Careful Review (Life After The Army)

It’s been a little while since I’ve posted an update. Not a lot has happened in regards to the army or the VA. I’ve been living my normal civilian life and loving it. I really like my job, I do I.T. work all day everyday. I also enjoy the fact now that it’s getting a little colder outside I can decide if I want to wear a sweatshirt, long sleeves or even a coat if I want. I don’t have to stand around in a stupid morning formation freezing my ass off in shorts and a t-shirt because some NCO decides it’s not really cold enough to wear winter PTs yet.

About my health not a lot has changed. I’m still in pain almost every single day to some degree and I’m popping pills daily. A little over a month ago I asked my VA doctor if he could write a referral to a local massage therapy establishment so I could use my civilian insurance and start utilizing their services. My VA doctor said they do not do massage therapy referrals, but they would write up a referral for chiropractic care. I was already going to the chiropractor on my own, but I gave them my chiropractor’s information and didn’t think too much about it.

It turned out that I didn’t need a referral from my doctor to use my civilian insurance for the massage therapy. So I have been getting a massage once a week and going to the chiropractor twice a month. I totally forgot about the my VA doctor’s referral until I received a letter in the mail from the VA. The letter stated that after “careful consideration” they have rejected my VA doctor’s referral for chiropractic care. The reason…because I’m still active duty. LOL. That is some “careful review” from the VA. I’ve been out of the army for 5 months! I then sent my local VA doctor an email letting him know about the letter and stating that it seems as if the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. The local VA clinic said that I need to call the VA to get it all straightened out…I think not, I didn’t even ask for the referral for chiropractic in the first place. It doesn’t really matter because I’m using my civilian insurance, but it just makes me glad that I don’t have to depend on the VA for much. In truth I try to stay away from the VA as much as possible. Dealing with them is similar to dealing with the army…so much paperwork and so little common sense.

When I think back now about my time in the army from a professional and technical standpoint, I see that I really fell behind. When I joined, all my peers in the I.T. industry kept moving ahead, while I actually moved backwards. With technology, you have to be hands on and in the middle of all the ever changing trends. When I got out of the army and started my civilian I.T. job, I had to do quite a bit of catch up in order to get back up to speed. It’s been about 5 months now and I’m finally feeling like my head is above water. Instead of hitting the ground running, I had to crawl for a while, but I’m getting back up to speed slowly. Luckily I landed a good job with a great company.

Just a Chiro Appt - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 273

Sent a text to my squad leader “MOU Today”, then I went back to sleep. I woke up about 0900 and did my schoolwork. Around 1130 I drove to Ft. Lewis, but before I went on base I met a friend for lunch. I then received a text from my squad leader letting me know I have a self assessment due. So after lunch I made my way to the SFAC and checked my army email, then completed the self assessment. I then sent my squad leader a text letting him know my self assessment is complete. I then asked him if he has an idea when my final day will be now that I’m on TransProc…I get no response. I really wish I could tell this prospective employer a date, so I can move forward.

I went to my chiropractic appointment in the pain clinic, then drove home. I have to say I’m glad I just use cruise control since I came back from Germany and their autobahns…I see at least a couple state patrols with their radar guns constantly trying to catch speeders every time I make this commute. Once home I received a text later on from my squad leader letting me know Monday’s formation is at 0745 in ACUs, but nothing about the question I asked him. That pisses me off a little.

My girls came over tonight for the weekend. We all went out for dinner and then had DQ Blizzards for dessert...my favorite!

Just the Chiropractor - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 269

This morning I slept in until 0900. I heard my platoon sergeant was going to be on pass until Wednesday, so I’ll just let everyone assume I’m working at my MOU with the navy. I had breakfast and then started working on schoolwork. Hey…schoolwork is actually my other MOU, so technically I’m not lying to anyone.

After lunch I put on my winter PTs and drove to Ft. Lewis. I went into the SFAC and checked my army email. Nothing new to report there. I went to the pain clinic and saw my chiropractor for a quick manipulation then headed back home. Seems like a lot of driving for just a few minutes of manipulation, but I always feel better after seeing the chiropractor! Once my wife got home we headed to the YMCA for a workout. I could get used to a schedule like this everyday.

A Sick Acupuncturist - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 266

My alarm went off at 0420, I got up and took a couple steps…then decided I was not going to go in today and got back in bed. My squad leader was not going to be in and I don’t think anyone else would miss me being there. I went back to sleep until about 0700 or so, that’s about when I needed to get up and get ready for my 0900 acupuncture appointment today.

