Workplace injury

It also depends on how old you are and the type of injury. I was out from Jan.1 until March 15 with a knee injury. I am 68. Things don't heal as fast as when you are 28. I also pulled a piece of bone off my wrist when I fell. As the OP mentioned, getting in and out of the truck is the hardest part sometimes.

 

that's right...power steering, air ride everything, a/c, automatics, lumpers, comfortable sleepers, not coffins, road service, not jack or spare tire (call road service), full service truck stops rather than roadside diners,
and in truck appliances.

 

that's right, our dear friend, Arthur Ritus comes to visit, and makes things more difficult.

 

Mehta. Perhaps. Or perhaps I, at 51 years young, have excess legislation from jack hole old men truckers that caused a bunch of legislation because they had lots to prove....
A slew of kids I know were raised by dads who were undoubtedly meaner than necessary from chronic pain. Suffering is not noble. Implying that the OP is some slackass loser because he is being responsible with his health is also not noble.
Can you do better?

 

You don't have excess legislation from the old guys who "thought they had something to prove." We have excess legislation from people who shouldn't be driving cars driving trucks.
Taking it careful to the point of afraid to use a broken limb seems to make the later pain worse not lessen it, it's also how you end up needing physical therapy and still not regain full use of the limb. These are nothing a doctor will tell you as far as I'm aware, simply personal experience from the last 10 years.

 

I know nothing about the progression of truck legislation so I'll have to take your word for that.
But I've been married. I've watched guys halfway through the rehab on knee surgery or a few days past the major pain pills from sickness or injury, back full speed.
The cultural conditioning of at least white men aged 40ish to dead....is to ignore the facts their bodies give them. Its called being a real man. Or toughing it out. Or whatever. Great before antibiotics and when we all died at 50s and 60s.
Now its really counterproductive and shouldn't be promoted on the internet...

 

You ever been on major pain pills, theyre not a lot of fun in my opinion, also horrible for kidneys.
You ever see x-rays of a femur snapped and the end shoved a few inches past each other? How about a snapped humerous with the end still attached to the elbow bent at a 90 while the rest of the arm is straight? I know when I broke my leg and they stuck a chunk of rod and some screws in it they said the sooner you start using it the better, that was after a week in the hospital. The humerous they didn't want to move much because it was missing a good chunk of bone that had to grow back.
After 8 weeks I'd about gaurantee the doctor says go ahead and start using it. Over babying a broken limb will not have any affect on the pain from it later, you're going to have pain from old breaks.

 

I played rugby for 10 years, I know a bit about pain. The only reason I even went to the doctor is because my company mandated it. Now I wanted to go, because they did X-rays and an MRI. I wanted to be 100% sure that I was not going to do MORE damage to my knee if I went back to work. I had already had surgery last year for a torn Meniscus. I hate to admit it, but two years ago I literally fell out of my truck and splattered on the concrete. Lost my grip getting out with a trash bag. I thought i was dead. My head bounced off the asphalt and my elbow really hit hard. 30 minutes later the end was the size of a golf ball. So I just iced it and went on down the road when I was sure I wasn't concussed. Stuff happens.

 

Eight weeks is pretty much standard for bones to heal enough to return to pretty much normal activity. The time I broke my right arm was right at 8 weeks because it was close to what they call the growth plates in the elbow, almost needed screws there too. The first time I had to screwed back together, first time I broke my left arm, it was 6 weeks.
You do any extra nasty bone breaking playing rugby?

 

I played football from around 6 years old until I hurt my right knee after an illegal "clip" when I was 17 and had to stop playing. In those years I suffered from 2 concussions and many muscle strains. In later life as I got older, all my joints developed osteoarthritis. Both shoulders, both elbows, both SI joints, and both hips. Because of the concussions I also seemed to have developed PTE and that turned into full Epilepsy. I have already mentioned migraines. I lost my driving privileges. I can't even do the George Jones thing. I was told NO when I asked for a scooter. Just too dangerous. I can't find a comfortable position to sleep in no matter what I try. NONE of the things I just spoke of have a cure. because of my age, the VA is reluctant to replace my joints. I have had some surgery on both shoulders and have a visiting PT person to help me some. So when I say clearly you NEVER go past what is comfortable I mean it. There does come a point in most workman's comp situations where the physician will release you to limited duty. I have mentioned several times now in these forums about a neighbor that works as a flight attendant. She has been out of work before because of hurting herself on the job. ALL of us are aging. With age comes situations where we will take longer to recover. This is something you MUST discuss with your physician.

I have also taken notice of some comments that tend to mention fraud. Yes, this happens a heck of a lot. When it is done all of us pay for it. However, since I don't have a crystal ball or the ability to "read" minds all I can do is trust people when they say they hurt! This OP needs to make sure their physician is aware of what is going on. It is entirely possible this OP is on limited duty now.