so here is my hand post accident, pre surgery, post surgery

a reply to: Night Star

i am just going to have to see how it goes with disability...
i still have some decisions to make....

i am getting a pretty good amount of money but it is not going to last forever...

im not exactly sure how i want it to play out....i have some time.....

i will have a few options....

we could probably live for 2.5 years or so with what i am getting...that is rent/bills/food...everything.
so, 1 option is apply for disability as soon as i get my money...

or

i might be able to buy a house but that would take pretty much all of the money i am getting so i would have to go back to work right away.....it would be nice to not have a mortgage though.....

or, and this is what i was planning on

sticking it in the bank and living off of it....get myself through the winter and then when spring hits start looking for work but being very picky about what job i take...
with the money i will have in the bank i would not have to make the money i was making before....all my bills are paid up as of right now....i have zero credit card debt....i owed a few bucks back child support but that is coming off the top of my settlement and my boy just turned 18 so thats not coming out of checks anymore....
so while i can probably live for a couple years and not work i am more than likely not going to.

i just want to get through the winter....the cold is hard on my hand/fingers and i dont want to be interviewing in that weather....the money in the bank will allow me to be very picky and at least try to find the right pay/work/shift versus being strapped and having to take the 1st thing that comes along....

i do know that even if i was able to i dont want to work 70 hours a week again....its too hard on me and the family....

i will always do what i have to do though....no matter what

i just want to enjoy the next few months before i look for work....its been all pain and stress since this happened...we have been just scraping by this entire time.....comp only pays about 65% of your income so that was a big hit....
pain aside, i could not work because i was on comp...so for pushing 2 years we have been functioning with 40% less income....
its a good thing i worked all that crazy overtime and my hourly wage was what it was.....if i would have been making $10 an hour and only working 40 hours a week we would have lost our place and all sorts of crap...

so, thats the plan for now

a reply to: Grovit

Well, whatever you decide, I wish you all the best. Personally, I would choose the disability if you can get it. It is an income you can rely on. You will also have the choice to collect disability and work if you choose to up to a certain amount of hours and pay. The thing with jobs is that they can go in the blink of an eye and you can collect for a while, but even that won't last forever. Then you will be back to square one having to find a job with limited use of your hand and competition with many others to get that job. But, the decision is yours and I do hope things work out well for you.

originally posted by: Night Star
Keep in mind that you can't go on disability if you are working. I would hold off looking for a job. Once you are on disability, you can then work so many hours a week plus collect your disability, if you still choose to work. My husband was like you and worked tons of hours and sometimes 7 days a week for many years. It's great while you are bringing the money in, but you can lose it all in a heartbeat. Companies, even well established ones that have been here for years end up closing or relocating. Unexpected health problems even with medical coverage, if there is a high deductible or percentage you have to pay out of pocket can leave you thousands of dollars in debt. He has nothing to show for all the years of hard work and all those hours he spent his life working. Just saying...think long and hard before making decisions.

The perfect post is the one I just quoted, I became unemployable at 33 years of age and in the prime of my life.
I was making good money ($21.00 per hour at 40 hours per week) full benefits and a good pension. This is way back in the year 1993 and we just bought our first home.
It was a major heart condition that sidelined me and I was told I would never work again after spending a couple of weeks laying in a hospital bed and having a ridiculous amount of tests done as well as surgeries.

Two days after arriving home from an out of town hospital we had a visit from an adjudicator representing my insurance company through work. We both (YogaGinns my wife) will never forget that day.

I was pressured to sign a paper stating that I would look for work of the most mundane kind that would have paid about $5.00 per hour and for sure it would be part time.....maybe 10-15 hours a week.

I asked the lady if she was joking as I offered her a stack of paper work about an inch thick with my test results included.
This meeting did not go well for both sides and I was still stressed about my health and the 110 K loan we just took for our house. The insurance company insisted that my doctors were all wrong and we would meet out of town at my heart surgeons office at our expense ( this cost us almost 100 bucks for gas and a day off work for my wife)

We got to the meeting and my doctor had this lady crying about ten minutes into the meeting :-)
End result was if they want to meet again they pay for everything for us and the doctors time as well. Needless to say that was our last meeting. I still to this day submit a form with all my yearly tests and results to the insurance company and we have to pay for it all out of pocket.
I kid you not right now my face is hot just thinking of what they tried to do to me after pretty well dieing two weeks before.
Anyways a word of advice to anyone whom is dealing with employers or insurance companies........Keep records of medical forms and expense forms in duplicate and only hand over copies of them. Always keep the originals for your own.
In my case its my employers insurance company and I believe its the same for the OP's situation.

Regards, Iwinder

a reply to: Iwinder

Thank you for quoting my reply.

With disability, you can at least have an income to rely on. I have seen way too many companies close down or move out of the Country leaving employees desperately trying to get another job. Especially since the OP can no longer perform past duties. Trying to be trained for something totally new won't gaurentee anyone a job as the there are waaaaay too many applicants vying for he same position. I see too many people around me struggling and searching endlessly for a job, any job. Some will say you are over qualified, some will take your disability into consideration but know that they can hire a hundred other people without a disability. Many companies will come right out and say they want so many years of experience and do not have time to train you.