On my drive to Ft. Lewis I received a call and found out that my acupuncturist had called in sick today and all her appointments were cancelled…I guess she doesn’t poke herself enough. This was going to be my last appointment anyway for acupuncture, but I wish I would’ve found out before I started heading in. I continued to drive in and parked in the WTB parking lot where I took a nap. Once I got back up and going, I went into the SFAC and checked my army email. I then stopped by my NCM and dropped off the VA paperwork she gave me yesterday along with my ratings information.

I headed to the pain clinic a bit early for my chiropractic appointment. My neck pain was starting to get worse, but the manipulation he gave me seemed to help out. After the chiropractor I drove back home and did schoolwork. Taking two classes at once is quite a change from what I’m used to, it requires a bit more planning. I then spent some time job searching. I’ve been averaging applying for about 1 or 2 jobs a day.

Getting My Time Back - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 263

My alarm went off this morning and I almost got up and ready for formation…almost. Instead I reconsidered and went back to sleep. I will always find a way to get back my time that the army stole from me, and the army stole over 4 hours of my time with that stupid staff duty shift yesterday. My squad leader is going to have today off because he did the entire 24 hour shift, he’s the only one that would probably even notice that I’m not there.

I got up and got ready in time to make my 1000 TCM sleep & headache class in the pain clinic at Ft. Lewis. Today’s class covered diet according to TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine). The instructor went over the differences between the average American diet and the TCM diet. The TCM diet recommends having a lot of colors on your plate during each meal (i.e. banana would be yellow, fish would be white, carrots would be orange etc). The suggestion is having at least 5 colors. There was also more in depth discussions about how various foods affect the body and which ones should be avoided. I’m not going to get into too much detail, but if you’re interested you can do a Google search of “TCM Diet”.

After the class I was able to get in and see the chiropractor early. It was now a bit after 1100 and my appointment wasn’t officially until 1345 and that was my last appointment of the day. So I was able to get adjusted and get out of there. I drove home and ate my lunch while driving. Once home I took the final exam for my Business Strategy class. Nice to get that class done and out of the way.

I then spent some time searching for a job. I applied for a few and also updated my resume a bit. When my wife came home, we went to my in-laws for dinner. After dinner we came home and watched a Netflix movie “In Bruges”. I wasn’t expecting much from it, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was set in Bruges, Belgium and the scenery reminded me a lot of our time in Europe. It also featured a midget…which always makes me smile....a little :)

JAG - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 259

Headed to morning formation in ACUs because I had a 0700 appointment with my PCM. Once accountability was over I went back to my car and quickly ate breakfast. I then went to my 0700 appointment with my PCM. I let her know I was doing pretty good except for the 3 day spell earlier this week. I had her put in prescriptions as usual for my pain medication, then left. I had a 0800 acupuncture appointment at the pain clinic. This went as usual, first walking on the hard plastic rocks in my socks and then laying on my back and getting poked in my forehead, wrists, hands, shins, ankles and feet. One the needles were all in, the relaxing music was on and the lights off, I pretty much just relaxed and slept for most of the time.

After my appointment, I headed to my chiropractic appointment which was pretty quick. The doc just had me lay down while he did his manipulation on my neck. After that was over, I headed to the hospital pharmacy and picked up all my refills and prescriptions. The pharmacy was of course busy, I had to wait for a while…luckily I had my iPhone to keep me entertained.

I had lunch in my car and then waited for my 1230 physical therapy appointment for my positive profile. This is something that just appeared out of the blue on my appointment sheet. My NCM said it was located on the 8th floor of the hospital, but that was all I knew. I wandered around for a bit until someone finally showed me where the office was located. Once there I spoke with the physical therapist for a while. We went over all of my issues, then she took measurements on my range of motion with my legs, arms and neck. She also did some resistance test and logged everything in her computer. I guess I’ll get an updated positive profile in a week or so. A positive profile basically states what I can do versus what I can’t do.

After this appointment I headed back to my car and took a nap. I then went to the JAG office. While in the waiting room I received a text from my squad leader stating that I had to do staff duty on Monday. I really hate this place and I hate staff duty. This just really pissed me off. I did find out later that I would only have to do it from 0800 to 1600, this is much better…but I was still pretty pissed. I hate the short notice and I also hate that I was told that everyone only has staff duty about once every three months. I just had one about a month ago, so this really sucks!

At JAG I spoke with a lawyer that specializes in the medboard process. My PEBLO suggests that everyone have JAG look over the findings and make sure everything looks good. I was fine with my findings and the lawyer just wanted to make sure I was fine with getting out of the army…of course I am…I can’t wait…I’m done with all this stupid shit. After JAG gave their blessing I went straight to my PEBLO and signed all the paperwork. I was going to wait until Monday which was my final day, but after the staff duty text, all I wanted to do was get this process started and get the hell out of the army.

