More Successes Today, MRI Tomorrow

Today Tamra and I did the whole military hurry up and wait thing. She picked me up at 0700 and we headed down to Fort Belvoir, stopping at a Dunkin’ Donuts for breakfast. We got to the clinic at 0730, checked in and then we waited… they called me back to take my vitals at 0800 and I went to another waiting room with Tamra. And there we sat… and sat… and sat. I’m not kidding. We sat there for hours and finally near 1130 they called me back to see a doctor. They only had two doctors working, and so many people showed up to in and out-process, that they had to fit us in between other patients. The doctor that saw me questioned how I was going about the process. I told him about the plethora of people that I have talked to about how to go about this and he still seemed confused. He finally gave in and did what he had to do; he approved my permanent profile and gave me a form 14 that I’ll take to WRAMC. Then he said he needed to call someone at WRAMC, a LTC. It turned out to be the same LTC that told me to go this route to begin with! So, everything has come full circle. He didn’t reach her but sent me on my way a little after 1230.

I didn’t get a call from work either about my NCOER, so I didn’t have to stop there. I had a nice early day and got a chance to take a nap. I did call the LTC at WRAMC and also had to leave her a message. She called me back this evening and said that I needed to come in as soon as I could. But tomorrow I have appointments with my Oncologist, Neurologist and I have an MRI, all at Bethesda NNMC, throughout the day. I told her the soonest I could be there would be Monday morning, so I have a 0800 appointment. She said that she looked up my record and noticed that my home of record (HOR) is Austin, TX; she suggested starting me at WRAMC and moving me to Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio, TX to finish up. It was loud where I was and couldn’t really have a discussion so I just said I understood and told her I’d call back tomorrow with more questions. We’d really like to do the MEB here in DC because of several reasons:

• -My doctors are all here
• -I have lots of friends and support here
• -I have a supportive church here
• -I can’t drive and could get around well on the Metro
• -Holly can come to DC to work and see me too (maybe)
• -I might have another minor procedure to improve my incision next week (4/27)
• -I think the care would be far superior

So, I have my reasons. But ultimately, it is going to be what the Army wants. But, my prayer about not wanting to move before this weekend has been answered – it will for sure be sometime next week. I have that MRI tomorrow, so please pray that the tumor has not come back and that I’m still healing up there. I think I am. Tomorrow evening we’re having a little celebration dinner for Tamra. Today was her last day in uniform in the Army. Now’s she’s on terminal leave until July (I think.) If you're interested in joining us, let me know. Tamra, you’ve been a real life saver and great friend this week. Holly and I thank you and John so much for supporting us through everything. We love you guys.

Easy Day Today, Unknown In Store Tomorrow

Not a whole lot to report today. I had a hard time going to sleep again last night. This morning I spent a good amount of time trying to figure out where my evaluation was. Even though my NCOER was reportedly signed by everyone except for me, there must have been some kind of change or it got lost, because the completed NCOER is apparently now on somebody’s desk to be reviewed... again. Soooo…. when the powers that be finish reviewing it, everyone will sign it - and someone is supposed to call or page me to let me know that I can come by to sign it.

With that all figured out, I was finally able to call Tamra to pick me up and we made our way back down to Fort Belvoir. I made it through every step of the medical checklist except for the review with the doctor. They only do these out-processing reviews Mon thru Wed and Fri from 1300-1400 and Thu from 0700-0830. Well, tomorrow is Thu – so guess what that means? By bootie has to get up extra early because Tamra will be here at 0700 to pick me up. Tamra has to be at WRAMC in the afternoon, so we are hoping that we can finish up at Fort Belvoir pretty early and then make our way to WRAMC where I expect I’ll need to go next to continue the process. I really don’t know what’s going to happen when I talk to the doctor. I know that they’re going to see that I need to be put on medical hold, but I have no idea how they’re going to do it. I’ll have all the details on how that goes tomorrow. And hopefully my work calls to say that my NCOER is ready to be signed, so that we can stop there on the way to WRAMC and finally cross that off the list.

