About Russellrick

 My blog about this is here.

On October 2, 2007 I was working and stopped at a Sonic restaurant to use the bathroom. It was early and apparently they had just sprayed out the bathroom with a hose and poured cleaner in it. No signs were available and I walked into the bathroom, walked towards the toilet, as I did my leg went out from under me and I fell to my left.

I am not sure if I blacked out or not, I just know I realized that I was laying on the floor, my glasses were bent and I was soaked all on my left side. I also smelled cleaner in my hair. My left arm hurt, my left knee hurt, my neck was killing me and there was a ringing in my left ear, well, not as much a ringing as a crackle.

I managed to get to my feet and open the door. There was an employee there and he helped me get to the front of the store. The manager on duty called an ambulance and took a brief report from me about what happened. The ambulance got there and took me to St. Josephs hospital where I was treated and given prescriptions for 3 days and told to follow up with my doctor. While there I called and reported the injury to my employer Coinstar.

In the following days I was bed bound and in excruciating pain. I received a phone call from the Workers Compensation insurance company the following day, AIG Inc. and was informed that using the bathroom was not part of my job description and that my workers compensation claim was denied. I had insurance through work, Cigna and I called to make an appointment with a doctor in their network. They would not see me because they said they believed it WAS workers comp!

So I was stuck, in pain and no one would see me. The following Saturday I went to the hospital ER again because I was in so much pain and no one would see me. They gave me three more days of pain medicine and muscle relaxants and told me to follow up with my doctor!

Well, I was still unable to get an appointment with anyone so I had to suffer for 5 more weeks while I waited for Brian Haynes at AIG insurance to finally deny the claim for good and get me the paperwork I needed to see someone of my choice.

In the meantime my little brother died from an accidental OD and I got an attorney to help me with all the problems I was having. He took the case but has not had any effect as of yet in helping me get financial aid. He did refer me to 1st Choice Wellness in Savannah, Georgia where I started seeing Dr. Bohnstengel. She has been wonderful. I now have pain meds and muscle relaxants. Also I have seen Dr. Martinez, also in her office.

They found that my vertabrae was out of whack in my lower back and neck. They conducted a nerve test and found I have a loss of nerve transmission in my left arm. The bones in my leg are also out of whack with my knee bone, causing the pain in my knee. They have not conducted any test to determine why I have the crackle in my ear however.

I had an MRI of my neck, which did not show the reason for the nerve problem in my left arm so now she wants me to have a myelogram to find out what is going on. That means a spinal tap and dye injected into my spine.

I found out that I had temporary disability from Cigna because they provide my health insurance. They have just denied it because the MRI came out okay, even though the nerve test came out showing a nerve problem in my arm and my doctor has major limitations on my work ability and has me out of work 100%!

SO, at this point I still have pain in my neck, knee and headaches. I have weakness in my left arm and can not lift much more than 3 pounds. Because of limping I have pain in my back and hip and I still have a crackle in my left ear. I take pain medication and muscle relaxants 3 times a day and can't stand or sit for along time without causing mucho pain.

AND ALSO, to this date the workers comp company AIG, has not helped me AT ALL! The insurance company for Sonic has sent a denial letter denying that they have any responsibility and has not helped me one bit. And even Cigna, my health insurance company has said the heck with you until your myelogram and can show you have nerve damage!

Rikki got a job, which was great, worked for 2 weeks and got layed off for 2 months! Everything is working against us and nothing is working out for us.

My sister Stacy and her husband have been a tremendous help. Without them
we would have gone hungry, lost our only vehicle and more. They have been our angels but even with their help we have fallen behind in many areas, and they can only help so much.

The county I live in has placed a lien on our property because we can not pay our property taxes and in 8 weeks will move to foreclose and auction off our property. My car payment is due on the 15th and I can not find a way to pay it. My electric bill is past due and my electricity will be cut off on the 16th. I feel like I am sinking and I am so depressed it is trying consume me. Everyday is a new challenge to make sure we have food, that we have gas for me to get to my appointments for physical therapy, which is 30 miles away, and fielding calls from bill collectors because I can't pay my bills!!