Hernia repair and railroad employment

[d0g]

Hello all,

I believe I have recently developed what is known as an umbilical hernia. It is very small in size, and does not really cause me any pain. It is hardly noticeable, but is still there nonetheless. I am a retail manager and I frequently assist with work in our warehouse, which includes lifting pallets and large boxes on an almost daily basis. I also occasionally lift heavy furniture and box-style televisions. I have been involved with this for the last year.

I am also a volunteer Conductor and Locomotive Engineer for a heritage railroad. I have been involved there for about 7 years now. Between those areas of work, I do a lot of lifting, climbing, bending, kneeling, reaching, pulling, etc., so I'm not surprised I developed a hernia.

I have recently applied for a Conductor position with a major railroad. I was wondering if it would be in my best interest to get this hernia repaired immediately, or to wait and see if I get a call from the railroad. I am worried that if I do get it fixed up now, I may get a call during my recovery, which I'm sure will take several weeks. Of course, I'd have to tell them I wouldn't be able to be employed at that time.

On the other hand, I'm afraid if I do not get it repaired, and I do get selected by the railroad, and make it to the physical evaluation phase, that I may fail based on having the hernia. Between these two, I'm not quite sure what my best option would be.

Does anybody have any advice on this?

Thanks.

 

[jkinzel]

The most important thing is your health, get it fixed as these can become life threating. I have had two done and I think I was down two or three weeks each time.

 

[itareus]

Here in the UK an the operation to fix that (if it's as small as you say) would be a 'day surgery' job under local anasthetic and the repair would be by stitches, nothing invasive. You would walk away from the hospital not long after the procedure, the restriction being that you would, probably, be advised not to do any lifting for a period of time depending on the work performed. You really need to check out what is involved medically and post op restriction wise for you before making your choice.

If it worries you then get it fixed as soon as you can but, personally, I would not be too concerned about its life threatening potential.

Chris

(One down, two to go)

 

[robd]

I think you would be far better off seeking medical advice from a doctor rather than from this Trainz forum where there is probably nobody qualified to advise on such matters.

Rob.

 

[wholbr]

Hi d0g and everybody.
D0g, I completely agree with robd in his above posting advising that you should only consult experienced medical personnel regarding the physical effects of your medical condition. However, as someone who works in industrial health and safety I believe there are actions you should take regarding the security of your current employment and to avoid problems with any prospective future employer.

As you are likely to need a substantial period of “sick leave” while your condition receives treatment and you recuperate, it is important that you are fully aware of the sickness policy of your current employer as that is where you support your living from at the present time. Find out (if you are not already fully aware of it) if your employer utilises a points-based absentee system. The foregoing is a numerical method of measuring employees absence records by awarding a set number of points each time an employee is absent from work.

A typical example of the above would be 15 numerical points being awarded against the employee for each period of absence regardless of what the reason was for being absent (with the exception of pre-booked holidays). Therefore a person having 30 points placed against him/her within a set period of time will receive a “warning”, at 45 points that person would receive a “final written warning” and at 60 points the person will be dismissed from his/her employment.

The above is only a basic explanation of the system and there are many variations based on current United Kingdom employment legislation. I believe that similar systems exist within the United States but are not as widespread as here in the UK. Therefore and as stated it is important that you acquire your exact employment position via your employer’s personnel department or responsible person. If your employer does not utilise the above system or similar, ensure that you make them fully aware of your health condition, the amount of time off you are likely to need and that you give them as much advanced warning as possible as to when you will need that time away from work.

With regard to your prospective future employer, ensure that you request them to return to you any recruitment documents they have forwarded to you and you have completed. On receipt of those documents amend any information regarding your health you have given to include your new health condition. The reason for taking the foregoing action is that such documents will be a legal attachment to any future contract of employment the company may offer you. Therefore should you require any future leave of absence due to a re-occurrence of your condition and you had not declared that condition in your employment application documents you will be liable for immediate dismissal from that employment.

Hope this helps.
Bill

 

[robd]

Good advice from wholbr regarding your employment contract commitments.

I think d0g should be approaching his doctor and employer/prospective employer about this and not be seeking advice on what is essentially a game forum.

Rob.

 

[JCitron]

I was going to say the same. Go see your doctor and see what he says.

Bill and everyone. Here in the US, most employers offer short term disability insurance which covers a period of up to 3 months out of work in conjunction with regular health insurance and benefits. With something like this, he'd receive full pay during that time and it does not count against his vacation, however, he may required, as in my case when I had thyroid cancer surgery 12 years ago, to use his sick leave time first. Being out for surgery usually doesn't count as grounds for dismissal unless there were other reasons to do so, then usually the employer would be in hot water if they did such a thing, and would be brought up against the labor board in the state under the Americans with Disability Act and other health and safety regulations.

As far as future employment, this may or may not become an issue and it depends upon how he heals up. With railroad work, he' be required to go through a stress test and physical to check his abilities to climb and push. The doctor performing this test will make the recommendations to D0g's prospective employer.

John