It took a grand total of just over three years for my case to be settled. My back is no better, but essentially never will be from what I'm told as I am apparently not a candidate for surgery (I didn't really want surgery anyway, but might have considered it if it would've eased some pain). But I am finally on a decent regimen of pain medications that provide relatively satisfying pain control (I stay at about a 5/10 on the pain scale most of the day, which is tolerable most days. Sometimes there are uncontrollable spikes, but for the most part I am able to tolerate the pain I have without biting anyone's head off!)

Anyway...after 3 years, we finally settled by case for just under what my state's maximum is...In KS, the cap is 100,000 including any TTD that was paid throughout the case. I received $15k in TTD, and settled in the end for another $75k. After the attorney's cut, doctor bills, court costs and whatever other misc fees, I ended up with $50k at the end of the case, for a grand total of about $90k. Was it worth it to settle for $90k total instead of going to court some more to try for $100k that I may or may not have gotten? ABSOLUTELY.
I wish, wish, wish, wish that my back were better, or that I had some outlook of someday it being better to where I didn't have to need pain meds every day all day, but we can't always get what we want...I've been told that I am now (at not quite forty years old) permanently and totally disabled, and can never work again at the physically demanding labor I used to perform. However, I have online work now that I love, and would never have stumbled upon it had this not happened, so I fully believe that everything happens for a reason.
HANG IN THERE- your reason will appear... ;-)