Even if you have thousands of dollars in your bank account, with the way medical coverage is set up, you could lose it all as out of pocket expenses. And young people who think they are healthy...my husband was diagnosed as diabetic in his twenties. We had no insurance at all. Needless to say we ended up thousands of dollars in debt. Later in life when we were doing better, other crap happened. He worked his butt off with endless hours and days and today has nothing to show for it and is thousands in debt. I worked hard too for over thirty years and am now disabled.

Jobs are no guarantee for endless financial security. Sad but true in most cases. Like I said, with disability you at least have something to count on. And it is common for people to be turned down the first time. They say to apply again if that happens. With the various health problems we both had, we were accepted right away. He has been on it for longer.

originally posted by: Night Star

Especially since the OP can no longer perform past duties. Trying to be trained for something totally new won't gaurentee anyone a job as the there are waaaaay too many applicants vying for he same position.

Some will say you are over qualified, some will take your disability into consideration but know that they can hire a hundred other people without a disability. Many companies will come right out and say they want so many years of experience and do not have time to train you.

Even if you have thousands of dollars in your bank account, with the way medical coverage is set up, you could lose it all as out of pocket expenses.

Jobs are no guarantee for endless financial security. Sad but true in most cases.

yeah. im in a scary position....the bubble can always burst...all i can do is plan and try to stick with it...life has a way of throwing curve balls at you though....
i feel a little bit of relief knowing that i am going to have a couple years worth of living in the bank....i have never had that and really its my own fault....ive never been big on saving for various reasons...i have always thought i have been bad at managing my money...i know there are people in worse spots than me...
i dont own my home but as it stands now my rent is paid up 4 months in advance. i dont owe any money on my vehicle. i dont have any credit card bills...nothing like that.
so while i have never really had a savings, i dont really have any debt either so it could be worse for me....
my posts can get long winded but i didnt even really scratch the surface of other options as far as work goes...i dont have to figure it out now....
like you said, a job, any job is not a long term guarantee of income...i know if i dont get disability i will have to go back to work and i am at a disadvantage....i cant perform like i used to be able to because of my hand..
its not just the lost digit and pain..there is nerve damage..there is the loss of motion. loss of strength.

what is also going to hurt me is i have always been a laborer...it has never bothered me...im just not an office guy.
laborer does not mean no skilled though..you know.
i was a mechanic for the longest time....the skills are there...its the injury that is going to be a problem....

i have also been tossing around the idea of taking some classes...

where i was at i worked in the metal lab...then i ran the cnc...a few weeks before i got hurt i started to dabble in the cmm.

so being as i have cnc/lab/quality experience i was thinking of taking some courses for cnc programming.
i did a little programming before but it wasnt too much....i only ran 7 programs and really only made small edits/adjustments.

if i go to school for programming and use the money to live on while i do, i should be ok as far as getting a programming job...depending on the type of shop and a few other things, that shouldnt be a problem for me...
i dont even need to physically be at the cnc to program so thats an idea.

either way i will handle my #.
i have people that depend on me and they know they can....one thing about me is i am not afraid to get dirty and work hard...
if it comes down to me being in pain or my wife and baby girl eating then pain it is..
thats why i worked where i worked and the hours i worked anyway...it wasnt for me....

i dont put much stock in money...of course i know i need it...i dont mean like that. i just mean if it was just me, i would be content with less.
not for my ladies though....they deserve the best i can give them so thats what i do.
my wife knows i will take care of her and my baby girl and thats really all i care about....

i will always do what i have to do....

if i have to work 2 full time fast food jobs cause thats all i can find then thats what i will do....

a reply to: Grovit

I can see how determined you are to make things work and I truly hope that you do. I take it your wife doesn't work and stays home with your daughter. That today is a luxery and she is very fortunate. However, If she knows the pain you are dealing with, do you think she would be willing to work to help you out? Maybe you wouldn't need to work so many hours.

originally posted by: Night Star
a reply to: Grovit

I can see how determined you are to make things work and I truly hope that you do. I take it your wife doesn't work and stays home with your daughter. That today is a luxery and she is very fortunate. However, If she knows the pain you are dealing with, do you think she would be willing to work to help you out? Maybe you wouldn't need to work so many hours.

she does not work......she was working when we met and then about 8 months into my injury she took a part time job for a bit.
im the one that does not want her to work..
my wife is awesome.....she dont care about money..im happy and she is happy.
we're a team.

if i walked out there right now and told her i think she should try to find work, she would start looking tomorrow. she has done it before.
i know that if we need her to work she will.
we are not to that point.

when my daughter goes to school then it will be a different story

a reply to: Grovit

The tip of my left middle finger was severed on September 18th of this year, after being smashed between a hearth pad and a wood burning stove I was getting ready to move out of a Budget truck. The hearth pad was leaning against the wall on the inside of the truck, and my hand was resting on top of the wood stove that was standing almost in the middle of the inside of the truck, when the 600 pound pad fell over against the stove. It's like someone drew a line from the top right corner of my fingernail, down to the bottom left corner, then chopped that chunk off; that's the size of the injury.

