Injuries And DOT Physical

Your rotator cuff or both Rotator Cuffs are extremely important. If surgery does not repair those you are disabled and the next stop is the Social Security Administration for SSdI claim (That will take a year) and your second stop is court with a lawyer to recover whatever can in a formal lawsuit, especially if the crash was the other fault and results in lost wages the rest of your lifetime combined with medical billing. (Our MRI's plural ran about 16000 each it varied a few thousand each way. I had 5 total so far, three of which was paid for as a spouse of a hospital employee and the other two paid off double insured at about 40000 dollars. Call it 100K in MRI's that year.

My spouse hurt her rotator cuff in a seriously bad bike wreck in Okinawa as a Marine one time and surgery was able to repair it. But to this day it's considered a service connected problem by the VA for a percentage. She did well enough in trucking, however the heavy stuff like the 5th wheel, winding landing gear etc fell on me. Which is not a problem.

You can forget the gas mask idea. There are too many potential problems. that will very easily endanger your ability to stay alert. It can even make you pass out in a few moments if incorrectly worn or badly set. That's the last thing you need to do at 70 mph in a 40 ton vehicle. Throw in mountain work and the necessary losses in your blood oxygen saturtaion until your body adjusts makes it even worse.

If your disks are damaged and cannot be repaired, you are disabled. Refer to the SSA with documentation etc. Your disability pay out monthly will be determined by the highest average of three payroll quarters going back a certain amount of wage earning years in your lifetime.

Maintain your ongoing doctors visits etc after you are awarded this money. Because they will review you medically with a very specific mission to cut you and anyone not truly disabled clean off the rolls. If your disability comes in below 760 a month then you are able to get SSI as well. Which will probably boost you to 1500 total a month. Not much more than that.

You probably are getting into if not already into a world of narcotics. Pain medicine, muscle relaxer etc. Keep in mind it is against the law for a doctor to prescribe valium class medicine with pain medicine and muscle relaxer (The result is what is known as a Houston ####tail, one of the very favorite highs addicts try to achieve using prescription medicines, it's not my flavor but I can see where a certain percentae will abuse it)

Pain medicine is not legal for 18 wheeler until you have been off them 7 times your half life of last dose and certified by your doctor that you are cleared to go drive and not be on the medicines anymore.

It is also capable of generating a DUI against you in your personal vehicle. So you will want to arrange a spouse or family member to drive you. Worse case scenario medical taxi becomes a possibility. Bottom line in my state for example DUI = forfieture of your vehicle pernamently (OR anyones vehicle.) big time fines approaching 10K and beyond. And suspension a minimum of 90 days. If you have a CDL you stand to be suspended a year, Because you are suspended once, if you were suspended again, you have lost the ability to drive a CMV for life.

Also.

If you are referred to a pain clinic. I hope you have insurance. Drug tests range from 250 to 800 dollars per pee cup per month and the base appointment rates are 150 per 1 hour block per month. Even with my 50 dollar copay every visit, my insurance (medicare, has already paid a cool 42000 dollars to my pain doctor just this year. We are looking at another2 to 3 visits to close out the year at about another 3000. Excluded scans, medical light surgery, nerve blocks etc exceed 70K this year.

Medicines run 40 a fill for 30 days. You are not allowed to run out early. Should you be randomly counted and found to be short or out, then you are labeled a drug diverter, abuser, addict, seller and so on down the line. Once you get that label it becomes very difficult if not impossible to acquire any more pain medicine first in your state and then nationally if you are applied to that level of database. Pain medicine can run as much as 1000 per 30 days without insurance.

If at all possible DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT go to walgreens, walmart especially etc for narcotics. Find a good quality PRIVATELY owned or hospital pharmacy (White County on the third floor in Searcy maintains a pharmacy for both internal patient needs and outside sales. That's where I get my drugs no questions asked or challenged) Since they are a hospital insurance has to pay it. Whatever it costs. 40 or 1000. They pay.

This is one more thought.

It is important your spouse, family parents, kids etc to not abuse you for the situation you are in. And you will need to by a good Amsec safe or something of that nature (Not a crappy walmart safe) to keep your narcotics in. If a child should get to a big adult pill, it can kill them quickly. With you liable to lose your freedom over it.

If you find yourself around people who abuse you for the unwanted medical situation you are in related to pain etc. You will have to consider removing them from your life. That might include relocating or divorce etc. This is not your fault. But people being spiteful and mean deep down sometimes will weaponize your new situation against you.

 

You sir will be laughed out of there.

I attempted the same thing and it did nothing. The exhaust gases poisoned me just as fast.

Going back many years in dry bulk I require those kinds of face masks against limestone dust in particular, I have verifiable MRI scanned injury from specifically cement dust and especially limestone dust inside my lung system and trachea. They still laughed me out of there. Ultimately I had to get into Flat bedding to get away from Bulk and then to sleeper van Regional to get away from 20 hour days in flatbedding.

Personally I have a pair of masks in a shelf. One against fire specifically for escape purposes only and the other is a military model against hazmat type gases like Chlorine etc. Ive worn it on the docks loading the stuff in the past, no one laughed in those days there. just drop in new filters and we are good to go along with maintaining the flexible seals twice a year.

But to walk around a truckstop like Wolcott Iowa or some place? They will absolutely laugh you off the face of th earth. OOO lookie there goes a space man... That radio will light up and it not going to be nice.

But between you and me, keep that mask handly when you get into a Haboob near Phoenix clap that on it will help you.

 

If cigarette smoke is that harmful to you, trucking is not the industry for you.

You will NOT be able to communicate with customers effectively wearing a respirator.

I also suspect that exhaust fumes will have a similar impact on you.

The fact is that trucking is a job that requires flexibility. Accommodations can be made, to a point, but it appears that you will need more accommodation than the industry can effectively provide.

 

One thought that might help you is that maybe there is something in the region of the USA that is affecting you.

I recall my first few trips into the Sonora and Mohave that I had gotten pretty sick and the doctor there ran some pretty good screening decades ago and discovered that there are allergens in the soil not native to me caused problems in the body. After a while I adjusted thankfully. Arkansas was another state in which I visited the doc a few times when I first made a home here. Trees and field grass among other problems. It took almost a year but I adapted.

Just a thought. Different parts of the USA affect people different.

I enjoyed your thoughts about people in general and teasing in particular. I thought that was good.

 

I can tell you right now that after the VA reassembled the cuff on the Spouse, handed her a rifle, backpack and told her to move out with the platoon she went. No apparent issues.

Fast forward to trucking specifically, her shoulder does give her trouble in weather changing, not sure how that works. But the big problem for her is pulling pins. That's where I came in. Sometimes those 5th wheels like to pull your arms right out of there... Also the power steering and automatic transmission assisted in keeping the shoulder cuff on her from flaring up too much.

She has a huge tolerance for pain, it's scary to me. You have to almost see the body around the Cuff flare up, swell and then start to get really not pleasant to look and I ask her you in pain? No.. BS. get out of there, hit the bunk get some rest Ima taking this down the road. She was not a complainer either. But I would say roughly 4 days out of 305 that we were out together that cuff was a problem.

I hope this information helps you specifically. Also I really hope that whoever works on your shoulders they have to do a good job. Your ability to work and enjoy life depends on it.