Ever lose the use of an arm/wrist/hand?
By candymarie
@candymarie (1368)
Canada
July 15, 2009 4:52pm CST
Well I did, thanks to good old tendinitis!
We're having staffing issues at my work, so my workload doubled, or tripled in some cases. I am a right handed person, so I do the majority of everything with my right hand, writing, data input, lifting, pushing, pulling, signing for packages, EVERYTHING!
BUT, the past couple of weeks, while I knew that my direct co-worker, the one who works in the same office as me, had to go for 3 weeks to our other site to cover for our other co-worker, who was off on medical leave, the whole time, I MADE SURE to use my left arm/wrist/hand on different occasions, to give my right side a break, except for signing and writing of course. I'm not ambidextrous, and it certainly shows it lol...I hope I had the correct word there, to be able to write with both hands lol.
And yes, that is my arm in the picture right there, and WHY does it look like a skeleton bone? Because it was the only arm warmer I had to use to cover up the cast and bandages, to keep it from getting wet (Travel by public transit, and it's been raining buckets at most times ) AND to keep nosey people from constantly asking me what happened, especially people that only say hi in passing, not my direct coworker, OR has any business in knowing my medical issues, especially if it's a work-related injury. ESPECIALLY because of that, I don't know the full details of Workers Compensation, but I thought I heard somewhere that you just can't discuss the details outside of your department, supervisor and your OH&S Nurse, but then again I could be wrong, and if I am, I'm claiming the patient confidentiality, which NO ONE has respect for except a few good people in this system!
Anywho, amoung me being annoyed by coworkers, I get the annoyed feeling towards my useless arm, which is also difficult to use because of where the cast is between my thumb and forefinger, ie, when I'm trying to use a pen. I've noticed that I ACTUALLY stick my tongue out at an angle, or bite my lip, or tongue, because I'm concentrating very hard on writing clearly lol. So now I'm trying not to that, because my coworker teases me, lol. I know it's just teasing, so I don't mind.
Anybody have this difficulty? Any of it? lol.
3 responses
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
16 Jul 09
I had problems with my shoulder year ago but even tho I went thru all kinds of tests and all no pictures that was took could find any thing so Doc gave up and sent me to therapy and they then told me I had muscles on my muscles so I got the ice packs the heat teh shocks butthe only thing that really helped was the tigger shots and they had to shoot me in four differnt places.
But they nevre put me on workmans comp! and dont know why.
Also tried to send me back to work at the same thing that made the problem We ened up moveing so never got any thing doen for it but so much better with what ever I have done to make it stop hurting lol
@candymarie (1368)
• Canada
17 Jul 09
muscles ON your muscles? I'm confused...and tigger shots? Never heard of these either.
And it's up to you to indicate at the doctors appointment that the injury happened on "site" (your workplace), you have to notify your OH&S nurse/representative, fill out forms, get a claim number, and get everything documented with your work OH&S nurse so they have a constant record, so when they DO try to make you go back to a job that caused it, you have that to deny it...and then your union will look after you.
I'm very grateful for my union.
But with wcb, once you get your claim number and approval for it (unfortunately some things they don't "accept" as injuries, someone actually told me they don't accept tendinitis as a Strain injury, and if they don't, I don't know if I'll argue it or not, since I didn't feel the need to miss any work, BUT since my doctor now suggested I take physiotherapy for it, wcb would normally cover it, BUT if they don't see it as a work injury, I'll have to pay for it out of my pocket, which will SUCK!
Thanks for responding and happy myLotting!
@candymarie (1368)
• Canada
20 Jul 09
....I'm getting scared. I certainly hope it doesn't get to a point where I have to have surgery for this thingy. And I wonder if those shots were where they shoot corazone (spelling?) into the tissue. I've heard positive results each time, nothing bad from it, no side effects, but I guess there was, because doctors don't tend to do that anymore, which makes me paranoid because it makes me think, "OK, well if it worked with wonders, no issues, why take it off the market? Because it was TOO effective?" I certainly hope that is not the case, because then that would just be silly, they may have very well been bad side effects, they just aren't widely known, etc etc, possibly something happens over time after the shot is induced, but not all the time. Maybe it's bad for people with high blood pressure or something. Who knows?
But glad to hear that you're doing well now!
@ElicBxn (64175)
• United States
15 Jul 09
I dislocated my right wrist (yes, I'm also predominately right handed.) I learned to write with the pen stuck between my index and middle finger, just kind of holding it in place with my thumb, more comfortable than trying to hold a pen the "classic" way.
I've also had other problems with my ulnar nerve in the right hand/arm that has affected my hand and done it again. If my hand is hurting I'll still do that.
And now I have arthritis between my right index knuckle and the middle finger, and it hurts! (like right NOW its hurting.) I think I need to get a new wrist brace too, because I can feel my wrist giving me problems, but sure is better than it was when I was doing data entry full time!
If anyone wanted to talk to me about my problem, and yes it was covered by workman's comp, I talked, heck, you can barely get me to stop talking any more!
@candymarie (1368)
• Canada
16 Jul 09
lol, well it's nice to hear you're comfortable with talking about it!
Sorry, to hear about the coming arthritis though...It can be scary, to me anyways, but then again, I can be a silly big baby haha.
Thanks for responding and happy mylotting!
1 person likes this
@candymarie (1368)
• Canada
17 Jul 09
See? I think we should get something going at all of the schools starting with elementary, where all teachers should teach the kids from the beginning to be ambidextrous, then people like us won't have this issue! lol
1 person likes this
@savypat (20216)
• United States
16 Jul 09
Any time you loose the use of a body part, especially at work, you are going to be upset, maybe in pain, annoyed and teased by others. The fact that people constantly ask you is because they can see that you are injured and feel it would not be polite not to mention it. Like all of us who ae been through such times, all you can do is grin and ear it. Blessings
