So…time for verbal vomit/rant:
I had a lousy week this summer. Got what I thought was a nasty bug bite, turns out to have been a tick bite. Also, as it turns out my body didn’t respond to the usual antibiotics for Lyme disease and I spent a few days in the hospital getting pumped up full of IV drugs after getting Bell’s Palsy and other fun symptoms. Sucks, but that’s what sick time’s for. The specialist who saw me even said it’s more dangerous for me to stop exercising outside than to just keep up my lifestyle. Within a week after finishing antibiotics I was back to biking 100+ miles/week.
Cue the FAA. Called the AME I’d seen last after I got discharged to see what would be needed for my next medical to get the ball rolling early. Find out a couple fun things: said AME retired, and the (very helpful) guy who took over his practice called OKC and was informed that I was grounded and the FAA would want a lot of testing. He suggested I get a clinic specializing in complex medicals involved. So, Mayo Clinic time. I got a long list of tests the FAA wanted from them. Of course not covered by insurance. And because they’re all defined as nonessential care the local (overwhelmed) hospital system took forever to get them done. Ended up driving up to RST to get the last few tests as well as my medical done.
After passing everything from an EKG (the 4th or 5th one I think) to an evaluation from a neurologist who was very confused why he was evaluating me I did a standard 1st class exam. Passed all that stuff too. AME has to call OKC to issue. And…they won’t. They want all my records sent to OKC to evaluate themselves.
I was in the hospital in July. The timeline for the FAA to evaluate my records is 4-9 months. And then they’ll likely have some quack medicine response for me to waste even more time and money on. It’ll likely be a year before I can be PIC again. As of last count I’ve got 6 doctors saying there’s absolutely nothing wrong with me, I’m in the best shape I’ve been in since I was a competitive swimmer in high school, I’ve been flying as a CFI and haven’t keeled over yet.
Oh, and if I end up having to go on disability because of this? Gotta report that on my medical and lower the odds of getting cleared even more. This system is a joke. I’m fortunate to have a company that’s supporting me and out of pocket even more than I am but the FAA’s doing their best to turn me into a cubicle-dwelling paper pusher. Because they don’t understand the difference between an acute and chronic condition.
/rant
I had a lousy week this summer. Got what I thought was a nasty bug bite, turns out to have been a tick bite. Also, as it turns out my body didn’t respond to the usual antibiotics for Lyme disease and I spent a few days in the hospital getting pumped up full of IV drugs after getting Bell’s Palsy and other fun symptoms. Sucks, but that’s what sick time’s for. The specialist who saw me even said it’s more dangerous for me to stop exercising outside than to just keep up my lifestyle. Within a week after finishing antibiotics I was back to biking 100+ miles/week.
Cue the FAA. Called the AME I’d seen last after I got discharged to see what would be needed for my next medical to get the ball rolling early. Find out a couple fun things: said AME retired, and the (very helpful) guy who took over his practice called OKC and was informed that I was grounded and the FAA would want a lot of testing. He suggested I get a clinic specializing in complex medicals involved. So, Mayo Clinic time. I got a long list of tests the FAA wanted from them. Of course not covered by insurance. And because they’re all defined as nonessential care the local (overwhelmed) hospital system took forever to get them done. Ended up driving up to RST to get the last few tests as well as my medical done.
After passing everything from an EKG (the 4th or 5th one I think) to an evaluation from a neurologist who was very confused why he was evaluating me I did a standard 1st class exam. Passed all that stuff too. AME has to call OKC to issue. And…they won’t. They want all my records sent to OKC to evaluate themselves.
I was in the hospital in July. The timeline for the FAA to evaluate my records is 4-9 months. And then they’ll likely have some quack medicine response for me to waste even more time and money on. It’ll likely be a year before I can be PIC again. As of last count I’ve got 6 doctors saying there’s absolutely nothing wrong with me, I’m in the best shape I’ve been in since I was a competitive swimmer in high school, I’ve been flying as a CFI and haven’t keeled over yet.
Oh, and if I end up having to go on disability because of this? Gotta report that on my medical and lower the odds of getting cleared even more. This system is a joke. I’m fortunate to have a company that’s supporting me and out of pocket even more than I am but the FAA’s doing their best to turn me into a cubicle-dwelling paper pusher. Because they don’t understand the difference between an acute and chronic condition.
/rant
