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FOULK v. COLONIAL TERRACE12/16/1994
Tammy G. Foulk, claimant, appeals from the decision of the Appeals Board for the Kansas Division of Workers Compensation (Board).
Essentially, we must decide if the Board erred in its award of permanent partial general disability. We affirm.
On August 22, 1991, claimant suffered a lower back injury while working at Colonial Terrace (Colonial), a nursing home. Claimant worked at Colonial as a Certified Nurses Aide (CNA). Claimant advised her supervisor of this injury. The day after her injury, she was unable to return to work.
Claimant visited the company physician, Dr. Charles L. Empson, who put her on Flexeril and Darvocet and told her not to return to work for two or three weeks. At the end of this time, claimant attempted to return to work but was only able to work approximately two days before the pain began increasing. She visited Dr. Empson's partner, Dr. Thomas M. Auxter, who took her off work for another two or three weeks. She later returned to work on modified duty for about eight weeks. Claimant testified she was taken off work at that time by the regional district manager for the owners of Colonial. The administrator for Colonial testified, however, that claimant came into her office and said she was quitting because she could not handle the job .
After being seen by Dr. Empson, claimant was seen by Dr. David L. Black, an orthopedic surgeon, who became her treating physician. During Dr. Black's physical examination of claimant, he found she was tender over the sacroiliac joint of her back, but the rest of her exam was normal. Dr. Black diagnosed claimant with sacroiliitis, or inflammation of the sacroiliac joint. He treated claimant with trigger point injections, which did not alleviate her pain. After a follow-up visit, he restricted claimant's activities, but she returned to work.
After claimant's return to work aggravated her condition, Dr. Black specifically laid out a number of restrictions on her activities.
He advised claimant she could lift 10 to 20 pounds 30 times an hour, 30 pounds 4 times an hour, and 40 to 50 pounds 2 times an hour. He instructed her never to lift 60 pounds or more. In his deposition, Dr. Black testified claimant could bend, stoop, twist, squat, kneel, or crawl on a frequent basis. In his notes, however, he stated, " he should be permanently restricted in the amount of bending and twisting that she should do and she should not be bending or stooping more than 2 times an hour." Claimant testified she could not work as a CNA under the restrictions Black imposed.
Dr. Black recommended a work hardening program of therapy for claimant, but she refused to participate in this. Claimant advised Dr. Black that she had been through a lot of therapy and did not think work hardening would be helpful. Further, she stated she had difficulty arranging transportation.
Dr. Black stated claimant suffered a three percent whole body impairment as a result of her injury.
Claimant was also seen by Dr. P. Brent Koprivica. At the initial examination, Dr. Koprivica recommended a rehabilitative program for conditioning and work hardening, which claimant elected not to follow. At a subsequent visit, Dr. Koprivica took x-rays of claimant's back which showed degenerative changes. Dr. Koprivica diagnosed claimant with chronic nonradicular low back pain with chronic left sacroiliac dysfunction. He tested for symptom magnification but did not find any evidence that claimant was magnifying her symptoms.
Dr. Koprivica also indicated claimant had a congenital problem of pelvic obliquity; a leg length discrepancy. Dr. Koprivica believed the injury claimant suffered at wor
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