I have not posted for about a year now because two lumbar discs herniated in my back from my job as a nursing assistant at the Spring City Veterans' Center in Spring City, PA. On a side note, I would not advise anyone to apply to work there or the Commonwealth of PA for that matter unless you want to be treated with contempt and disdain and discarded like you're a piece of trash. Do not waste your time. I am trying to warn you, so please listen.
I also would advise anyone, especially women, who are in healthcare or are going into healthcare to be extremely cautious because people will try to use, manipulate, and abuse you. And don't think for one minute that because you have a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing that you will somehow be treated with more respect because you won't. Because there is a chronic shortage of staff in healthcare you will be worked to the bone, pressured and forced to work while you are injured, forced and threatened with firing if you do not do a double shift, and you will be made to feel like the scum of the earth and that you are worthless because you dared to be human and get injured.
The book above is a must read for anyone working in healthcare. I was reading this book before I took a Medical Ethics course at a college as a prerequisite for an ABSN program I had entered, and the concept of Bioethics and its associated evil was mentioned in this book as it was in the course on Medical Ethics. Healthcare has turned into death care; it is very dangerous to be a patient, and it is equally dangerous to be a worker in healthcare. It is the only field that will destroy morale, truth, righteousness, and a moral standard. And it is the only field where you go in completely whole and come out completely fractured and destroyed.
During Covid, nurses were heralded as heroes and later when they chose not to get the experimental vaccine, they were fired and dumped on the sidewalk like trash all because they didn't tow the politically correct narrative. As a nurse you will be used, abused, spit at, punched, bitten, sexually harassed, groped, screamed at, harassed, forced to do hard labor, mocked, insulted, written-up after you've poured your heart and physically energy into your work, and blamed repeatedly for stuff that isn't even your fault. It amounts to human trafficking-slave labor, and it's downright abuse.
I have been in the profession for over twenty years and it has gotten much worse. Since Rockefeller took over healthcare with socialized medicine in 2007, and John Hopkins, and the American Medical Association (AMA), healthcare has turned into a toilet- a living cess pool of greed and corruption. Political ideology has completely usurped the field to the point where it is no longer about health; it's about rapacious corporations, political correctness which leads to blatant discrimination, ubiquitous corruption with no oversight, tyrannical power struggles, and irrational, illogical, absurd woke ideology like telling a doctor that he can no longer state the biological sex of a baby because it's now about how the person feels that dictates truth, not irrefutable biological facts (Please see the AMA's new policy on birth certificates). And if you ever dare to question the politically correct narrative, you will become a target of hate, hate, and more hate because that's how dirty liberals deal. It's just like Mao's cultural revolution in China. The same thing is happening here in America.
I got injured last year this month from lifting 100 pound patient's legs into their beds and repetitive stress in general. It was a Monday morning, July 11th, after I had worked several shifts when I awoke and my back was splinting in pain. It hurt so bad to cough and sneeze, and it hurt to put my pants on. I knew something was seriously wrong (I was suspect that there was a herniation) so I went to the ER at Phoenixville hospital because I wanted a MRI. The ER doctor was rude and would not allow me to get an MRI so I threatened to go above her. Finally she conceded and it turned out that I had not one but two lumbar herniations on the L5 and S1 nerve roots which explained the sciatic symptoms I was getting. She put me on a Prednisone taper and sent me home with a script for Oxycodone, Prednisone, and a referral to a spine surgeon.
Over the course of several weeks, I worked at my job on light duty (because I did not want to lose my job). I was repeatedly subjected to stalking and harassment from the racist (oh, I mean fascist) supervisors and some staff who constantly pressured me to break my restrictions by doing more work which only exasperated my injury. When I complained to HR in a written letter as evidence about the harassment while asking for a reasonable accommodation, the harassment and bullying got so much worse. Like a metastasizing toxic cancer, I was reprimanded multiple times and was given a very negative performance evaluation. I was even reprimanded for daring to use the toilet to relieve myself even while on light duty. All of this occurred within three weeks of my letter to HR and I had been working there for seven months. I had never witnessed such cruelty and hate in my life, which explains why disabled and partially disabled people are terribly discriminated against in our society; they are made to feel worthless. Because nothing was done to address my concerns of harassment, the message that was sent to me was this: If you want to keep your job, don't complain ever about abuse, mistreatment, harassment, and slave labor because it's a part of the job. In other words, we condone all kinds of abuse, including gaslighting. There was no standard of morality or equal treatment even though I was forced to do diversity, equity, and inclusion training (DEI). Their standards had sunk to the lowest level of Pennsylvania pond scum muck. The worst part about all of it is the deceit; the Commonwealth of PA claims to be an equal opportunity employer. Even one nurse who worked there said to me "we are expected to put up with abuse" after I mentioned to her what was happening to me. What the hell? Seriously? So, I guess she's the kind of woman who would stay married to a man who beats the shit out her everyday because, well, she has Stockholm Syndrome-she loves her abuser. What the **** is wrong with people who think this **** is acceptable?
