Where do you work?

[mde's04Titan]

I'm a welder. Spray Arc mig-high speed, high voltage, blah blah blah... I work for John Deere-Hitachi Construction Machinery Corporation. We manufacturer light and medium duty excavators from the ground up, everything from the 12ton to the 35ton. I am currently on medical leave for a dislocated foot, shattered fibula, broken tibia, screws, plate--the whole nine. It happened Oct 21 of last year, and I'm just beginning to walk again. Been a long hard road...

[Sleepertrk]

I'm a welder. Spray Arc mig-high speed, high voltage, blah blah blah... I work for John Deere-Hitachi Construction Machinery Corporation. We manufacturer light and medium duty excavators from the ground up, everything from the 12ton to the 35ton. I am currently on medical leave for a dislocated foot, shattered fibula, broken tibia, screws, plate--the whole nine. It happened Oct 21 of last year, and I'm just beginning to walk again. Been a long hard road...

I feel your pain brotha. Been off since Feb. 6 2008 because of lower spine issues. Have had two major and one minor surgeries the last being Oct. 22nd of 2009. I spent 7 days in Barnes Jewish Hospt. St. Louis , Mo. this last time. I'm just finally starting physical therapy to try and get back at it again. I sure hope your ordeal heals up nicely for you and you can return to work and whatever else you love to do for fun. God i'm glad i had paid into my employers long term disability plan even though i bitched and moaned about the measily $11.25/week they deducted for it. You'll never hear me bitch about paying that again and never go without it people. You never know when one small incident will turn into a long term almost life changing issue.

[mde's04Titan]

I feel your pain brotha. Been off since Feb. 6 2008 because of lower spine issues. Have had two major and one minor surgeries the last being Oct. 22nd of 2009. I spent 7 days in Barnes Jewish Hospt. St. Louis , Mo. this last time. I'm just finally starting physical therapy to try and get back at it again. I sure hope your ordeal heals up nicely for you and you can return to work and whatever else you love to do for fun. God i'm glad i had paid into my employers long term disability plan even though i bitched and moaned about the measily $11.25/week they deducted for it. You'll never hear me bitch about paying that again and never go without it people. You never know when one small incident will turn into a long term almost life changing issue.

And likewise, I hope your spine issues have been dealt with and you do well. The physical therapy will no doubt be strenuous, but IMO, well worth it! I had back issues back in 1993-1994, and physical therapy was the single most key ingredient to me coming out better than before the injury!! It made me a believer, and the education on how to use my back safely is priceless.

On the insurance note, I had/have UNUM....it's kinda like AFLAC, and when we had open enrollment just before my accident I had asked about how to cancel it and am soooooooooooooooooo glad that I didn't!!!!!

I will elaborate on my injury just enough to say that; though it wasn't a compound fracture, my leg looked like something out of a sci-fi movie, fracture blisters, bones pushing at the skin like coat hangers in a trash bag, and my foot looked like some kind of an afterthought just sticking off the side of my leg. The most difficult part of the process was the tendon/ligament adhesion back to the bones that they were ripped from.