Yes, getting it approved w/ WC is a biggie.
Do you have a really on the ball comp atty on your side?

The main focus would be to prove that the injury /TOS came after the job.

I believe in the past a few went ahead & had the surgery after trying for a long time to get it approved w/wc and wc deny. I think they then sent to bill to wc after the surgery for approval after the fact.

It's been so long I can't recall all of it.
And some details were not posted due to it being an active ongoing claim at the time.
Sometimes wc will do internet searches esp. if high dollar claims/cases, so specifics/ identifying info best not posted publicly.