Pfactor8
Well-Known Member
I've been dealing with some issues with my medical lately and I figured I'd post my experience.
In 2004 I disclosed that I had a heart murmur (something I discovered during a physical for high school track) on my student pilot/medical certificate. This seemed like the honest thing to do, but if I could only go back and talk to myself I may have saved myself some crazy trouble! The FAA eventually deemed me eligible for a special issuance medical, but required an echocardiogram each year. Over the next six years I paid thousands of dollars to satisfy this requirement as my AME could not order the echo, instead it had to be ordered by a cardiologist (all of which costs $ especially when you don't have insurance).
The latest headache came last month when a letter came certified mail from the FAA explaining that my medical was no longer valid. Apparently, they did not get all of the required paperwork in October (when my medical is due) and sent me two previous letters requesting it (I never saw these letters).
The paperwork required was a 'narrative report' from the cardiologist who did my echo. The previous two years my AME submitted the echo and included the 'summary' along with it and this apparently satisfied the FAA: until this year!
So, I went to my cardiologist to ask her to write a 'narrative report' on the echo done last October. She refused until she saw me in person, so I scheduled an exam for the next week. My appointment came and she entered the room asked me if this was just a paperwork issue (I said yes- as I had explained in the phone calls and two letters sent to her the previous week), listened to my heart for a few seconds and then informed me that her typist was not in until the following week and she would dictate a letter then. My AME requested that I ask for a typed letter as it had gotten to that stage with the FAA.
So... upon receiving the 'narrative report' -which pretty much stated the same thing as the summary my AME submitted in October- I faxed the report to the FAA. My AME also submitted the report electronically. I also submitted the report to the regional office hoping they may have a reduced work load.
Many phone calls to the FAA, my employer, my AME, and letters and faxes to them, and recently my congressman has me still waiting in line for the FAA to say "ok, thats the paperwork we wanted.. you can fly now." I have exhausted my sick time, and I am about to run out of vacation time. Short term disability is reviewing my claim but may not cover it as I am not actually 'sick' and its just paperwork issues.
The ironic thing about this whole ordeal is that I am more fit than 95 percent of pilots out there. I run miles every week, hike, climb, ski, mountain bike, and do intense crossfit workouts. My resting heartrate during my last checkup was 42bpm and I recently timed my mile run at 5:48. I have no symptoms that affect me and planned on submitting a request this fall with my AME to be taken off a special issuance.
If I could only go back in time and tell myself in 2004 what checking that box would do.
In 2004 I disclosed that I had a heart murmur (something I discovered during a physical for high school track) on my student pilot/medical certificate. This seemed like the honest thing to do, but if I could only go back and talk to myself I may have saved myself some crazy trouble! The FAA eventually deemed me eligible for a special issuance medical, but required an echocardiogram each year. Over the next six years I paid thousands of dollars to satisfy this requirement as my AME could not order the echo, instead it had to be ordered by a cardiologist (all of which costs $ especially when you don't have insurance).
The latest headache came last month when a letter came certified mail from the FAA explaining that my medical was no longer valid. Apparently, they did not get all of the required paperwork in October (when my medical is due) and sent me two previous letters requesting it (I never saw these letters).
The paperwork required was a 'narrative report' from the cardiologist who did my echo. The previous two years my AME submitted the echo and included the 'summary' along with it and this apparently satisfied the FAA: until this year!
So, I went to my cardiologist to ask her to write a 'narrative report' on the echo done last October. She refused until she saw me in person, so I scheduled an exam for the next week. My appointment came and she entered the room asked me if this was just a paperwork issue (I said yes- as I had explained in the phone calls and two letters sent to her the previous week), listened to my heart for a few seconds and then informed me that her typist was not in until the following week and she would dictate a letter then. My AME requested that I ask for a typed letter as it had gotten to that stage with the FAA.
So... upon receiving the 'narrative report' -which pretty much stated the same thing as the summary my AME submitted in October- I faxed the report to the FAA. My AME also submitted the report electronically. I also submitted the report to the regional office hoping they may have a reduced work load.
Many phone calls to the FAA, my employer, my AME, and letters and faxes to them, and recently my congressman has me still waiting in line for the FAA to say "ok, thats the paperwork we wanted.. you can fly now." I have exhausted my sick time, and I am about to run out of vacation time. Short term disability is reviewing my claim but may not cover it as I am not actually 'sick' and its just paperwork issues.
The ironic thing about this whole ordeal is that I am more fit than 95 percent of pilots out there. I run miles every week, hike, climb, ski, mountain bike, and do intense crossfit workouts. My resting heartrate during my last checkup was 42bpm and I recently timed my mile run at 5:48. I have no symptoms that affect me and planned on submitting a request this fall with my AME to be taken off a special issuance.
If I could only go back in time and tell myself in 2004 what checking that box would do.