All this woke ideology that is currently sweeping our culture reminds me of the movie The Mortal Storm with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan. The movie illustrates the scope of the trajectory of what a transient political ideology can do and how destructive it is. The family is torn apart and all the brothers sell their own flesh-and-blood out (their sister and parents are killed by the Nazis) as they get swept away from the tsunami of Nazism because they remain more loyal to a BS political ideology that lasted for only a couple years. If anyone didn't salute with a Seig Heil (in other words, they didn't buy into the propaganda), they immediately became a target of hate and persecution. In a word, the illusionary and transient power of Nazism in Germany seduced and hypnotized the brothers (and millions of others), and what a shame because that political ideology in Nazi Germany brought 70 million people to their deaths. When the BS political ideology was defeated in Nazi Germany, it went down into the grave like a million others ideologies that come and go, but after all was said and done, the brothers no longer had their parents or their sister. The most disturbing part is that Nazism in Germany usurped the public sector, and I need not say anymore-just connect the dots. Discernment is absolutely necessary to navigate this world of deceit and chicanery. You can tell a lot about someone and their character by looking at what they're loyal to.
I seemed to do ok if I was on my feet for a total of two hours while sitting for the rest of the shift, but they went out of their way to get me to do more work by changing my hours to day shift. And there was no reason why they could not have accommodated me on the 4th floor which was a personal care unit where all the residents were independent and where the nurse aide that was assigned to that floor just sat most the shift. Of course, these are violations of the EEOC laws and the American with Disabilities Act of 1990. As a result of my being on my feet and walking, albeit very slowly, for over six hours, I was in horrible pain and had to go home. Eventually, I was taken out of work by a doctor to which I agreed with because of the abuse I was constantly subjected to from the staff and supervisors. It only made my injury much worse.
I knew what a herniation was. I was hit by a drunk driver ten years earlier which resulted in a cervical herniation at C4-C5. The pain and disability from that injury was unlike anything I'd ever experienced in my life before. My head felt like a bowling ball on a toothpick. I could not hold it up in the acute phase and the radiculopathy felt like a giant freshly sharpened butcher knife constantly stabbing me in my thoracic region. The pain was so severe I got an X-ray done on my thoracic which only came back unremarkable. I didn't understand at that time what radicular pain was because it was my first experience with it.
Radiculopathy is referred pain, just like Sciatica. It is so disabling and sometimes even powerful narcotics can't take the pain away. With the cervical herniation, I chose to do the conservative modalities even though a spine doctor referred me to pain management. I didn't want to go to the pain management doctor because I didn't trust any of these doctors; they misdiagnosed me telling me it was just arthritis. Of course, for me that was good news, but when I tried to go back to my normal very active lifestyle, I was met with such disabling pain and even freakish episodes where I could not even stand from paralysis in my legs. It turned out that I was having myelopathy symptoms all because these doctors kept prevaricating and lying to me. So, I went into self preservation mode and sent my films out of the state to get a non-biased opinion about my condition and that is when a doctor finally told me the truth (because no one was telling him what to tell me): I had a severe injury-a herniated disc-that was compressing my cord and that I needed to rest and take care of myself. Because of the prevarication and lies of the doctors in my area, I was terrified of going to any doctor in my area for an ESI (Epidural Steroid Injection) or surgery lest he permanently damage me, either by damaging a nerve, puncturing the dural (thecal) sac, or tearing the erector spinae muscles. Eventually I did capitulate because the pain just wouldn't go away and I got two ESI's which finally addressed my constant pain and allowed me to resume my normal activities, but this was only after six months of pain and disability.
For the first cervical ESI, I had every side-effect which made the whole ordeal worse. When I was laying prone on the table while they were prepping me for it, I asked the doctor, "Do they still use Kenalog?" My father used that in his Dermatology practice with his patients. The doctor responded, "It is Kenalog." I had never had Kenalog before, so I didn't know how I would react to it. Sure enough I got every side-effect, so needless to say, I canceled the second ESI they had scheduled 3 weeks later and in the interim I got my medical records and read that Dr. Wilson had given me 80mg of Kenalog. When I rescheduled the second ESI 6 weeks later, while laying once again prone on the table, I asked Dr. Wilson if we could use less Kenalog while still getting the therapeutic and efficacious result. He said, "Sure, what do you want? Does 50 sound ok?" I said, "Yes, let's try that." Well, it worked like a charm without any of the side-effects. Ten years later though, I still have residual problems in my neck. I get muscle spasms in my trapezius and rhomboids, and if I overdo it, I will get sharp slicing jabbing pains in my neck especially when I turn it.