I headed home after signing everything. I was told the next step will have me put into transition processing. Once this is done I’ll get a call from my PEBLO and she will give me a date for my retirement brief that I’ll attend. At this brief I’ll find out all the steps that I’ll need to do before getting out. The max for getting into transition processing is 30 days, but my PEBLO said it can be as short as a week.

Tonight just my girls came over to stay the weekend, my son has the flu and is feeling pretty sick. We had a great homecooked meal and then watched a couple of movies that arrived via Netflix. The first was Charlie Bartlett, which was a comedy about a rich privileged student who gets kicked out of private school and must attend a public school. It was pretty good and kept my girls entertained. The second movie of our double feature was Untraceable, which was a thriller about an FBI agent who is trying to track and capture a villain who is killing people and broadcasting it live on the internet. This movie was also decent, it kept everyone entertained.

100% Weigh In - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 257

I received a text from my squad leader last night for this morning “100% weigh in immediately after 0630 formation, uniform is PTs. 100% ID check conducted by the XO at formation as well”. I’m going to assume that this doesn’t apply to me and sent him a text “MOU Today”, then went back to sleep. The closer I am to getting out, the less I want to play any army games. I got up about 0930 and did my schoolwork, then took a shower and got ready for the day.

I’m still feeling pretty tender in my neck and head areas. I checked all the job boards looking to see what I can apply for. I’m really hoping to find something decent that is local. I really don’t even care if I do computer work anymore, I just want to work for a decent company.

I headed off to Ft. Lewis after I ate some lunch. I went into the SFAC and checked my army email, then went to the pain clinic for my chiropractic appointment. By this time I was in some pretty serious pain, I had taken my pain meds…but still waiting for them to kick in. The chiropractor lubed up his hands and gave my neck and shoulders a quick massage before doing the manipulation. He also worked on my back a bit, then tried to stretch out my neck and shoulders a bit more. By the time I left, I was still in pain…but feeling a little better. This was probably do to both the chiropractor and the pain meds starting to kick in.

I drove home and just relaxed on my couch until my wife got home. We went to the YMCA and we just walked on the indoor track for about 45 minutes. We wanted to do something even if in pain and this seemed the logical choice. I was glad we ended up going and felt like I got something accomplished. We then went to my sister’s house as we do every Wednesday and had dinner. It’s always good to see my family.

PEBLO - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 252

This morning I had all good intentions to text my squad leader, but totally forgot. I’ll just let him assume I’m working at the naval shipyard in Bremerton. I wasn’t planning on doing that or going in early to formation because there is a town hall meeting this morning that I have no desire to attend. I started my day doing schoolwork (my other MOU). Once I finished, I slowly got ready for the day. I did have to head into Ft. Lewis eventually for a 1300 appointment with my PEBLO.

At my PEBLO appointment she gave me my ratings paperwork and went over each part with me. I thought it all looked good, but she said I should at least take the weekend to look it over. She suggested everyone at least have JAG look everything over before signing it. I have 10 days to sign it all.

I then drove to the WTB parking lot and headed up early to my chiropractic appointment. After that I had my acupuncture appointment. It started off as usual with me taking off my boots and walking on the hard plastic rocks in my socks. After that my acupuncturist said I wasn’t going to get poked today. Instead she was just going to go over everything and assess my progress. So I sat there as she asked me a bunch of questions. We also went over the acupressure I learned in the class earlier this week.

When I left, I stopped by the flower shop on the way out of the hospital and picked up an arrangement for my wife…it is Valentine’s day after all. When a man keeps his wife happy, the marriage is happy! I then drove home and just took it easy for the rest of the day. I already had my schoolwork done, so I was able to just hang out with my wife and relax.

Cognitive Health - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 248

Just a quick photo I snapped of Mt. Rainier from the front of the hospital

I sent a text to my squad leader “MOU Today”, then went down and made my wife and I a smoothie for breakfast consisting of banana, strawberry, blueberry, a little apple juice and some ice. It was pretty good! I then hung out and read the news for a while. Even though I sent the text, I never planned to go to the navy today. My plan is to work on some schoolwork (which is also my MOU). I have appointments at Ft. Lewis later on this afternoon, so I figured I’d hang out and have a leisurely morning at home before getting ready and heading in. After my smoothie and some coffee, I continued to do my 2013 taxes. I had to pause after a while because some of the paperwork I need is in my wife’s car…and she left a while ago. I hunkered down and started my schoolwork, I’m currently in week 6 of this 8 week class.

