The money was figuratively on the table. Three thousand dollars. No lawyer's gobbling up a third of the money. Yeah the shoulder hurt but not bad enough to go the hospital from the scene.
Admittedly, it didn't seem to be getting a whole lot better on day four. Think I'll talk to my neighbor who had a lawyer he thought well of. No obligation to hire him just get a professional opinion.
He says I should see a doctor just to make sure there is nothing structurally injured that is causing my symptoms. I can call that guy who's daughter was on the soccer team, he's an orthopedist.
The doctor suggests x-rays. It has been fifteen days since the guy in the truck hit me walking in a crosswalk and my condition isn't getting better, in fact it seems worse. X-rays prompt an MRI and the orthopedist says I should undergo surgery!
It's the holidays and I can't really carry anything over twenty pounds in the injured arm and I guess maybe the doc was right, I need surgery. The earliest they can schedule it is March. That seems like a long way off.
The surgery is over and my shoulder hurts less but I'm not supposed to use it for four weeks and then its physical therapy. Then I should gradually return to semi-normal.
I open the envelope with the surgical center charges and nearly faint! Forty thousand dollars! Another bill from the anesthesia for seven thousand dollars and the surgeon's bill is fourteen thousand. Who knows how much physical therapy will be?
I'm glad I spoke to that lawyer, he told me insurance companies are increasingly making early offers to victims of car crashes so they aren't responsible later. That three thousand dollar offer looks like a penny now. The at-fault driver only has a one hundred thousand dollar policy the lawyer says they are offering and apparently I can get additional compensation from my uninsured motorist coverage.
Grateful, I didn't make a huge mistake at the beginning. The lesson be patient, consult a good lawyer and good doctors, the insurance company isn't going anywhere.
