Looks Like I May be a Civilian Sooner Than We Imagined.
About two weeks ago, while I was taking Bea to an MRI appointment for her arm I got a call from the base hospital reminding me of an appointment I had on the following Monday. I found this phone call odd considering I never made an appointment to see my doctor, but since it’s impossible to get an appointment with Covid going on I kept it. So that Monday morning I went into my appointment having no idea what it was going to be about. The doctor’s tech asked me how my rash was doing, I didn’t have one, so she corrected the records and I waited for the actual doctor to show up. Once the doctor came in she told me she wanted to go over what was happening with my back and if any improvements were being made.
There were no improvements made, it has only been getting worse. She told me to make sure I continue seeing Pain Management there at the hospital and follow their path of recovery. The problem was that their path ends on April 9th, if this diagnostic surgery of seeing is killing the nerves in my L5, S1, and connecting joints. If this does not work, which I don’t think it will, it’s also not solving the problem it’s just putting a bandaid on it, then they are out of options. Once out of options the military will no longer be able to offer any help. I am weary of killing the nerves anyways, because yes there is a chance of no pain, but my disc will still be close to fusing, and my back will still be out of alignment. I will eventually go to a chiropractor or someone to help realign my back properly, but for now, with everything going on it’s just not in the cards.
But while talking about all of this with my doctor, she once again asked if I could do my job/deploy. I can’t even do a PT test and if I have to pee after I lay down in bed I sometimes will literally have to crawl to the bathroom. The pain is so intense when I put my feet on the ground I can’t walk. So what would make her think I would be able to do my job or deploy? Since I’m clearly not able to do the things the military is asking of me, she told me this time she is going to submit my file to the DAWG (first phase of medical separation) with a recommendation of medical separation. If medical separation is what happens, that means that I would be leaving the Air Force before next July when my contract officially ends.
This means that Bea and I will have to push up our timeline of my separation just in case it does happen earlier. We have been doing a lot of research and I have joined a few FaceBook groups for med boards, so I can be better informed. There is so much that goes into the medical separation, depending on the percentage of your disabilities depends on if you are just separated or medically retired. And the math to figure out your percentage is like some sort of government voodoo from what I can tell, and as far as the back problems go, the less range of motion you have the higher the percentage you get.
Our future is still going to be in Florida, and I will still hopefully be able to get a job at the VA like I plan. What is does mean is I need to get my ass into gear and knock out the last few classes I have left to finish up my B.A. so once I am medical separated or just separated I can start on my Masters Degree and start using those benefits to help set up the family for the best future I can offer.