The WCB

Today I called the caseworker from Workman's Comp because I was concerned that the reports I was being sent to complete or have completed didn't have my leg injury on them.
 She took the opportunity to take detailed notes and find out when all my past and upcoming appts were and are. She was really nice. Embarrassed me tho. She said you are so brave. My response was my usual - I just do what I have to. She said, no you are brave and she emphasized it again when she heard how long I've been dealing with this illness. She said that the person that I dealt with initially at the WCB couldn't say enough about me. She said that they deal with people that just have aches and pains and take time off and here I am back at work. I said that it doesn't do me any good to sit at home and mope. Not that I don't mope but I would rather be busy because it's better for me.

It was an interesting perspective of me. I really don't think of myself in this way. If anything I feel bad about how much I moan at p when I am not feeling and certain of my friends that are privy to my complaining. I guess there are a lot of people who take advantage of the system.

She was concerned that I was using my lieu time for Drs appts. She said you know the WCB will pay for it. And you can probably even get work to front the money and be paid back by the WCB. She was worried that I would use it all up for this and not have anything left if something else happened. It's nice to know I have that option - but I would rather do it the way I am currently. It is also nice to know that a complete stranger on a government board is so supportive.

It restores my faith in the system. Especially after my experience last year when the insurance company was going to deny my claim because it was an unreasonable amount of time to be recovering from pneumonia. Again, I was lucky - the nurse at work stepped in and took care of it and set the insurance company straight. I know that even if she hadn't Jeff would have fought for me but because she did intervene I wasn't put through an undue amount of stress because it got resolved so quickly. And I am grateful to CP for that. We think that the reason it was denied was because the more experienced insurance agent had gone on holiday and his replacement was new and only saw a chance to save the company money - not that there was a legitimate claim. He probably didn't fully read through my case! All he saw was a longer then usual recovery and going by the books it could be denied!
But back to the WCB - I really feel supported.

A lot of paperwork though. She wants me to check in monthly even if nothing has changed - and I need to keep them apprised of any appointments related to my leg. Oh, and I think my caseworker was surprised/impressed at the depth of understanding I have about my current problem. That's despite not being able to look at the injury myself! She said it sounds like I am in good hands with the care I am receiving. I agree.
 I have to remember to do a couple of things - one is some forms that HR is supposed to provide me with. I guess they didn't bother because I am back at work seemingly with no limitations. Tecnically that is true. There are no limitations that afffect my work. Just the rest of my life!! Like the no exercise...

Speaking of my leg. Here is where things are at. I saw PS and Jeff at PMH last Thursday on the 12th. She doesn't think that the iodide gel is the right treatment as it is not a debrider. It is good for keeping bacteria down and preventing infection. She even looked it up and tried to consult with a colleague. However, she said we would stick with it until the end of two weeks which is March 21st. She thinks hydrogel or the Silversorb would be better for debriding purposes. But she didn't want to keep changing the treatment either because that was the third approach taken to date.

Then Jeff came in and took a look and said I need to see a plasic surgeon. He asked if I could do it through my GP because although PMH has plastic surgeons they are used to dealing with oncology related issues which tecnically mine isn't in the sense that it wasn't directly caused by cancer. Yes, related but not directly. That makes sense to me actually. So we asked if p's GP (and I don't mean guinea pigs in this case!) would take me on as a patient. He said yes and wrote me a referral letter for a plastic surgeon at St. Joes in Toronto. That was to be sent today. PS said that it's not likely that they will want to do a skin graft for a couple of reasons. One is why make another wound when there is alrwady one not healing. Another is where would they get the graft from? My skin due to the prednisone is too fragile and in no shape to use. She said she thought it more likely that they would go in and clean out the necrotic tissue manually. I am not looking forward to that. Actually, I am kind of hoping they might suggest using maggots. It is apparently not painful. They just stick them in the wound and cover them up and let them do their thing! Who knows. At any rate by March 21st if the Iodide hasn't worked P- wants them to use Silversorb or Hydrogel.

The wound is 7 cm up and down my leg and about 4 cm wide. There is some concern about some redness around the perimenter of the wound as apparently it has increased somewhat. So p is keeping an eye on that. It's quite deep - apparently very close to the bone. All this from a fall down the stairs. Sigh. Yes I know. I could have broken my neck and I am grateful I didn't. The fall happened February 5th - today it is March 16th. And it hasn't started healing. There is yellow slough and I gather black eschar - all necrotic type tissue. I really can't look.