After homework I got ready for the day…showered and shaved, then drove to Ft. Lewis. I think I like this schedule where I can get up and get ready slowly, get my homework done, and then head to Ft. Lewis in the afternoon. I don’t have to deal with any formation or pretty much anything army related except for my appointments. My first appointment today was at 1300 for my cognitive health class. This is the group class where the navy captain discusses a lot about how powerful the brain is. She went through a number of PowerPoint slides, then had us each talk about how we felt the last week while in pain. My story is the tale of two extremes, it seems when my pain is low I start to think everything’s going to be OK and perhaps I’m getting better and not going to have to deal with pain anymore. When my pain is bad I think my life sucks and this is how I’m going to feel the rest of my life…I will never be able to do simple things such as play with my kids. She then had us all try and relax with our eyes closed, then she guided us into some deep relaxing therapy. During the entire process trying to imagine or focus was hard for me, the entire time it seemed like the vent in the ceiling just kept getting louder and louder. The captain said that is actually a good thing…I guess when a person relaxes a lot their mind may focus and pick up on other things going on around them…OK.

After the cognitive health class, I had a chiropractor appointment. The appointment was quick and good. The chiropractor does the manipulation on my neck and spine, then also pulls my head and does some stretches, pulling my head and pushing my shoulder. I felt better after the appointment and went to schedule my future appointments for both acupuncture and chiropractic. What should have been a 5 to 10 minute process turned into an hour and a half process. Evidently someone at some point in the last couple weeks was scheduling my appointments under a different person in the army that has my same name. They should be checking the last four of the social security number or the DoD number, but didn’t. I just happened to notice none of my previously scheduled appointments were not on the slip I was given. When the appointment desk checked it out they found out their mistake…so I had to stand there waiting for them to get everything corrected. It doesn’t help when the guy behind the desk hates his job and was constantly letting everyone know. Once he finally did finish, I headed home for the day and hung out with my wife.

We did make it to the YMCA and I had a good cardio workout on the elliptical. I spoke earlier to my chiropractor about working out and how if I try and push myself, I always end up in a lot of pain. He said to try and push really hard for only 30 seconds, then go at a slower pace for 5 minutes. I used his method for the entire 45 minute workout and surprisingly I still felt like I had a great workout and more importantly I wasn’t in any severe pain. I’ll stick with this and see if it continues to work out for me from now on.

Focused Transition Review - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 243

A photo of the common area in the WTB Barracks. 

I'm sitting on the leather couch looking at the TV, 

but there are also PCs that can be used by the soldiers as well

This morning I headed to morning formation in ACUs because I had an NCM appointment at 0800. It was so freakin’ cold! Some folks had their polar fleece on that was issued to them, but all I could do was wear my army issued long johns underneath my ACUs. I had to turn in my polar fleece when I left Germany. That was probably my favorite part of the uniform! The appointment folks fell out and headed to the rear of the formation, then waited for the first sergeant to come and ask each one of us when and where our appointment was. Once I told her, I took off and went inside the barracks building. It was going to be too cold to hang out in my car even with my blanket. I went to the common area of the barracks and hung out on the leather couch and watched some TV. The couch was pretty comfortable, I think I may have dozed off a few times.

At 0800 I went to my NCM appointment. Everything was pretty much the same as before…same questions and same answers as every week. I did have her order me a new refill for my muscle relaxers, but had her schedule it for pickup next Monday when I’ll be back. After that I headed to the SFAC and checked my email. I also checked my MedBoard on AKO, but for some reason the numbers are all messed up still. I guess we’ll see if anything changes in the next couple of days. After surfing the web for a while, I headed out to my car and grabbed my paperwork for the FTR at 0930. I had to make up 6 copies of my transition plan for everyone that is going to be in this meeting. I was waiting in the lobby and my squad leader came out and said we could start early…fine with me.

I sat down at the company conference room table with my squad leader, my NCM, a social worker, the company commander, and the battalion commander. I then handed out my sheets and told them my plan for transitioning out of the army. I’m almost finished with school, I have plenty of work experience and I don’t anticipate any issues finding a job. They could tell I had a good plan and had everything together. They only had a couple of simple questions and then I was out of there. The meeting is scheduled for at least an hour, but I was done in less than 15 minutes! They are used to having kids with no life experience except the army in there. Kids that have no idea what it’s like to be in the civilian workforce. I’ve been there and done that for over 15 years in my field.

I went to the library and did schoolwork until lunchtime. I ate lunch in my car and then drove to the WTB parking lot. From there I headed to the pain clinic and had my chiropractic appointment and then my acupuncture appointment. This time had me on my stomach with needles in my wrists, down each side of my spine, my ankles and the top of my feet. It’s actually a pretty relaxing experience once all the needles are in, the music is playing and the lights are off. I was on the verge of falling asleep the entire time.