After getting back to the apartment, I had to tend to some more emails and also worked on a paperwork issue related to my pending promotion. I’m hoping that I’ll be promoted soon! I went to a farewell this evening for dear friend Erika, who is going to San Antonio for a few months for some military training. She’s a good friend of mine and Holly’s, so she and Holly might get together since she’ll only be about 80 miles away. In fact, she’s going to a school at a location that I’ve been to – so I know for sure it is a quick drive.

Okay – I’m heading off to bed now. I need to get up around 0530. Goodnight.

300 and minor victories

This blog is our 300th! Holly and I started this thing up when I first mobilized to DC in May 2004. We’re at almost exactly three years so it would appear that we average 100 posts per year... interesting statistic. Or not. :-P

Okay, so today… what did I get done today? Well, before I even get there, let me tell you that I tossed and turned until about 3am. My mind races through all the things that I need to get done in the next few days, ways to get them done quicker, and the ever present thought of having a seizure while alone always haunts me. I don’t know why I am afraid of it. But sometimes it terrifies me. The two times I was conscious for the start of them, they were agonizing and I remember them well. I think back to how horrible and scary it feels and just don’t want to have it happen to me while I’m alone. It’s nice when Holly is there, as she was every time, to tell me its going to be okay. But eventually it is going to happen when I’m alone or in public around strangers. I just need to keep praying that the Lord will ease my fears. Join me, will you? This is a toughie for me.

Alright, back to today. Since I didn’t get to sleep until late, I woke up later. I finally got to the Pentagon around 10am and went to the medical clinic. I went to the desk and told the nice lady that I was out-processing and needed to retrieve my records. She went to the back and brought them out. If you take a look at item number one on my list from yesterday, you’ll remember that I needed to get my profile paperwork. As soon as the lady handed me my records, I cracked it open to see if the profile was in there. Nada. I then explained to her that I called right before I went on leave about this and that someone changed it in the computer and that the paperwork must be somewhere. She looked in her computer and saw that I did call about it. I found an old temporary profile and handed it to her and told her that I just needed a new updated one that is permanent like in the computer. She took it to the back to a nurse to see if the doctor could fill it out. While she was gone, I stood at the counter, bowed my head, and just prayed that the good Lord would intervene and just get it signed today somehow. She was gone a while and I sat down. After a few minutes, the nurse came back and said that the doctor needed to see me to fill it out and that there were no more appointments today. The lady at the front desk said that I would have to call back at 6am the next morning to make an appointment with my doctor so that she could do it. This didn’t sound acceptable to me. First of all, my doctor knows what’s going on with me and could have the form filled out in five minutes. Second, I already called over a month ago and asked the doctor to take care of this – and someone did because it changed in the computer. I really had a problem with having to do extra legwork to get something signed that should have been signed a month ago.

I expressed these concerns to the lady at the front desk and she was willing to hear me out. I’m trying to get a lot done and can’t get around easily and they wanted me to go the extra mile to get something done that should have already been done. Are you getting me? Finally, I told her that first and foremost, I am a soldier, and I will obey an order; and if the commander of the clinic tells me to go home and come back tomorrow, I will obey that order without another word. But if there was anything that we could do to get the form signed today, I would do it. Silence. She told me to have a seat and she disappeared. When she returned, she said that the nurse of the day would see me shortly.

After another wait, the nurse, an Army Captain, called me into their office. I again explained my dilemma to the CPT and she listened to me. The CPT told me that they would be able to help me out, but it would not be immediately. It was nearing noon. My doctor would have an opening at 1340 that day where the paperwork might be taken care of. I made a quick call to Tamra, who was supposed to drive me around, but wasn’t able to get a hold of her. I decided this was an answer to my prayer so I decided that I better take the CPT up on the offer, even though it meant that I wouldn’t get out of the Pentagon until near 3pm. The CPT made the appointment and I was off to find lunch. It worked out great because I needed to drop off a set of keys anyway at the office I worked at for a while. They were happy to see me again and let me use a workstation to check my email, make a few phone calls and eat my lunch.

I made it back to the clinic by 1330 and was called back to see the doctor. The doctor finally came in at around 1350. I brought the doctor up to speed and in less than five minutes the form was done and in my hands, and I was out the door. Four hours of work to see a doctor for five minutes to get a form filled out. Can you believe it? Now we can cross number one off the list! A big thanks to the nice lady at the desk who was willing to do what she could to get me what I needed today. I was sure to fill out a comment card commending her actions and dropped it in the comment box.

