Disability after surgical complications

I had a bulged disc in L4-5 vertebrae Nov 2011 while going to work on a project (I am an actor.) I did not report it to my union then, as I did not want to create an incident filing for damages against the employer of record, and suffer any kind of consequences (not getting picked for future jobs, etc.).

I had intense sciatica pain – tried steroid injection into spine Mar 2012 and PT. Still pain and tingling down right leg. Decided to have discectomy Feb 2013. Intense tingling in right leg after surgery. Right leg “dead” from the knee down. Had another surgery 2 days later so neurosurgeon could check his work. He found bone shards on nerve.

A month afterwards, in which I was not able to work and could hardly walk, I still have severe foot drop and just found out I have a condition called peroneal nerve palsy that originates in my right knee – not my lower back – which is healing correctly.

The neurologist said the condition was due to my leg’s positioning at some point – like when a leg ‘falls asleep’ when one sits etc in the same position for too long - probably during surgery since I had the symptoms right after the first surgery.

Now I am losing money because I can’t do as many jobs (that call for a lot of walking, running, etc) and what’s worse, as my medical insurance is based on my earnings, I will likely not have any insurance after this year.

And the neurologist could not tell me IF I could recover completely nor how long it would take. I might never have my previous earning potential again and at this rate I will burn through my savings and not be able to pay my bills very soon.

I think the hospital should have taken steps against this happening. Is there any recourse? This situation has really put me behind the 8 ball.