After acupuncture, I drove home where I met my wife and we headed off to the YMCA. I worked out on the elliptical and upped the speed a bit. I wanted to get a better workout and push myself a little. The problem, even with no impact on the elliptical is that when I push myself, I pay for it later on. Not with sore muscles, but my neck and my head just seem to get worse and worse as the night goes on. I’m kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. I want to work out and get back in shape. I want to lose some of this weight I’ve been packing on, but when I exert myself too much I’m in pain for the rest of the night. It really sucks. I took a muscle relaxer to make sure I at least slept well.

Cognitive Health - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 241

The sign on the door where I get my acupuncture done...lol

This morning’s formation was pushed back until 0900 in ACUs. I knew I was going to be at the pain clinic with an acupuncture appointment, so I sent my squad leader a text letting him know. I was able to sleep in a bit and head in much later than usual, which was nice for a change. I had a 0800 acupuncture appointment and a 0945 chiropractor appointment in the pain clinic. While waiting for the acupuncture appointment, the chiropractor saw me and quickly took care of my appointment with him. He had me lay down and did the usual neck manipulation, which only takes a few minutes. I then headed into my acupuncture appointment. I walked on the plastic rocks with just my socks, then laid down on my back on the exam table. This time I got needles in my forehead, my forearms, my wrists, near my knees, my ankles, and the top of my feet. This was a bit more than I’ve had before, but I couldn’t even feel most of them. I laid there with the lights off, a heat lamp over my right knee, and relaxed for about 15 minutes.

After the appointments I headed back to my car and just listened to music. I brought my iPad to read and my laptop to use to pass the time until my last appointment for the day which is at 1300. This appointment was a cognitive health group appointment at the pain clinic. There were four of us in the group. A navy captain was the instructor. She went over a lot about how the mind can affect the body. She had us do a few mental imaging exercises and then discuss our reactions and feelings. As an example of how the mind can affect our body, she had us imagine holding a lemon in our hand. She described the lemon thoroughly and then had us picture the act of cutting the lemon in half. Once finished she had us picture taking a bite of the lemon. The point of the exercise was to show that just by thinking of the lemon and picture the biting of the lemon, it caused everyone’s mouth to salivate. There was no physical lemon and there was no aroma of a lemon, but picturing it in our mind can affect our body. She did a little more talking about the mind and body, then gave us some ways to try and focus away from the pain.

After the class, I drove to the Subaru dealership and dropped of my car for some maintenance. It needed an oil change and all the belts needed replacing. I’m way past due because of our time in Germany. The dealership may not be the cheapest way to do it, but the oil changes are free for life and they gave me a complementary loaner car to use while mine was in the shop.

I then went home and did some schoolwork. Once my wife came home we headed to the YMCA. Now that all the new year’s resolution folks have probably quit, we need to start getting back in there. I used the elliptical and got a decent cardio workout. My wife and I are also going to start eating better. Part of that is getting more vegetables in us. We have a Magic Bullet blender and found a green smoothie recipe online to try. It was fill of kale, celery, green pepper, green apple, broccoli, ginger, and some lemon. I was expecting it to taste pretty bad, but it really wasn’t. I can’t say that it tasted great or anything, but it was very manageable. Being the first time I have tried this, I need to let it blend quite a bit longer. It was a very thick smoothie that I kind of had to chew before swallowing. We’ll probably mix this recipe up a bit, but at least we’re getting some good nutrients in us.

Lefty Pain - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 238

In the chiropractor's office...a lot of solar powered dancing flowers...lol

This morning I woke up and the entire left side of my head was in pain. The entire left side of my brain was killing me! Not only that, but the pain went down the left side of my neck and then my shoulder. I’ve had one side or another hurt before and it basically just sucks. When I’m in pain like this, I really don’t want to do much of anything because life in general just sucks bad! Today I had an appointment with the chiropractor though, and I thought maybe he can do something to help. With this in mind, I didn’t take any pain killers…I just got up and got ready to go.

Morning formation was in winter PTs and I pathetically tried to do some of the warm ups with everyone. I think most of the time I just stood there and perhaps moved my arms around a little. After warm ups I was going to just head to my car, but the first sergeant was right behind me. Instead I walked around the parking lot once with everyone and then broke off from the group. I went and used the bathroom first, just in case someone asked…and I really did need to go. After that I went straight to my car, but it was too cold to sleep and my head was still killing me…so I just tried to relax and listen to the radio.

A little after 0800 I headed into the SFAC and checked my army email and then my medboard status on AKO as usual.

