. suggested that Dr. A. "scope" my right knee, as it was "taking all of the load" now and could be the next problem. I contacted Dr. A., got "scoped" (this process of dancing around the surgery and scopes lasted from December 1999 through until September 14, 2001 (which is when I had my left knee replaced).
During this time, I have been on Long Term Disability, and have been approved to go back to work at a "sedentary job" (get off the pot, man - there are NO sedentary nuring jobs!). I am permanently severly restricted in relation to my activities on the job (since I still have an intact (sort of) right knee made of bone, not metal). And, the capper is: I am likely to be cut off my LTD in January of 2002, unless some sort of decision is made, now.
So, I blithely went for my 3 month post op check up the other day (With Dr. B.) and asked for a note for an "accomodation meeting" which is to be held on Tuesday next. (An accomodation meeting is to determine if there are any sedentary nursing jobs available at my facility - there aren't) Dr. B. asked me to tell "them" to send a form for him to fill out, "but a sedentary position is really what you need". When I phoned my advisor, I was told that they had already sent the doctor a form (on Nov. 7th), and that he's now "away" for approx. a week. My advisor's secretary checked with his office, and lo! He has not filled out the form as yet.
He says that he wants to know for sure that I actually NEED the right knee replaced, too. (That's HIS story and he's sticking to it). However, when I saw him at his office in July, Dr. B. placed his hand on my right knee and told me to straighten it out. When I complied, he said, "oh, pretty bad..but it can wait until January". I said, "that's good, but it's the left knee that you're supposed to be doing, not the right." Well, he put the hand on the left knee, I straightened it out, and he drew back as if stung. "That should have been done a long time ago!" he exclaimed. "No kidding," said I (deadpan).
It was slated almost immediately, and 6 weeks later, I had my new knee. LTD still wants to cut me off, and Dr. B. feels that I can go back to a sedentary position (no such thing in Nursing), and now (are you ready for this one, folks?) he wants me to go back to Dr. A. and have my right knee scoped again to see if it's really necessary to replace that joint as well. (Can you say "runaround"?). (Like degenerative osteoarthritis gets BETTER underload??? I don't think so!).
So here I sit, raggin' on the computer...whining for the sake of letting everybody know how hard done by I am (Yes, please, I would like a little cheese with my whine, so kind of you to offer). I may soon be joining the ranks of the unemployed/unemployable and we have a nursing shortage here!!! (Les and I also have a mortgage here). How much of this makes sense to any of you reading this? And, to top it all off: I'm not eligible for unemployment insurance, as I haven't worked a day in 2 years (as of September).(Would this be a nightmare?? Ouch! Nope, pinched myself and it hurt..I'm awake). I do not like to live in "Limbo", it upsets me and plays hell(o) with my control-freak "issues". I may not be entirely normal, but like everybody else, I do have "Issues". Stay tuned for further developements, as I am slowly ground up by the wheels of bureaucracy.
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