On to number two: I called Tamra and she picked me up at the Pentagon City Metro station. We headed down to Fort Belvoir and found our way to the out-processing building. We checked in and I had to provide copies of all my orders for the whole three years and other paperwork. I was then given a checklist of buildings that I needed to visit to get them to check items off of the list. Things like: Personnel, Finance, Medical, Dental, etc. We went upstairs to the first item on the list: personnel. When we got there, I explained to the Staff Sergeant that I was eventually going to have an MEB. Thank God I told the SSG that, because since that was the case the SSG said that we should skip everything on the list and just go right to medical. Nothing else would matter since I wasn’t really going to get out right now anyway. I just needed to get to medical so that they could see there is an issue and they could refer me to WRAMC. Boy, talk about a life saver! The SSG was very helpful, so I made sure to save their phone number for any future questions I might have. It was just after 1600 and we noticed that the first place in medical was still open, so we went there first.

We found the building after getting slightly lost and I picked up a medical packet. The packet said that pretty much all the other stations were closed, so we decided to call it a day. Tomorrow we’re going to head back down to Ft Belvoir and try to get the medical stuff completed. I also need to sign my NCOER that they couldn’t find on Monday. I’m going to call work in the morning to see if they have it handy. If they still can’t find it, I’m going to go to Belvoir first. If they do have it, I’ll go to work first thing and sign it and then head down to Belvoir.

So, I’d call today a pretty good day. I just hope that tomorrow goes smoother. After work, I made some copies of paperwork that I might need tomorrow and sent a copy of my new profile to my unit in Fort Worth as they needed a copy. Then I went to a community group of my church that meets in Kezia’s building. Kezia and Jumoke picked me up and I had a great time hanging out with everyone. I feel pretty tired today, so I’m hoping that my body gives in and I can get some decent sleep tonight. Thanks to everyone for your prayers!

Can you say confusing?

Today was my first day back at work and boy… was it a doozie! First of all, I’ve been having a hard time getting to sleep here in my new digs. The first night, Saturday, it rained all night. There is some kind of metal skirt that sticks out from the building on my floor, so guess what? I got to hear the pitter patter of drops falling off the building onto the metal skirt. I didn’t get to sleep until nearly 2am and then was woken up by jets making their approach to Reagan National Airport at 6:30am. Yes, I am a light sleeper. Last night, Sunday, the wind was howling like crazy. The northeast has been getting pummeled by this storm and it just won’t die. It sounded like things that were loose on the building were being tossed around outside.

I got to sleep around 2am again and managed to get up around 8am. I grabbed a quick bite in the store downstairs and headed off to work. I got there around 10am and was warmly greeted by everyone. My boss was happy to see me too, but apparently there were some issues with my evaluation not being turned in yet. In the Army, Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and Officers are required to be evaluated annually. They are supposed to be done by a certain time of the year, and when things fall behind, the people up the chain get hounded for not having the evals of their people done on time. I knew this before I went on leave and completed my part of my NCO Evaluation Report (NCOER.) Well, I guess we are cutting it too close for comfort since everyone from my unit in Fort Worth to the people at work want to know where it is.

The first thing I did was track down the guy that I knew could tell me where it was. I found him and was told to talk to another person higher up. That person knew that it was missing but didn’t know where it was either. Basically, all the people that needed to sign it had already signed it and they were just waiting for my signature. But now the eval was no where to be found. This person said they would talk to another person and see if they can track it down and that I should check back later. I checked back later and the person was gone. There was some kind of sewer leakage that blocked one of the entrances on and off base today, so they let people that lived far away go home early. I guess that person left? I stayed to get my work done… I won’t be at the office tomorrow, so I hope they find it so that I can sign it on Wednesday. My boss wondered why they just could not print out a new one and have everyone sign it again… I have no idea.