Here’s today’s results for my medboard status on my AKO:

218 days remaining
Start Date: 6/26/2013
Goal Finish Date: 4/17/2014
Estimated Finish Date (No Appeal): 8/8/2014
Estimated Finish Date (W/ Appeal): 9/06/2014

My current step in the process is VA Ratings. My actual time waiting for ratings is 157 days. The army average is now 143.01 days. Current days I am over the army average is 13.99

I then went to my 0945 chiropractor appointment early, normally I can get in to see him early if I happen to be there. That was the case today, I only had to wait about 15 minutes before he brought me back. I let him know what was going on and where the pain was. He did a little manipulation and then massaged my neck and shoulders. Everything was pretty tender everywhere he touched. I was hoping I would at least feel a little better by the time I left, but I still felt pretty much the same. I went back to my car and drove home.

Once home I took my pain meds and broke out the heating pad to place on my left shoulder and neck. I watched a college basketball game on watchESPN and waited for the pain meds to kick in. After about an hour I was feeling much better thankfully. Once the game was over, I did my schoolwork. The rest of the day might turn out OK now!

Later at night my wife and I went to watch our former high schools battle each other in basketball. Unfortunately my Bulldogs fell a little short to her Trojans. It’s always fun to watch high school basketball. The energy and the atmosphere are always a lot of fun. The band, the cheerleaders, the students, and the coaches all made it a great night.

A Day @ Ft. Lewis - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 236

I always catch the statue at the end of the hall and think someone is there half the time

This morning I headed to formation in my ACUs, I have an appointment with my NCM at 0800. After accountability, I headed back to my car, pulled up my blanket, and went back to sleep. I had taken a muscle relaxer last night and was still groggy from it. I got up and ate breakfast in my car before heading up for my 0800 NCM appointment. I must have still been pretty groggy because right after arriving and sitting down with my NCM, I spilled my coffee all over my leg. Good thing ACUs are camouflaged right? I did my best to wipe everything up with a couple napkins my NCM provided. Nothing new with the NCM, so the appointment only took a few minutes.

I left and drove to Starbucks where I picked up another coffee, maybe this second one will help me wake up a bit. I brought in my textbook to read, but it was a little too noisy in there to try and do schoolwork. I left and went to the library, then proceeded to do my schoolwork. After I finished, I surfed the web for a bit and just passed the time until noon. I then drove back to the WTB parking lot and ate lunch in my car.

At 1300 I had another FTR preparation group meeting. We went over any loose ends during this meeting. I realized that I have to actually print out my transition plan to give to 6 different people during the actual FTR. My appointment is next week, so I guess I better put something together this weekend. It isn’t going to be too hard for me because I already have a plan when I get out and I’m taking steps now towards that plan.

After the meeting I went over to the pain clinic to see if I could get in any earlier for my chiropractic appointment. Usually if I arrive early I can get in early. That was the case today, I sat in the waiting area reading news on my iPhone for about 15 minutes before he called me back. The chiropractor did the normal manipulation to my neck and then gave me an aid to help isolate some stretches to do on my own. It’s basically a rope with knots on each end and has a softer foam piece in the middle. I place the foam piece on the back of my neck while holding the two ends of the rope in front of me. Depending on the position I hold the rope, I can stretch my neck and isolate certain portions. He went through each of the various stretches, first showing me and then having me give it a try.

Once finished I went over to my company headquarters in the WTB. I had to attend the required 90 day appointment with the social worker. The first part is filling out a sheet full of questions with yes or no answers. The questions are stuff like: Do you want to kill yourself? Do you want to kill someone else? Do you believe you have superpowers? Once that was filled out the social worker asked how everything was going and how I’m doing. I told her everything is great unless I have to come to Ft. Lewis. The meeting went fairly quickly because I don’t have any behavior health issues. It’s just one of those “check the box” requirements that have to be done while assigned to the WTB.

After the meeting I left for the day and drove home. I didn’t get home until about 1730, so I’m glad I was able to finish up my schoolwork earlier today.

Saved by the Pee - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 233

The chiropractor's office where I get manipulated...he has a nice view as well!

This morning I headed to Ft. Lewis in winter PTs. I did the warm up exercises with the group, but when we broke and headed to the parking lot to walk, I headed straight inside. It was pretty freakin’ cold out and I had no desire to walk around in it. I had to pee, so if anyone stopped me and asked, that was what I was going to tell them. Luckily for me when I finished relieving myself there was nobody around…I just headed to my car to eat breakfast and listen to music. I tried to nap, but even with my blanket it was too freakin’ cold!

