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Reynolds v. Johnson Regional Medical Center5/18/2005
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
AFFIRMED
This is an appeal after remand for the Commission to make specific findings of fact. See Reynolds v. Johnson Regional Medical Center, CA03-1338 (Ark. App. June 23, 2004). Appellant, Radina Reynolds, appeals the Workers' Compensation Commission's decision denying her benefits for neck problems she contends she sustained on June 8, 2001, at the same time that she incurred the admittedly compensable injury to her back. She asserts two points on appeal: (1) the Commission's decision holding that appellant failed to prove that she sustained a compensable injury to her neck was not supported by substantial evidence; and (2) the Commission's decision that appellant failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that she sustained an aggravation of a pre-existing condition was not supported by substantial evidence. We affirm.
Appellant began to work for appellee, Johnson Medical Center, in February 2001 as a Certified Nurses Assistant (CNA). As a CNA, appellant would go to the homes of patients to provide total care. These duties and responsibilities included head and body washing, home chores, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, bed making, laundry, cooking, and grocery shopping. Appellant sustained her injury in the context of providing the patient a bath. The patient for whom appellant was providing services weighed between 265 and 275 pounds, and was mentally retarded. During the course of the bathing, the patient began to fall, and appellant attempted to catch her to prevent injury to the patient. All of the patient's weight fell upon appellant. Appellant testified that with that fall, she felt extreme pain in her neck and up into her head. The pain was so severe that she thought she might be having a stroke.
Appellant testified that the pain rendered her unable to continue her duties with the patient. Appellant was able to telephone her supervisor for help after urging the patient to play a game by bringing her the phone to where she was lying on the floor. When her supervisor and another nurse arrived at the patient's home, they ordered an ambulance for appellant's care. The pain was excruciating, and she was having difficulty breathing. The ambulance attendants put her on oxygen. Appellant was given pain medication to help alleviate pain while attempting to obtain x-rays and admitted to the hospital for additional care.
The medical records from the emergency room treatment at Johnson Medical Center on June 8, 2001, note that appellant reported severe lower lumbar and mid lumbar pain, some radiation down both lateral thighs but no radiation below her knees, and some tingling in her finger tips in both hands. She was released from the hospital on June 11, 2001, with the same diagnosis with which she was initially admitted, that of back strain. Dr. Kim Graves wrote that appellant slowly progressed to the point where she was able to walk and care for herself, but still was experiencing pain.
Appellant underwent physical therapy from the middle of June into August, being treated a total of twenty-four times. On August 23, 2001, appellant was released from physical therapy, it being noted that her initial goals were partially achieved and that she was scheduled for spine clinic assessment.
On August 20, 2001, Dr. Wayne Bruffett wrote that he had seen appellant for her complaints of pain in her upper back with radiation down her left arm and headaches. X-rays taken that day of appellant's cervical spine showed evidence of disc space narrowing and degenerative changes primarily at C5-6, and she also had an absence of the normal cervical lordosis. Dr. Bruffett also reviewed appellant's MRI scan
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