LogicGunn

...where I don't bounce back or shake off injuries like I used to.

I did something to my arm. I worked a shift, went home, and when I tried to go to bed that night I discovered that it hurt to lay on that arm and I couldn't put weight on it without it aching. I figured I pulled a muscle and it'd clear up in a few days. After a week with no improvement, I decided I'd go to urgent care to have it checked out. First, they asked about heart attach symptoms - any jaw/chest pains, nausea, etc? I said no. Any tingling or numbness? No. They figured I strained a muscle, and recommended light work for 7 days. If there's no improvement I should come back.

The pain is still there, and it's been another week. Only this time my arm/thumb keeps tingling on and off throughout the day D: It was getting better, and then I walked by this pole that had a fire extinguisher on it and I banged my bad arm into the fire extinguisher, and now the tingling is worse/more frequent.

My next day off is Wednesday, so I'll be going in then. They said something about sending me for imaging if the pain persists/worsens, so I figure that'll at least happen. I confess I'm worried about how this is going to play out. I didn't report an "incident" at work that may have caused my injury (because I don't remember a specific moment where I can say, "Ah, I definitely injured it then!") so work might just be like, "Okay, take time off from work to heal up." If I definitely injured it at work, they'd put me in another part of the store to answer phones or whatever, but I have no proof it happened at work, so I suspect they'll send me home...and it could be an unpaid leave. That makes me nervous.

There's conflicting information out there about leaves and pay. Some websites that discuss Walmart leaves say if you're a full-time associate who has been at Walmart for longer than a year, you get short-term disability automatically. Other places say you have to opt in, and yet other places say opting in is just for the enhanced short term disability. I will be opting in, but 'open enrollment' happens once a year, and it starts October 11th. To be honest, I would kind of love it if Walmart sent me home, because I could use the mental health break, but I know I'll stress about money and I don't want to screw my associates over. One of our team leads, Crystal, quit recently and the other is on vacation, leaving only me. But I am also tired of not sleeping well because my arm hurts or feeling the tingles.

I'm going to go in and be seen on Wednesday, and if they recommend I do light duty, I'll go speak to my people lead. He might just say to take time off work. Either way, I'll play this one by ear.

I've never had an injury persist like this. I'm usually pretty careful and heal up just fine.