I went inside to the SFAC a little after 0800. I checked my army email and surfed the web for a while. I did get a reply from my PEBLO saying that the VA is still running 4 months behind. I continued to surf the web for a bit, it’s too cold to hang out in my car. At 0930 I had my chiropractor appointment. I had some pretty crappy sleep last night, so I started off the day in pain. The chiropractor relieved some of the pressure and pain. At 1000 I had an acupuncture appointment. I did the usual walking on the plastic rocks in my socks. I laid down on my stomach, then got poked in my wrists, down each side of my spine, on each of my ankles and the tops of my feet. My neck got the mixture of cinnamon oil, peppermint oil, and dragon’s blood rubbed on it. I then listened to the relaxing music for about 15 minutes or so with the lights off.

After acupuncture I was done for the day. I headed to my sister’s house to pick up my son and take him to the ferry so he could head home. When I got home I did my schoolwork. I had to take some pain meds because the pain was starting to make a comeback. 

The Pharmacist - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 230

A view of Mt. Rainier during our ferry ride

This morning I headed to morning formation in Winter PTs. I had an appointment this morning, but appointments at the pain clinic can be in the PT uniform…in fact most people that go to the pain clinic are in their PT uniform. After accountability I headed back to my car, pulled out my blanket, turned on the radio, ate breakfast, and then just relaxed for a while.

At 0800 I had an appointment with the pain clinic pharmacist. This is one that my pain clinic nurse case manager setup for me. The folks in the pain clinic just want their pharmacist to go over all the medications that I’m taking. We went over each of the medications, why I’m taking it, how often I take it, and the possible side affects.

Here is a list of my current medications I’m taking and what they’re for:

Amitriptyline: originally prescribed as an anti-depressent for patients, but helps with neuropathic pain over time. This is why my PCM prescribed it to me. I take a dosage of this each night, because one of the side effects is drowsiness. I can’t really say if this drug has helped at all. I think it may play it’s part in helping bring down my average daily pain levels. I say I’m not sure because I’m also doing less to aggravate my injuries and I think the pain clinic is also helping.

Oxycodone: Also known as Percocet. I take this when the pain is getting pretty bad.

Tramadol: This is also a pain reliever, I take this when I have moderate pain. It’s nice to have two different pain meds as well, because I can alternate using them to help space out how often I take a certain pain medication.

Rizatriptan: Also known as Maxalt. This is used to treat my migraine headaches. I don’t get migraines too often, but when I do this has proven to be very helpful!

Cyclobenzaprine: Also known as Flexeril. This is a muscle relaxer. I take this when I’m in quite a bit of pain and know I have a while I can sleep. This drug makes me pretty drowsy, so I usually only take it at night. This drug will allow me to sleep when otherwise I would either have a hard time getting asleep or staying asleep because of the pain.

Indomethiacin: This is an anti-inflammatory drug. I usually take this along with one of the pain medications mentioned above.

After going over each of these the pharmacist said everything looks pretty good. I’m not taking anything that’s unnecessary, I’m not taking too much of anything, and he didn’t have any additional recommendations for me. He wanted me to be aware of certain side effects if I started taking a lot more. After that we just chatted about the time I was stationed in Germany. He had been there for a few years during his career and enjoyed it as well. I’m glad he was OK with everything I’m taking. I hate it when people question what I’m taking for pain, I only take them when I need them…and I’d be pissed if they wanted to cut something out. I’ve tried quite a few other drugs which didn’t do much of anything for me, so I’m happy with what I’m taking now.

When we left his office, the chiropractor just happened to be walking by. I had an appointment with him later on today, but he asked if I wanted to take care of it now. I followed him into his office and he did his manipulation on my neck, then slapped on a little lotion or oil of some sort and proceeded to give me a neck massage. He could feel how tight my neck was while doing the manipulation. This felt awesome, I woke up sore and had been pretty sore all morning. After my visit to the chiropractor I was starting to feel better.

I headed down to the pharmacy where I picked up all my refills. I had called in refills at the start of the week and my PCM put in refills for me yesterday for some of the others. Once I finished at the pharmacy, I headed over to the SFAC to check my army email. I emailed the navy to let my co-worker know my schedule next week. I also emailed my PEBLO just to check in now that AKO officially says I’m over a week past the army average for receiving my VA results. I think I’ll email her to check in at least once a month. I don’t want her to forget about me…and maybe she’ll have some news for me.

