Whiplash: More than just a pain in the neck

By Colin Caudell

Whiplash is a common injury generating up to 60,000 claims each year in Australia. However in 20-40% of cases symptoms persist for years after wards and little science exists for its treatment. No injured party should have to endure what Colin Caudell experienced at the hands of bureaucrats and health professionals. This is one story of a lonely and painful journey. The book endeavours to provide assistance and guidelines for victims and their families who may be confronted with having to make a Work Cover or third party insurance claim.

• Language: English
• Publisher: ReadOnTime BV
• Release date: Jul 10, 2012
• ISBN: 9781742840512

Book preview

Whiplash

More than just a pain in the neck

Colin Caudell

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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Whiplash - More than just a pain in the neck

Copyright © 2011 Colin Caudell

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

The information, views, opinions and visuals expressed in this publication are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect those of the publisher. The publisher disclaims any liabilities or responsibilities whatsoever for any damages, libel or liabilities arising directly or indirectly from the contents of this publication.

Author: Colin Caudell

Edition: 1st

ISBN: 9781742840512 (pbk.)

Published by BookPal

www.bookpal.com.au

PO Box 3422

Sunnybank Hills LPO

QLD 4109

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Dedication

Without the love, support and enthusiasm from my wife Suzanne, two boys Adam and Darren, my sister Robyn and brother in law John this journey would not have been possible, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

To Coralie May Bayliss, my mother in law, who lost her fight with lung cancer on the 12th September 2010, I say a big thank you. Her determination and focus on surviving cancer was an inspiration.

To the team at Ray White Caloundra and the directors Andrew and Tom Garland, I am forever grateful for their ongoing support.

To my wife’s best friend, Beth Schmidt, thank you for your support in editing this book.

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Contents

Foreword

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Chapter 2 - The accident

Chapter 3 - Police report

Chapter 4 - The diary

Chapter 5 The first 3 months – symptoms and diagnosis

Chapter 6 - The next 12 months

Chapter 7 - The second year

Chapter 8 - The symptoms

Chapter 9 - WorkCover

Chapter 10 - The insurance company

Chapter 11 - The doctors

Chapter 12 - The drugs

Chapter 13 - The physiotherapists

Chapter 14 - The psychologist

Chapter 15 - The solicitor

Chapter 16 - CONROD

Chapter 17 - The exercise program

Chapter 18 - Centrelink

Chapter 19 - Medicare

Chapter 20 - Conclusion

Check list

My pain log

References

Testimonials

About the Author Colin Caudell

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Foreword

I lived in South Australia with my wife Suzanne and our two boys Adam and Darren from 1983 to 2005. It was during this period of my life that I was privileged to serve the people of South Australia, firstly as a Councillor of the City of Marion, Adelaide’s southern suburbs, and then as a Member of the South Australian Parliament for the seat of Mitchell.

In late 2005 Suzanne and I moved to Queensland to care for Suzanne’s mum who had been diagnosed with lung cancer. In 2006 we moved to the Sunshine Coast.

I always had a fascination with real estate sales and the move to the Sunshine Coast afforded me the opportunity to live the dream. Whilst working at Henzells Agency in Caloundra I teamed up with another agent, whose partner also had lung cancer, and we swapped notes over the treatment of her husband and my wife’s mother.

Towards the end of 2006 my business partner took time off to care full time for her husband and I ran our real estate business. Her later support, after her husband died, for my wife and her mother was invaluable and we will be forever grateful.

During the time I spent in Caloundra I enjoyed the lifestyle. My mornings included letterboxing my dedicated area with real estate information. Afterwards I would have a body surf, usually at 7am. Twice a week I would do some laps in the pool. I enjoyed my golf, I could never play enough golf.

In the middle of 2008 I left Henzells and the business partnership to join the Ray White Caloundra Group. I was looking forward to working with the team at Ray White. A lot of Henzells people have since left and also joined Ray White Caloundra. I commenced at Ray White at the end of August 2008.

In September 2008 the doctors decided Suzanne’s mother needed full time care. Rather than moving her into a nursing home we decided to have Suzanne’s mum move into our unit. Suzanne would become her mother’s full time carer.

For some time I had been discussing with a couple from Landsborough the sale of their home. My former business partner and I had travelled out to see them prior to me joining Ray White. We decided it would be in the customer’s interests if they sold their property at auction with Ray White.

We would work together on this property under the Ray White banner. On the 28th October 2008 I had an appointment for 10am to list their property.

This morning being a Tuesday, we had a sales meeting at 8am so the swim had to be at 6am, back home for 7am, time for breakfast, then the sales meeting.

After the sales meeting I travelled to Landsborough for the listing presentation.

Around 11.30am I left Landsborough for Caloundra. I had to be back in town for 1pm to travel to Brisbane for an appointment.

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Chapter 1 - Introduction

On the 28th October 2008 I was involved in a motor vehicle accident when I was hit from behind by a fully loaded B Double Truck (44.3 tonne) carrying just under 30 tonne of road base. As a result of the accident I had a whiplash associated disorder and I was also later diagnosed with mild bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome.

It has been a traumatic journey since my accident. I have lost faith in some people in the medical profession and as well have had reason to question whether insurance entities really care for injured workers & accident victims.

Following the accident I have never heard from the corporate organisation who owned the truck. I also never heard from the police for a statement about the accident or the level of my injuries.

It was during an appointment with a psychologist some four months after the accident I realised the need to take control of all matters associated with my accident. I needed to ask questions. I needed to ask for action.

The problem with a whiplash associated disorder is that your pain is silent. My doctor told me seven days after the accident the injury was more psychological than physical. I was constantly advised that after three months the soft tissue injury should have healed.

The independent insurance company’s medical officer who prepared their medico-legal report some 18 months after the accident advised In my experience this condition should have resolved with time and appropriate treatment. When asked the question Do you consider any of Mr Caudell’s injuries/symptoms are likely to be unrelated to the accident in question? he responded whilst I would expect Mr Caudell to have experienced some short term symptoms as a result of the accident, I do not believe that the severity or duration of his current symptoms can be attributed to the accident(1).

Some health professionals made negative comments when they found out I had started a diary recording my daily symptoms. Even when lodging a compensation claim with a compulsory third party insurer one health professional felt it would be detrimental to my recovery.

In the early stages of my injury I searched the internet regularly. I hung on every word uttered by the professionals. I could not get enough information and by the end I was totally confused. The more I looked the more dead ends I came across.

The deep and meaningful information was either written in a language I could not understand or was password protected. In medical blogs overseas, others were looking for the same answers.

Despite it all,