“Dennnnnnnnnis, you promised!” my wife lamented as we loaded up the kids and strollers for a walk down to the beach. We were in California for a week to relax and visit my parents.
“Just give me five minutes,” I pleaded. “I want to call the office to make sure everything is OK.” In my mind, I was thinking, “Sheesh! I just want affirmation that the Coleman project is going to pass final inspection and close on time.” My wife, of course, responded with that understanding look I’ve seen so many times before.
“Dennis, everything is fine,” my office manager, Mary, assured me. “Coleman is progressing well, the clients are happy, and the guys are doing great. We did have one little incident, though. Tommy hurt his back and is going to the doctor again today. Karl [my superintendent] can fill you in on all of the details, but wait until you get back to work. Have a good time and relax,” she admonished me. (This conversation occurred before cell phones were omnipresent, so communications between the field and the office were limited.)
I spent the rest of my little vacation worrying about whether that one project would close on or before the date promised and what sort of mishap had befallen one of my lead—and best—carpenters. “Back injury? That really sounds serious,” I kept thinking to myself. I also pondered the cause and circumstances of the injury.
When I returned to work, all but Tommy’s back were in good shape. That back injury, which previously had been categorized as “nothing to worry about,” turned out to be a serious condition. His symptoms were numerous: numbness in his right leg hip to toe, excruciating lower back pain, and the inability to walk without the assistance of a cane. As you might imagine, the numbness in his right leg, which he described as “tingling like my leg was asleep,” rendered him unable to drive a vehicle.
I met with Tommy to get a personal update on his condition. I also reviewed all of the paperwork and met with my workers’ comp representative about the injury, the prognosis, and what action steps and developments to expect in the near future.
The injury occurred simply enough, as Tommy bent over to pass under a scaffolding crossjack. His back reacted immediately, causing instant pain. After a few minutes of rest on the project site, he drove himself to the local emergency room, where they diagnosed a “back strain” and prescribed muscle relaxant pills to reduce swelling and inflammation in the impacted lower back muscles. The pain and discomfort were generated by the swollen muscles exerting pressure on the numerous nerves present in the lower back.
One of the circumstances of the accident that caught my attention was the timing. Tommy had been at work that Monday morning for only 10 to 12 minutes. No one witnessed the accident, although several other tradesmen were within feet of the occurrence. “That’s a little odd,” I thought to myself when reviewing the accident report.
The prognosis was that in addition to muscle inflammation, Tommy had split one of his lower vertebrae. The inner nerve tissue was ruptured and exuding from the vertebral cavity, which was the source of the leg numbness and lower back pain. All of those sensitive nerves and nerve tissue were doing their duty to send rupture messages to the brain and to cause pain with movement. (Think of a vertebrae rupture as a jelly doughnut that has been squeezed to emit the jelly to the outside surface. The normally protected nerve tissue (i.e., jelly) is now exposed to physical movements and muscles, from which it’s normally insulated.)
Work continued to be busy, and life went on. For several weeks, and then months, Tommy attended physical therapy sessions, performed exercises to minimize the nerve exposure and consequent pain, and tried swimming hydrotherapy. His overall condition was improving, but he wasn’t at work. He continued to experience pain, leg numbness, and overall limited physical mobility. One of the things that made this injury so perplexing was Tommy’s physical condition prior to the accident. He was lean, strong, muscular, and experienced. “How could a physically fit guy become injured by such a simple thing?” I continually pondered. “Maybe this is one of life’s nonsensical circumstances,” I rationalized.
