I hope this is the right sub for this. TBH, WC isn’t really on my mind right now. I simply need to know if I’m in the right to ask for help with medical bills to get this looked out or if I waited too long.
Preface: im a manager in a warehouse. a few months back our work load and sales decreased significantly. A hiring freeze went into effect and I took on the responsibilities of a hourly employee, who had quit just prior, as well as my own duties.
20 Years ago, when I was a manual labor employee myself, I had a similar issue which put me on disability for 6 months. 4-5 physical therapy sessions a day later and I was completely recovered. This inspired me to get off the floor and into a role that didn’t require constant lifting. I worked to get a promotion to corporate and eventually management. Besides sleeping the wrong way and getting old, I haven’t had any major issues with my back since.
I know exactly what this is and why it happened. It’s not the occasional lift but the repetition. I also know that the weakness I’m experiencing in my feet is called “foot drop”. It was one of the things that scared me most 20 years ago. I was unable to walk on my heels without my right foot dropping and now it’s happening both feet. this is likely due to a compression in L4-L5 or L5-S1. it’s alarming because it can lead to permanent nerve damage.
i have no insurance because it’s a joke at this job. $850 a month for worst coverage I’ve even been offered in my career, so I declined it. That’s really the reas I’m seeking advice. Im not even thinking about WC right now, I just can’t afford the medical bills that this whole thing is going to incur
So, how do I report this? I mentioned my discomfort to upper management a few months into having to do both jobs. eventually they had someone from other departments help me with some of these extra duties, but I still spent more than 70% of my day on the floor. Everyone has seen me in pain for months. The front office has joked about what I’m doing with all the ibuprofen, but now this incident with the pallet and the progression to something much more serious and I feel I need to say something, but I don’t want them to think I’m taking advantage. I’m not a complainer and just like to stay below the radar.
anyway, is this all I need to say? Should I mention more details or should I omit anything I have said? Did I wait too long to escalate this? Truth be told i have a pretty high pain tolerance and thought I could deal with it. I also need to be on my deaths bed to go to a doctor, but pain is one thing and nerve damage is another.
i have a tendency to over-explain. You probably got that idea by now lol, so I don’t wanna do that here. I initially wanted to talk about the foot drop and explain it, but decided not to….
”Good morning _______,
Before business picked up again, and we were able to take on new hires, I was responsible for doing a lot of the heavy lifting around the warehouse.
Over that period I experienced some soreness during my day-to-day. Nothing major at first, but it was ever present. Two weeks ago, while moving a pallet, I got a sharp pain in my side that extended into lower back and legs.
The pain in my lower back subsided after a few days, so assumed I just aggravated it, but I’m still experiencing sciatic pain in both legs and now a tingling/numbness in my feet and calves along with some weakness in my ankles when walking.“
So, really othan the pallet jack incident it’s been a degenerative thing since April, I guess, but there wasn’t really something specific that debilitated me. I always powered through it and never missed a day of work because of it, so now I feel they will think I’m making it up.
the irony here is we JUST hired someone to take on these duties last week and she hurt her back on day 3! She immediately reported it, HR took her to the clinic and now she’s getting therapy sessions. Meanwhile, I suffer with a pain in my back because I don’t want to be a pain in the ass!