Here’s today’s results for my medboard status on my AKO:

218 days remaining
Start Date: 6/26/2013
Goal Finish Date: 4/17/2014
Estimated Finish Date (No Appeal): 8/2/2014
Estimated Finish Date (W/ Appeal): 8/30/2014

My current step in the process is VA Ratings. My actual time waiting for ratings is 150 days. The army average is now 142.78 days. Current days I am over the army average is 7.22

I ate a quick snack from my car, then went to my 1100 acupuncture appointment at the pain clinic. I took off my boots and walked on the hard plastic rocks in my socks. I then laid down on my back on the exam table. For some reason today as I was being stuck with the needles, it was a lot more sensitive. Usually I don’t feel much of anything when I’m getting stuck, but I felt everyone of them today. I got one in my forehead, each wrist, both ankles, and on the top of my feet. I then listened to the relaxing music, relaxed, and did my slow breathing. The acupuncturist, turned out the lights and left. I fell asleep a couple of times while she was gone for the 15 minutes.

After the appointment, I signed up for an acupressure class for sleeping and headaches at my acupuncturist’s request. The class meets once a week for three weeks. After that I headed home and did my schoolwork for the day. When my wife came home we headed to the ferry so we could go watch my daughter’s basketball game.  

Manipulation - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 227

This made me laugh a little...the chiropractor had a little fireplace on his phone 

just sitting on his desk running the entire time.

Morning formation this morning was at Keeler Gym in winter PTs. I was going to do my usual and just head to my car after accountability, but someone forgot to bring the guidon from the company. (for those who don't know what a guidon is, click here) The first sergeant was pissed off and wanted all the platoon sergeants as well as the squad leaders to gather around her so she could bitch them out. Everyone else had to head into the gym. I got on a stationary bike, listened to music on my iPhone, and slowly peddled as I sat there. I did this for a half hour and then left.

I drove to the WTB parking lot and ate my breakfast in the car while listening to the radio. Speaking of listening to the radio, with my long commutes I’ve started to get into more podcasts. These are great for passing time while driving, and don’t have all the commercials that the radio does. Here’s a list of what I’ve subscribed to so far:

BJ Shae: this is basically a podcast of the morning show on KISW. They are a typical morning talk show along with listeners that call in. The topics are usually pretty entertaining and the podcast does not include any of the music or commercial breaks so it moves right along.

The Men’s Room: this is the afternoon show on KISW. These guys are pretty funny, entertaining and not even close to being politically correct. They definitely make the time go by while commuting. This is the normal radio show without any commercial or music breaks.

The Mens Room: These are the same guys mentioned above, but they also do what I call a bonus podcast. This is just for a podcast and not on the radio show, but this one is updated less frequently.

STP: “Steve the Producer” is one of the guys from the morning show on KISW. This podcast is weekly and is pretty long, usually over 2 hours. I just started listening to this one and it’s been pretty good.

Tales From the Spacepod: This is one of the podcasts that I’ve been listening to for a number of years already. These guys are friends of mine and usually BS about paranormal activities or conspiracies. They usually go off on a tangent and are pretty funny to listen to. Unfortunately it’s only a weekly podcast.

I headed into the SFAC and checked my army email. I also sent an email to my navy co-worker letting him know that the army has me booked this entire week, so I will not be seeing him at all. I go back to my car and listen to the radio for a while. As I’m doing this I notice an SUV sitting idle for about 20 minutes waiting for a parking spot to fill up. The SUV then slowly starts to circle the parking lot to see if there is any he missed. He does this for about another 15 minutes! Some people blow me away with how lazy they are. There is another parking lot a little farther away that always has open spots, but this guy doesn’t want to walk the extra 2 minutes. I see this all the time when I’m leaving the hospital. People will stalk me if they see me coming from the hospital going to the parking lot. I’ll be walking toward my car and there will be another car slowly following me. Most of the time I’m not even leaving, I’m just going to my car to wait for my next appointment. So I get in my car, turn on the radio, and just chill. Meanwhile the car that is stalking me is idling, waiting for me to leave so they can get my parking spot. It drives me nuts. Even when I am leaving, I don’t rush…these people are stupid.

At 1000 I went to my first chiropractic appointment. The first part of the appointment the chiropractor is just gathering all my history and asking me questions. He then does an exam. As he’s feeling my neck, he can feel all the tight muscles and the tender spots. He then showed me a model of the spine and explained to me everything that’s going on with my neck. It was pretty interesting and informational. He says that he thinks he can help me out a lot and I’m feeling pretty optimistic! He then did the manipulation on my neck, which I have to say was not too bad. I was pretty worried that it was going to hurt quite a bit, but he did a couple quick snaps and then had me schedule my next few appointments. There was some relief of pressure in my neck, and I walked away feeling better.

After the appointment, I headed home and did schoolwork. This is one of the tougher classes I’ve had, there is a lot of work that needs to be completed each week. Once this class is over, I have two more…I can’t wait!