With my two lumbar herniations, I thought it would be the same. I said to the doctors, "Just give me a couple epidurals and I'll be on my way." Well unfortunately, it did not work out that way. In fact, the pain and disability went on for months and months with several sciatic nerve flare-ups even after three ESIs. On one occasion, eight months after the start of the injury, I tried to do some activity so I was active (by active I mean getting out of bed) for two days in a row and on the third day when I tried to sweep just for thirty minutes, I knew right away that the sciatic nerve was getting angry. And all I did was sweep for thirty freaking minutes! As soon as I came into my bedroom I knew right away just by the way my back felt that it was going to be bad, and bad it was. It was the absolute worst of all the flare-ups. Nociceptors are powerful communicators all throughout your body; you can't see them but you can sure feel them. The sciatic nerve got so angry it blasted numbness and tingling like a foghorn down both my legs all the way to my toes. The burning, stabbing, and jabbing pain in my lumbar region was so severe I could barely stand and walk and I needed a freaking cane at 50! I took oxycodone. That did absolutely nothing. I took prednisone. That did absolutely nothing. I took Tramadol. That did absolutely nothing. Lyrica was a little better than the other medications but it was so minimal it didn't really help either. All I could do was lay in bed, in horrible pain, for three continuous days before the pain finally began to subside. I felt punished for just living my life. I wanted to die.
I have never been a person in chronic pain and because of this I am wise enough to know that if something causes pain, you don't do it. Just about everything I tried to do caused pain. I began to feel like my life was over and that there was no light at the end of the tunnel. At this point, eight months into this injury I was beginning to feel like I was going to be like this forever even though I was aware that cartilage is avascular-it does not get a blood supply-so it takes longer to heal, but by eight months, I was getting very discouraged. It was at this point that I became desperate and starting seeking surgery consults. When I went to Premier Orthopedics, I was met with the most insensitive doctor who was colder than the East Antarctic Plateau and she dismissed my pain like she was discarding a piece of litter on the ground. Linda D'Andrea even wrote on my medical records that I probably had Lymes disease, a vitamin deficiency, or rheumatoid arthritis-none of which I have been diagnosed with ever. When I read her reviews, many others corroborated exactly what I experienced, including the BS on the medical records. Who the heck would get surgery from a piece of **** like that? Dr. Balotti, also from Premier Orthopedics was very rough when doing the first and second ESI on me. On the first one, he ripped my pants down because I guess they were up too high even though they were past my lumbar. On the second one, he wiggled the percutaneous needle around while it was in my spine. I wanted to scream bloody murder and smash his hand with a hammer because it hurt so bad. Horrible bedside manners tantamount to Dr. Mengele. I eventually saw another doctor, Dr. Asku from Premier Orthopedics, who seemed focused and competent enough but when I met his assistant, he made a comment to me that disturbed me greatly and suggested he knew stuff about me that was none of his business. So I wanted nothing to do with all these doctors because I was certain they would harm me in one way or another because, well, they already did.
I am glad I waited to schedule the surgery with Dr. Asku 2 months later when I first saw him because after those two months passed, almost a year into the injury, I was starting to make some improvements and that gave me hope that I could avoid surgery. So, I ended up canceling the laminectomy discectomy surgery because honestly, I was terrified that I would be left worse going out than I did going in.
Since I started to receive some money from the work comp settlement, I purchased a toilet seat riser, a grabber, a new mattress which I needed very badly, and a body pillow from My Pillow. All of these have made a big difference in my recovery. I don't wake up with a stiff back nearly as much as I used to. If you are a side sleeper and have disc problems in both your cervical and lumbar regions, the body pillow from My Pillow will help with aligning your spine, and it will help with comfort if you have pain while sleeping. I highly recommend it. I only wish I knew it was available when my dad was still alive because I would have gotten it for him. I know he would have loved it because he was a side sleeper and loved tons of pillows just like me.
