Opinion ID: 2010464
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: temporary total disability after second surgery

Text: The trial judge awarded Frauendorfer a second period of TTD benefits from February 11, 1998, the date of his second surgery for a spine fusion, to February 2, 1999, the day before the parties stipulated that he reached his MMI. Frauendorfer did not return to work after his second surgery, nor did he seek other employment. Thus, the question is whether the evidence was sufficient to establish that after his second surgery, Frauendorfer was unable to earn wages in either the same or a similar kind of work he was trained or accustomed to perform or in any other kind of work which a person of his mentality and attainments could perform. See Miller v. E.M.C. Ins. Cos., 259 Neb. 433, 610 N.W.2d 398 (2000). An employee's disability as a basis for compensation under § 48-121(1) and (2) is determined by the employee's diminution of employability or impairment of earning power or earning capacity, and is not necessarily determined by a physician's evaluation and assessment of the employee's loss of bodily function. Heiliger v. Walters & Heiliger Electric, Inc., 236 Neb. 459, 470, 461 N.W.2d 565, 573 (1990). While physical restrictions and impairment ratings are important when assessing the extent of a claimant's disability, a compensation court is not limited to this evidence and may rely on the claimant's testimony on this issue. See Luehring v. Tibbs Constr. Co., 235 Neb. 883, 457 N.W.2d 815 (1990). On February 3, 1999, Woodward noted in his report that Frauendorfer was having difficulty sleeping and experiencing pain in the lumbosacral area of his back and his right leg, radiating down to his foot. Woodward recommended a third surgery for posterior exploration fusion and repair of the pseudarthrosis with internal fixation. When Frauendorfer refused a third surgery, he was referred for another functional capacity evaluation. That evaluation showed that Frauendorfer's safe lifting parameters had decreased from 60 pounds to 35 pounds. The physical therapist concluded that Frauendorfer had a limited tolerance to standing, walking, and static sitting, but could perform work with his upper extremities in the medium physical demand category. He was given an overall physical demand classification of light duty for 8 hours per day, with a recommendation that he be allowed to change his position periodically to decrease pain. After receiving this evaluation, Woodward assigned Frauendorfer a 15-percent permanent partial impairment rating to his whole body that was attributed to the injury of April 17, 1995. This evidence established that after his second surgery, Frauendorfer's physical abilities and condition were impaired as a result of his accident at Lindsay. Furthermore, Frauendorfer testified that since his second surgery, he typically needed to lie down after doing light work around his house for 1 to 2 hours and that when he had tried to do more strenuous work, he had sometimes been incapacitated for up to 2 days. He also testified that he took narcotic analgesics continually for pain, which caused him to be drowsy. As the successful party, he is entitled to the benefit of all favorable inferences from the evidence. Because the trial judge could properly rely upon Frauendorfer's testimony to determine the extent of his disability, the trial judge was not clearly wrong in finding Frauendorfer was unable to work and temporarily totally disabled from the time of his second surgery to the date of his MMI.