Thank God the doctor sewed it back on, and it actually reattached. It still has a long way to go as far as healing goes, though.

I'm very sorry about what happened to you. My injury is very small when compared to a lot of others, but it is enough to make me forever have a soft spot in my heart for people such as yourself and veterans who come back as amputees, etc.

a reply to: Grovit

That is a wonderful relationship!

a reply to: jeramie

My husband lost a leg but it was due to diabetic complications. He gets around great with a prosthetic. Hope your finger heals fast!

a reply to: Night Star

Thank you! I'm sorry to hear about your husband and what he had to go through. I know it was equally as terrifying for you, too. I'm very glad to hear he is doing great with a prosthetic.

natural selection,
youve drawn stupid pics all over them anyway.
dont complain

originally posted by: Night Star
a reply to: Grovit

That is a wonderful relationship!

we have a great relationship...
been married almost 4 years...together almost 5.
i think we have only had two arguments....she is my best friend.

we are both the same type of people...neither one of us are into hanging out with people/friends....neither of us drink or do the bar scene....
we are always together and we both love it.....i love her more every day.

i dont really like to be around other people if i dont have to be...they make me nervous and they agitate me...she is kind of the same way...
her and i do it all together....we talk about everything from the finances to me going back to work...everything...
it works out real well for us.....

when i started working at this place i told her to quit her job. she started there before she met me but she hated it..she was doing what she had to do but it was making her miserable.
we agreed that if we ever needed her to go back to work she would...we got a bit behind at one point and she jumped right out there and got work and pulled us through it. im the one that wanted her to quit...

like i said, its not all about money....we have been scraping by cash wise but we are happy. bills are paid. we have our house....just have not been a lot of extras....dont need her to go get a job to provide that.

we are just as well hanging out at our house....we take out daughter for walks....there are free parks/walking trails all around so we hit those up a lot.
we play a lot of board games together....lots of trivia and chess...
she chrochets stuff for our daughter while i do this...
we read together a lot......

i dont need much of anything except for what i have right here...

sorry to hear about your husband....

originally posted by: Rikku
natural selection,
youve drawn stupid pics all over them anyway.
dont complain

i wont complain....please dont drop wisdom on me anymore

I got three finger [tips] zipped off by a jointer, and while it wasn't nearly as brutal as your injury, I understand that the mental turmoil is worse than the physical injury. Know this.......... you will heal. You won't be the same as you were, but you could be better if you find the way to make it so.

I am forever glad for the trimming of 1/4 - 1/2 inch of three fingers. It made me work. It make me a much better guitar player, even though I still struggle with shaping my existing nails such that I can perform rest strokes with each finger.

Try to find the benefit. There is one, I believe that. I have known four people who badly damaged their fingers; all found a bright spot in the night side. There is something there for you that will change you for the better.

I hope you heal quickly and well. Removal of stitches in fingers is not a fond memory, but it is one that set a benchmark toward my own healing and improvement.

a reply to: Grovit
sorry, glad you didnt snap at my bad joke.
hope you get well.

Oh man! I'm so so sorry. My cousin's husband had almost an exact injury to yours, but his occurred in his own garage.
I remember it was indeed very traumatic for him, almost symptomatic of PTSD for a while.

Take care of yourself emotionally too. It could take a while to get over it.

originally posted by: ladyinwaiting
almost symptomatic of PTSD for a while.

T.

same with me...i had ptsd in my claim but i dropped it about a year in...
for the first maybe 6 months it was bad....
i was having nightmares about it....the most vivid details of it were like on a constant loop in my head.....i could almost feel it happening again and again...
little by little it went away though.......

along with that i was also very, very self conscious about the way my hand looked. i always tried to hide it and i thought my wife was gonna take off cause i looked like a gimp......it really messed me up.
now its just pain.......

a reply to: Grovit
Grovit,

you are one awesome individual. I mean that. I can appreciate it was tough to share all that with us but hats off to you, because your determination to get on with life and also your priorities -- with your loved ones first and foremost -- these things are a terrific example of a human being with his heart in the right place.

You are going to get this all sorted out. I'm totally sure you will.

a reply to: Grovit
Your hand looks quite similar to my husbands hand after a similar injury....and my heart goes out to you.
So, to see those images brought the horror back.....I can remember looking at him shortly after it happened....he was in shock....a very odd pale color to his face.
IN the following weeks, the pain was quite intense and he needed help to dress, etc....good thing it was his left hand.
He doesn't have crps thankfully, but after more than ten years little to no pain. The first few years, there was weather related pain.

He lost his baby finger rather that the ring finger you lost....the pinky was able to be re-attached.
He had therapy on the hand, but on two of the fingers, scar tissue forced them to freeze in a bent position.
He was told to stay off ladders as he cannot grab well with that hand....but was not allowed have the hand be considered a total disability.