I started a physical therapy routine of my own that I created for myself. It included the use of deep heating rub while I did physical activity so my lumbar region would heat up nicely helping the muscles to relax. I would do a TENS unit in the morning and in the evening for twenty minutes which had me plowing through expensive 9V batteries like crap through geese. I purchased several ice packs that I would put directly on my skin for about 10-15 minutes immediately after I did physical activity. I can now do low-impact walking for three hours, although I can't do that every day, and I can sit in a recumbent bike at the gym with lumbar support for an hour. I have not tried to get on my TREK bike yet because it has no lumbar support. I tried to do some ab exercises, leg extensions, leg curls, and leg presses at the gym to strengthen my legs and core but it was causing more pain so I stopped doing that. At the very beginning of getting out of bed and restarting physical activity to get my life back, I needed pain pills about 3-4 times a week. Now, two months later, I rarely take a pain pill preferring instead to just listen to my body; when something causes pain like a leg extension machine, I don't do it. So, at my one year anniversary of my two lumbar herniations, I am still partially disabled because I cannot lift anything above 40 pounds due to the pain it causes.
When I worked at the Southeastern Veterans' Center, I got Covid even while wearing a N95 mask which proves that masks are useless to protect you. There were so many people who worked there who got Covid even with three boosters which only proves the ineffectiveness of the vaccine that made the pharmaceutical companies billions of dollars even though they had no liability for vaccine injury. That should have been a big communist red flag waving in everyone's faces-profits before people-because they bribed and coerced people with money to take the vaccine promising them a free week of pay. I never got the vaccine and I was excoriated. I was shocked that they gave me an accommodation for the vaccine but I realize now it was only because they were desperate for staff. Otherwise, I am certain they never would have hired me because I didn't tow the politically correct narrative.
Covid was a skip in the park compared to these lumbar herniations and the job that gave them to me.
When I applied to the Southeastern Veterans' Center back in August of 2021, I went to a job fair. It's no wonder they constantly have job fairs; they have such a high turn over rate because new hires are abused and bullied constantly by staff and supervisors that they quit or they find a way to fire the new hires because the supervisors are on Fascist Power Trips. It's a complete inhumane toxic crap hole. When I was interviewed, the HR woman asked me, "Can you recognize abuse?" I immediately thought this strange as to why she would ask me this because in all my years of working in healthcare and interviewing for hundreds of jobs, I have never, ever been asked this question in an interview before. My gut told me something wasn't right because the topic of abuse would generally be covered but only in the orientation period, not during an interview.
Looking back now I realize she was indirectly asking me if I know how to recognize when I am being abused because that is exactly what happened to me. Working there was the worst job I have ever had in my life, bar none, and this was a government job, my first one, in the state of Pennsylvania where most liberals flock to like flies to crap, which gives the evidence of massive corruption and greed. When I read through several reviews of working for the Commonwealth, some people had positive reviews probably because they towed the politically correct narrative of woke ideology but many other reviews were extremely negative. One commenter said that it was so inhumane that he was written up for using the bathroom and was expected to crap his pants. That's exactly what happened to me. I was given a reprimand for daring to use the toilet to relieve myself even while I was on light duty and had a doctor's note. It was just like a fascist or communist concentration camp where you are abused and beaten to death because your enemies don't adhere to the Geneva Convention. These people should be tried for war crimes, after all, it was the Department of Military and Veteran Affairs that I worked in. Glassdoor gives it a rating of only 3.3 out of 5 stars.
When I started working there I documented every single harassing and bullying incident. In just seven months, I had accumulated over fifteen pages of documentation. Since I have a BA in English, I document everything. I won't go into all the details of those 15 pages but what I will say is that it is certainly not healthcare. It is a section-8 ward, and it is completely FUBAR (F***** Up Beyond All Repair). The Commonwealth of PA is probably the most corrupt state in the union, with Georgia coming in second, but then again California probably tips the scales in corruption more than PA.
Update: July 28, 2024 (two years after initial injury). I had to get many more procedures because of pain. After trying to rehab my back last summer 2023, at first I was doing ok, but then the pain returned and it was horrible. I could not even put my pants on because of severe pain, so I sought treatment once again in a desperate attempt to avoid surgery. I had two procedures (radio frequency ablation) for facet arthritis at L4-L5 and L5-S1 which involved 8 percutaneous spinal needles and another ESI in my left SI (Sacroiliac) joint. While lying prone on the table, my right leg spasmed over a dozen times, not to mention the pain of the procedure since I opted for a local anesthetic instead of general anesthesia. Apparently, I was the only patient out of a dozen who were scheduled for ablation that opted for a local anesthetic instead of general. So, at my two anniversary, although my pain problem has improved since last summer, I still can’t lift anything over 40 pounds. I wouldn’t do it anyway because that would be the quickest way to re-injure my back and I am not going to do that after what I have just been through over the past two years.