catra, I'm salaried. How does that make a difference legally? I didn't think there would be a difference unless I wasn't there very long or only worked part-time. I know it's the best option to try to work it out with my employer, but I'm just afraid they're determined to get rid of me already and nothing I do will change that. They've had many supposed lay offs in the past that everyone knew weren't lay offs (it's not a lay off if their replacement shows up the next day) and they get away with it. I think most people are happy they get to collect unemployment instead of being fired. That's not good enough for me because I know it'll be harder for me to get another job. Plus, I didn't do anything to warrant being fired. I've always done a great job.

To answer your question, Lit, yes I saw a doctor almost right away. I first had pain between my pinky and ring fingers that felt like a bruise. It hurt when I typed and it didn't take long before I really couldn't type with those 2 fingers. As time went on and I went for more doctors/specialists, the swelling started creeping in. As I said, I'm not good with dates, but I do remember the first time I had a real RSD pain. I was getting in my car to go home after work and I just went to take off my little hoodie jacket and I felt like I was being electrocuted. I thought it was the worst of it but the pain got worse and worse and I was sobbing from the pain by the time I got home. It took a few months before the ortho I was seeing at the time told me he thought it was RSD. They never found out what the original injury was. I kept trying for almost a year, but test after test showed no injury. After that, I could only focus on the RSD and all the pain....not that I wasn't trying to get rid of the pain all along.

The ketamine gave me one wonderful month without the RSD pain. Since it was about a year after the original pain started, I still had lots of soreness and stiffness, but nothing like RSD. I have to be grateful for that month because it gave me time to do PT and get my range of motion back. It allowed me to start typing again too. I can type with both hands for a good portion of the time, but my job is all typing. So, it's no surprise that I can't keep it up for 8hrs a day. However, I still get everything done that I need to....even with a workload that's a lot bigger than the other 2 people in my department. So, no I don't see that as a decline in my efficiency at all. I've just gotten a lot better at typing with one hand to make up for it. Just because I was a phenomenal worker before and I'm only excellent now does not mean I should be penalized for it. I'm still better at my job than some perfectly healthy people are there. My employer has absolutely no reason to be concerned with how well I'm doing my job and they know it. (Actually they reiterated that in that very meeting...saying they know I'm one of the few people that doesn't need to be watched over or told what needs to be done. They've told me many times how well I do my job and I have e-mails to prove it.) They can only site their supposed concern for my health as a reason to tell me to go to the dr. and be written out of work.

I can't say if I'm making anything worse or not by working. I can only say that lying in bed at home is not going to help me any and it's not going to pay the bills. They think if I just rest I'll get better. You and I both know that's not the case.

At this point, I'm just going to tell my dr. exactly why I'm there (because my employer is concerned and sent me home and not because I felt I needed to) and answer any questions truthfully. I'll leave it up to him if he thinks I should be out of work or not. Being that he already allowed me to go back to work a little over a week ago, I don't think he's suddenly going to change his mind. If he does write me out of work, I will of course file for TD, as I did last time. I can't afford not to. Since the original injury is still a mystery, I really doubt I could say it happened at or because of my work. I won't file a WC claim unless my dr. tells me to because he's the 1st one they're going to ask.

I do plan on looking through the forums for SSDI eventually. I just didn't think I needed to do that just yet. If my dr. writes me out or lets me back to work with a bunch of restrictions, I'll definitely check it out sooner than later.