About Lika Torline, Aesthetician Specialist
Starting from the top… This story begins in May of 2010, when I graduated from Texas State University – San Marcos. I earned my degree in Consumer Sciences in Interior Design with a minor in Technology. Although this was a great degree accompanied by an intense program, by the time I had graduated college, the economy had shifted and it was very difficult to find a job in this field. I moved back to my hometown and eventually found a job at a well known furniture store as an assistant display manager. I was told that after a long training period, I would eventually be taking over my boss’s position who was set to retire in a year. Awesome! I started in September of 2010, and I create highly decorated furniture vignettes in a three-plus acre store, running up and down stairs with lamps, accessories, artwork, you name it! I was in the best shape of my adult life as this job was very physically demanding! I wore sneakers everyday, usually had a back pocket full of nails when I got home, and I always had a measuring tape attached to my jeans. After less than a year at my job, in late April, I was hanging a heavy mirror and I felt a pop in my back as I struggled to get the mirror’s back wire on the hook. I should’ve asked for help, but we were already shorthanded. I was trying to impress the “big boss” because my soon-to-retire boss had been an employee of the year, had been working there forever, and basically left me with really big shoes to fill. That week, she had been working at another store and I was left in charge of the display department. The next few days, the pain in my sciatic nerve became unbearable and I was struggling to walk and stand up straight. I scheduled a specialized deep tissue massage, and though this relieved some of the pain, the pain returned. I went to our “company doctor,” and I received a cortisone shot. It masked the pain for a little bit, but I am so thankful that it wore off quickly, because I almost missed the date in which I could report a worker’s compensation injury. I had gone to one of the store managers since my immediate boss was not currently at our location and told him that I am starting to feel numbness in my feet, and how asked how I could schedule my work with while also getting some treatment during the week. I was told that he could not let me return to work if I was having numbing in my feet until I was OK’ed by a doctor. This was when I began the nightmare of a worker’s compensation case! I was dismissed from work and began going to physical therapy everyday at first, and then every other day and taking A LOT of medications. I was knocked out all the time. I was put on steroids, nerve medication, and muscle relaxers. I was often propped up in a bed, uncomfortable, and when I was up, I was scaling the walls to get to where I was trying to go. There were times I needed help going to the bathroom because I couldn’t get up. Therapy, though so painful, helped and I was starting to improve. I felt the pressure of returning back to work, so after two months, I returned on light duty. When I returned two months and a half months later in August, I was a good 50 lbs heavier. I still had doctors appointments I had to go to bi-weekly. Because I was at work less, I was removed from salary and placed on an hourly wage. The position I was initially hired for was given away and the pain I had to endure being the “first commander” in this physically demanding position was just too much to bear. The pain was returning, and I knew I needed to get out. I spent my lunch breaks applying to and calling other interior design based companies looking for a job. I would take anything, even an unpaid internship just to get out of my current job. I remember an interview I had with an interior design firm that was a good 30 minute drive away in which I told the owner I was willing to do an unpaid internship. The owner told me though they didn’t believe in not paying interns, they didn’t think they even had enough extra work for an intern as the economy had greatly affected their business, as well. It felt as though I was begging, but she kept it real with me and I appreciated her honesty. I felt completely defeated and lost. People didn’t understand my injury because they couldn’t see it. I was living in constant pain.
