u/DreamSignificant9946

Hi, without going too crazy with details, I (32m, england) went for knee surgery and was told there would be 2 outcomes.

Procedure 1. I would wake up sore, recovery would be 6 weeks-ish, weight bearing as soon as i'm able and some physio to rebuild strength in muscles they messed about with.

Procedure 2. I would wake up with a brace which had to be fitted for 12 weeks, weight bearing but only with the brace locked straight, brace unlocked whilst sitting or doing exercises.

What I actually woke up to was a more complex version of Procedure 2.

Brace on, no weight bearing for 6 weeks, brace locked in full extention until reassessed.

I went for physio today and was told its to stay in full extention for 6 weeks.

I've now found myself recovering from a surgery that became more complex than i was expecting, I wasn't prepared for non weight bearing nor the situation of being stuck straight legged for 6 weeks.

I'm now worried that my paid sick time won't be enough for me to fully recover and go back to work.

Is there any recourse here? I understand things change and it became more involved as the surgeon actually got his eyes on the problem but the way i see it is that I wouldn't take my car to a garage for brakes with an expected invoice of £300 and then go to collect the car and find they had done suspension work and 3 tyres without notifying me and now the invoice was £1000.

Any thoughts/advice?

Hi,

I 32m have found myself in a bit of a situation,

(Tl;dr at the end)

I'm a lorry driver, finished college with a 1st diploma in Ag engineering, did 3 years of mechanics after, ended up in a driving job almost instantly due to the attitudes towards apprentices at the time (£100 a week, we don't HAVE to pay you anything and we expect 50 hours or every Saturday), a decade and a bit down the line i've been working for a company for the last 9 years.

The reason this is relevant, due to repeated injured e (read bellow) I have just had knee surgery, (discharged 6 hours ago) my employer will pay 12 weeks sick pay, I was told i'd either recover in 6 weeks or less if they did a 'tidy up' but if they made a repair i could be looking at 12 weeks with braced leg, unlocking braced for PT, Physio, experiences etc to protect the repair. It was also mentioned that I would be able to weight bear but only with the leg locked straight (yes, it's good fun!)

Anyway, I came out, told immediately 6 weeks no weight bearing.

There is no 'light duties' at my work, they could create some for a month without too much of an issue but I get the feeling they'll be unwilling, if i run out of paid sick I have a small bit of savings, I could keep going for a few months maybe.

Although my initial injury happened because I did something very stupid after watching my friend do some light parkour, I managed that problem and worked without pain (unless overdoing it, I could run, jump and do whateverr, never leading to time off)

2 years ago i had an accident at work, I had climbed onto a piece of machinery (genuine access steps and handrails) and my foot slipped, I fell, maybe 3 feet and put my leg out to catch my fall.

This left me out of action for the full 3 months, i did eventually recover enough to continue working but it's been very difficult at times and I've had to be a lot more conscious of my outside-work activities as a result.

Point is, should I?

Or..

1.) Make all the effort NOW to sign up to a 12 week course to give me some employability in an office based environment as a back up. (This might be wishful thinking, but I have industry experience in a few different business environments that generally end up with someone clueless telling someone somewhat skilled what to do, I'm willing to make the push if necessary)

2.) (I do NOT want to do this, but...)Put a personal injury claim in based upon the fact that had i not sustained that injury i likely wouldn't have pursued surgery and wouldn't be in this position.

*this is, if the situation arises that i'm unable to return and i'm going to be sat around on SSP because they refuse to make a temporary accommodation for me.

3.) Both? Something else?

Thats all i've got, i'm trying to be prepared to do something but i'm not sure if i'm just being paranoid, or if some important life decisions need making very soon in order to protect my future.

Thanks a bunch for reading my ramblings, still a little woozy from surgery.

Tl:dr

Only get so much sick pay and surgery recovery is likely to exhaust it all and more, wondering if I should be preplanning my next move and if so, which direction?

​

Hi,

I 32m have found myself in a bit of a situation,

(Tl;dr at the end)

I'm a lorry driver, finished college with a 1st diploma in Ag engineering, did 3 years of mechanics after, ended up in a driving job almost instantly due to the attitudes towards apprentices at the time (£100 a week, we don't HAVE to pay you anything and we expect 50 hours or every Saturday), a decade and a bit down the line i've been working for a company for the last 9 years.

The reason this is relevant, due to repeated injured e (read bellow) I have just had knee surgery, (discharged 6 hours ago) my employer will pay 12 weeks sick pay, I was told i'd either recover in 6 weeks or less if they did a 'tidy up' but if they made a repair i could be looking at 12 weeks with braced leg, unlocking braced for PT, Physio, experiences etc to protect the repair. It was also mentioned that I would be able to weight bear but only with the leg locked straight (yes, it's good fun!)

Anyway, I came out, told immediately 6 weeks no weight bearing.

There is no 'light duties' at my work, they could create some for a month without too much of an issue but I get the feeling they'll be unwilling, if i run out of paid sick I have a small bit of savings, I could keep going for a few months maybe.

Although my initial injury happened because I did something very stupid after watching my friend do some light parkour, I managed that problem and worked without pain (unless overdoing it, I could run, jump and do whateverr, never leading to time off)

2 years ago i had an accident at work, I had climbed onto a piece of machinery (genuine access steps and handrails) and my foot slipped, I fell, maybe 3 feet and put my leg out to catch my fall.

This left me out of action for the full 3 months, i did eventually recover enough to continue working but it's been very difficult at times and I've had to be a lot more conscious of my outside-work activities as a result.

Point is, should I?

Or..

1.) Make all the effort NOW to sign up to a 12 week course to give me some employability in an office based environment as a back up. (This might be wishful thinking, but I have industry experience in a few different business environments that generally end up with someone clueless telling someone somewhat skilled what to do, I'm willing to make the push if necessary)

2.) (I do NOT want to do this, but...)Put a personal injury claim in based upon the fact that had i not sustained that injury i likely wouldn't have pursued surgery and wouldn't be in this position.

*this is, if the situation arises that i'm unable to return and i'm going to be sat around on SSP because they refuse to make a temporary accommodation for me.

3.) Both? Something else?

Thats all i've got, i'm trying to be prepared to do something but i'm not sure if i'm just being paranoid, or if some important life decisions need making very soon in order to protect my future.

Thanks a bunch for reading my ramblings, still a little woozy from surgery.

Tl:dr

Only get so much sick pay and surgery recovery is likely to exhaust it all and more, wondering if I should be preplanning my next move and if so, which direction?