Do I need a lawyer?

[magnm48]

What is the name of your state?Iowa! I was injured at work, had to have a cervical fussion of the discs. It has been 2 years, now. I am still having pain, numbness, weakness, and twitching of my right arm. The fussion didn't take effect properly, they(VA) said it was my fault for smoking. I work for Dept. Of Veterans Affairs in Iowa.
Any good advices out there?
Thank you in advance!

Magnm48

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state?Iowa! I was injured at work, had to have a cervical fussion of the discs. It has been 2 years, now. I am still having pain, numbness, weakness, and twitching of my right arm. The fussion didn't take effect properly, they(VA) said it was my fault for smoking. I work for Dept. Of Veterans Affairs in Iowa.
Any good advices out there?
Thank you in advance!

Magnm48

**A: do you need a lawyer to help you stop smoking? Ok, hire one that charges $350 an hour and you will soon be so broke that you can't even afford to buy a pack of cigs.

 

[Debbie_1]

There must be more to your situation, or you wouldn't be thinking about an attorney. Smoking is proven to interfere with bone healing. It's a pretty safe bet that the doctor warned you about that prior to surgery. Still, if you are having persistent symptoms and problems with returning to work, you need medical care. Big question - are you a state or federal employee? Benefits can differ greatly between private industry, state employement and federal employment. In case you're a federal employee, you need to know few attorneys will take federal w/c cases, because the DOL won't acknowledge the attorney.

 

[magnm48]

I don't remember anyone telling me not to smoke until after the surgery. This is a Federal WC injury. The smoking issue is one thing, but I also have HEP C, that they know of. I'm finding out that that can cause alot of differant complications with healing, etc. Sould they have done something differant post-op? Just sent me back to work after 2 weeks in a collar.

Thanks

 

[rmet4nzkx]

On your other thread I asked you,"
I've read both of your threds, my questions are this, do you smoke, drink alcohol, exposure to bodily fluids or needles (how did you get hepC) have a history of asthma or copd in your family or Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency?

I asked you those quesitons for a specific reason, because your injuries and disease may be related, I won't go into the specifics without an answer but it would affect any case you would have W/C or otherwise, if you haven't stopped smoking yet, please quit, it plays a role in how you heal.