Speaking of work, I made quite a few phone calls regarding the Medical Evaluation Board (MEB) process that I am about to begin. The issue is… I have no idea how I’m supposed to initiate it! I think I know the problem though… normally a soldier doesn’t have to initiate it – it begins when they get hurt and then they get worked through the system. My issue is that because I have been having all my treatments done at the Navy hospital, the Army hospital has no idea what’s up with me. They don’t know I need an MEB! At first I thought I was supposed to begin out-processing from my office, and also take the paperwork that I do have to Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) and that would start the process. But when I ran this by my Reserve Management Office (RMO), they said that I should probably not do that quite yet. Instead, I should call WRAMC and the office that does the out-processing and see what they say.

I followed their instructions and called WRAMC. I explained my dilemma to someone there and they told me that they would have to speak to someone above them to see what needed to be done. To my surprise, a few minutes later they paged me and I called back. They had a list of things that needed to be done and paperwork that I needed to gather in order for everything to go smoothly. A plan! It sounded good to me, so I took notes and hung up. One of the items on the list required that I ask the out-processing office a few questions too. I called them up and they had a similar, but slightly different plan. They urged me to call a different person at WRAMC, but to come to them to begin out-processing immediately! I called the person they suggested I call and they were very helpful. They told me basically the same things the first person at WRAMC told me with a few slight changes. I called the first person back and left a message with them explaining that I had spoken to the out-processing people and this other person at WRAMC and that the plans were slightly different – I expect a call back from them tomorrow.

Okay, so all these details, right? Here’s what it comes down to:

1. When you can’t physically perform your duties in the military because of an injury or disability, they put you on what is called a profile. They have temporary and permanent profiles. I have been on a temporary profile since the surgery, but my main doctor recently put me on a permanent profile because you have to have one to start the MEB process. First thing tomorrow, I have to make the trek to my medical clinic in the Pentagon to get a copy of that P3 profile. Simple enough, right? We’ll see.
2. I need to begin the out-processing process which has to be done at Fort Belvoir, which is about 30 miles south of DC. I can’t drive, so our good friend Tamra, who is also in the Army and happens to work at WRAMC, is going to give me a ride. There, I’ll begin the process, but when I get to medical, they’ll see my past history and things will screech to a halt. They will immediately refer me to WRAMC for an MEB. Then we’ll drive to WRAMC and I’ll meet with some of the people that I spoke with on the phone today. And it all works out perfectly because Tamra needs to take care of some business there tomorrow too! I’m not sure of what all will happen when I get there – I’m kinda flying by the seat of my pants on this one.
3. I need a Narrative Summary (NARSUM) from my doctors explaining what happened to me and what conditions I have now. I have appointments with my Neurologist and Oncologist on Friday to knock this one out of the way. BTW, I also have a follow-up MRI Friday afternoon to see how things look up there. Pray that everything is still getting better for me, okay?
4. Since this happened to me while I was on Active Duty, it is considered a Line of Duty injury (LOD). Apparently there was supposed to be a form filled out quite some time ago (a DA2173 to be exact,) it was never done, so the folks at WRAMC will take care of that for me.

Wow! So those are the major things at this time that I know of. In addition, I was told that once I go to WRAMC and they begin the process, they will put in a request to the Army to cut a new set of orders assigning me to the Medical Holdover Company at WRAMC. The Army will then have 72 hours to cut the orders. Whatever date the orders say I am assigned to WRAMC is the date that I have to move out of this temporary apartment and into the housing at WRAMC. My current orders expire on April 27 – I’m sure they will be done by then. In fact, if I go there tomorrow, they might be cut by this Friday. I was kind of hoping to spend one more weekend in this apartment close to everyone I know, but I might have to move before then. Or, they might cut the orders by Friday, but the effective date won’t be until sometime next week. That would be preferable since I have medical appointments pretty much all day Friday and it would suck to move over the weekend. So, let’s pray that I am told to move next week too.

Confusing? We’re just getting started. Tomorrow should be a fun filled day of running around and being told different information. I pray that it goes well. I know I’ve probably given you way too much information, but I wanted to tell you everything and it also gives me a way to put it on “paper” to make sure that even I have it right. I’ll update you tomorrow evening. And if you have questions for me, please leave a comment and I’ll answer them. Now it’s close to midnight again and I’m still up. So, I’m posting this and going to bed.