Date:         Tue, 21 Jun 1994 13:46:30 -0700
From:         Vicky Louise Zaal <eaog162@ORION.OAC.UCI.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Sufferin' Chemists!; EMG, Industrial injury
To:           Multiple recipients of list SOREHAND <SOREHAND%UCSFVM.BITNET@CMSA
	      .BERKELEY.EDU>

As far as industrial injuries go, I worked for seven years in an
assembly/ machine shop while supporting my family and putting myself
through school.  The company had been told of the importance of employee
rotation between work stations many times over the years which they ignored.
After six years, I experienced tearing and burning sensations in both
arms.  I had worked at a station which required the  use of an airgun
every 15 seconds in between initial assembly.  After this injury, I found
out that the woman who had usually worked at that station ripped up her
tendons and that was why I had not seen her for some time.  The company
told me I was placed on light-duty (which they later claimed no
record of) until my injury improved.  However, it did not.  I saw the company
doctors who told me that after a few months of rest I would recover,
although they never acknowledged or diagnosed any condition.  I left the
company and after three months with no improvement I brought a workers
comp suit.  Unfortunately, the attorneys I used did not specialize in
workers comp and when the case became too dificult for them to manage,
they refered me to an attorney who specialized in workers comp.  This
specialist pointed out that he never would have authorized the use of the
workers comp doctor as an unbiased source of medical examination.  This
doctor and the judge both notoriously sided with the company.  When I
had gone for the examination, this Beverly Hills comp doctor just looked
at me like I was making things up.

Later on I saw a doctor at orthopedic hospital in L.A. who had several
doctors training under him.  He knew considerably more about the many
different forms and areas of nerve entrapment. Nerve entrapment
possibilities: anterior interosseous, CTS, tennis elbow, neck, etc.  I
was told that NERVE CONDUCTION TESTS CAN BE NOTORIOUSLY NEGATIVE when the
condition is present.  Recently I have had these tests done at
University of California, Irvine Medical Center and they did see some
evidence, however, I had changed my testing strategy.  I felt that
perhaps things had not shown up before because of the fact that I was
not experiencing the pain and disfunction I felt during activity.  So
before testing I was as active as possible and went to the tests in pain
rather than trying to avoid overstress and pain.  The solutions
suggested were surgery and physical therapy.  Now that I have finished
most of the graduation requirements here at UCI I will be exploring those
options.

The most important points are:
   1. GET A SPECIALIST (doctor, attorney, etc.)
   2. JUST BECAUSE THE TESTS DON'T SHOW IT, DOESN'T MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE IT.
   3. IF A DOCTOR DOESN'T KNOW, HE IS THE WRONG ONE OR MEDICAL SCIENCE
DOESN'T KNOW YET.


And by the way, if you have a suit and still continue to try to earn a
living, even if it's part time and flexible for your condition, or try
to stay active while adapting ways to enable you stay active, they will
probably use it as evidence against you to say that you don't have a
problem, so beware.

Vicky
eaog162@orion.oac.uci.edu