Update on my neck injury

If you haven't read about my neck injury before then I'll fill you in a little first.

About three years ago I was working in psychiatry at the Royal Ottawa Hospital in the Crisis Unit. There I was an orderly responsible for patient care and safety on the unit under the direction of the Registered nursing staff and Doctors.

While dealing with a psychotic patient I was injured in a fall with the patient during what we call a code white. A code white is when a call goes out for help to all staff because of a patient that has become a risk or danger to staff or other patients or to him/her self. Three female nurses showed up for this call and stood by and watched. Not of any help whatsoever. As a result, I was injured during a serious struggle with this young male patient who was fighting for his life (so he thought).

As a result of this injury I needed surgery on my neck to fuse the spine at C6-7. The surgery was somewhat of a success in that the pain down my arm was gone, but I had my vocal cords paralyzed for four months following. My left arm and hand continue to have numbness and discomfort with considerable weakness and limit my abilities to grasp things and open Ziploc bags or cereal boxes. Somewhat of an invalid that way.

The main problem still is the chronic debilitating headaches I suffer daily from neck tension. The neck tension is the body trying to protect itself from further damage by immobilizing movement in the neck. Of course every movement I make is fighting this natural defense. Thus I get tension headaches only after two hours of any type of activity. Even working at my computer is not possible after an hour or so. I require naps in the afternoon or I'm useless during the evenings.

The doctors have not been able to find a medication that will help without leaving me stoned or feeling like a piece of furniture. WSIB (our workers insurance and safety board) won't compensate me because the Dr's have not filed any reports regarding my headaches with them, so they feel that it doesn't exist.

The union from the hospital is now in a lengthy battle with WSIB and attempting to get medical evidence to support my claim. This could take a very long time.

In the meantime, I've been off work without pay for well over a year. My family has had to make many adjustments to our lifestyle due to having our family income cut in half. We are down to one car and have to watch our spending very carefully in order to stay out of the red. Savings, vacations and retirement savings are out of the question. My only hope for some financial gain is from our online store "SacredKiln.com" which is doing o.k. and holding it's own in an increasingly competitive market, but not making us any regular income yet.

My biggest problem these days is finding a life. I've been feeling guilty for the last year or two because I'm not working or earning any income for our family other than keeping the house tidy and clean and looking after the boys after school. I need to let go of this guilt and find a life for myself and start feeling good doing what I like to do, even if it's just for a couple of hours each morning.