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.

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.

Bad Head Day - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 81

This morning I headed to formation in summer PTs with the jacket. I had made up my mind that I wasn't going to do PT because my head was hurting pretty bad. My name was called along with several others stating we needed to get with our squad leader to sign some paperwork. After that each of the platoon sergeants were told to take charge of their platoons…our platoon sergeant said "do the right thing", then walked off.

I gathered around one of our squad leaders along with a few others to see what paperwork I had to sign. It starts to rain and the squad leader states "we should go inside to finish this up". One of the typical brainwashed soldiers said "if it ain't raining, we ain't training". I say "let's use some common sense", then turned and walked inside. Give me a break…we're trying to read and sign paperwork using ink, that doesn't work well in the rain. Once inside I get my paperwork and find out it's for a Kindle. Amazon is giving away a large number of Kindles for free to the WTB. Nice to see a local company doing some good, in fact it's pretty awesome of them!

After I finished with the paperwork, I headed to my car to eat breakfast. My head is still killing me! I go to the SFAC to check my army email and print off some resumes for the job fair this afternoon. I then head to my optometry appointment at 1000. I guess there was a doctor who called in sick, so they were a little backed up. Even when I did get in to have my eyes checked, my doctor was taken away about 3 times. I finally got out of there at almost noon. I should be getting my new glasses mailed to me in a couple weeks.

I grabbed a snack from the shoppette and then while getting ready to head to this military only job fair, I get a text stating that 100% attendance is required for a sensing session at 1300 today. I'm pissed off and my head hurts like crazy. In retrospect, it's probably a good thing that I didn't go to the job fair because I was in quite a bit of pain. I was looking forward to chatting with some local employers though.

I head to the sensing session, which should be called "bitch session". A sensing session is where the command (in this case it was the brigade command sergeant major) gathers everyone together so he can get a sense of how everything is going under his command. Various people stood up and bitched and moaned about various things or people. I just waited through it…a little high on Percocet.

After the session I headed home. I was notified by my PEBLO that my paperwork has gone through the PEB and they have sent it off to the VA for ratings. This means the PEB (Physical Evaluation Board) decided that I am indeed not fit to stay in the army. This is a good thing because if for some reason they found me fit for duty, I would have to basically stop this medboard process and go back to work for the regular army…I can't imagine a worse fate at this point!

NarSum Sign & Deliver - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 79

This morning I headed to formation in ACUs, I had an appointment at 0730 with my PEBLO. Once formation was over I headed to the car, ate my breakfast, then headed to my appointment. The appointment with my PEBLO was to officially sign the NARSUM (Narrative Summary) and get it sent off. Once everything was signed, she told me the average time to find out my ratings is 4 months. I know I can't hold her to that, but it kind of gives me a timeline to figure out when I'll finally be getting out. Once the ratings come in, then I will have 90 days before I get out.

I then headed to the transition office and signed all the paperwork for an internship. While in the WTB, they really push for you to either attend school or do an internship. Well I'm doing both! I picked an I.T. internship that is with the navy and pretty close to my home. So not only will I be able to get my hands wet again in the I.T. world, I'll make some new contacts, and I'll keep myself busy. If all goes according to plan, I'll start in a couple weeks.

I then headed to my NCM appointment where I put in requests to get my pain medication and muscle relaxers refilled. I then headed to optometry to make an appointment. Normally they will not let normal folks make an appointment in person, but I have to because I'm with the WTB. My wife somehow managed to lose my glasses, plus it's been a year since my last eye appointment…so it's come up on my MedPros as due…perfect timing.

I headed home for the day, did my schoolwork and then did the normal cleaning and organizing.

PEBLO and the NARSUM - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 73

This morning we had our PT formation at the gym. Right after the formation, I just headed to my car instead of to the gym. I then took a nap, if the army is going to waste my time with stuff like staff duty…I'll find ways to get it back. I headed to a 0900 appointment with my nurse case manager. I waited in the lobby until 0945. During that time I called her twice, but she never came out. We can get in some major trouble if we miss appointments, but I guess the opposite isn't true. The last message I left let my nurse case manager know that I was leaving for another appointment I had with my PEBLO.

I headed to meet up with my PEBLO. She said my NARSUM (Narrative Summary) has been completed and is ready for me to look over. I can choose to have legal go over it as well, but I have to return in 5 business days in order to sign it. So I take off and look it over in my car. The NARSUM is basically a summary of all my issues with the reports from my visits to the VA doctors as well as a history of all my medications that I've been taking. All my issues are pretty straight forward. My neck has degenerative disk disease, I get frequent headaches, my knee is in constant pain, I've had hearing loss, and I have persistent tinnitus (ringing in my ears).

I head to the SFAC to check my army email. While in there my nurse case manager gives me a call and asks if I can meet with her now. I say sure and head up there since she's located in the same building as the SFAC. We go over how I'm doing…pretty much the same. I ask her to put in a request to refill my muscle relaxers and my intermediate pain medication (tramadol). Once I finished up with her, I headed home for the day and did my schoolwork.

The PEBLO - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 17

This is where my PEBLO is located...a bunch of temporary units on Ft. Lewis

Headed to PT formation this morning in ACUs and surprisingly they decided to have it inside because it was raining. Maybe I was a little too quick to judge yesterday, perhaps the company is getting a little common sense! I came in ACUs because I had an appointment with my PCM (Primary Care Physician) at 0900. Technically we are supposed to come in ACUs only if our appointments are at 0830 or earlier, but I wasn't going to chance it. I didn't know if the company was going to be stupid and make everyone do PT outside or not. After formation I headed to my car and took a nap after eating my breakfast.

My PCM appointment went fairly routine. The doctor went over how I felt the last couple of weeks and then gave me a refill for my Tramadol. The medicine doesn't take away all the pain, but for my mild to moderate headaches it does a decent job…far better than over the counter pain killers.

After my PCM (Primary Care Manager) appointment I headed straight to my NCM (Nurse Case Manager) appointment. During this appointment we went over how the last week has gone. She mentioned some things she may want me to try such as yoga. She also said after an appointment I have on July 11th, I should be transferred to B company. I'm currently in HHC company, but this company is only for soldiers as they are arriving and in-processing. I'm not sure what will change once in B company other than I'll have a new squad leader and a new NCM…I'll keep my PCM and everything else. My guess is B company will have squad leaders that are a little more in touch with their soldiers because there isn't as much transition going on.

I headed to the SFAC with my laptop. After using their computers to check my army email, I had a seat in their lobby and used my laptop to surf the web and waste time until lunch. I had lunch in the SFAC and then headed to my next appointment.

This next appointment was to meet my PEBLO. This person is the one who will help me through the entire medboard process. She will be the one I go to if I have any questions, she will basically be my guide through this process. My last task of the day was the pharmacy. After my last visit to the pharmacy I was expecting a madhouse, but surprisingly it was not too bad. I got my number and was called up within 10 minutes or so.

I then headed to my car once again and did a variety of things to pass the time…watch a little of UFC 161 on my laptop, listen to music, play on my iPhone, take a nap. The weather changed a bit and by the time I was about to leave to formation it was getting pretty hot! As the summer progresses I may have to find a better place to hang out and pass the time.

Finally it was time to head to our evening formation. This formation is at 1600 and I don't even know why they have it. Half of the time we don't even form up. They never take accountability and it usually only consists of one squad leader coming out and saying he has nothing to announce and we can go.

PEBLO Briefing - (Germany) Day 433

A view of the Landstuhl Medical Center from the sky.

I was told that it's design was to help in case it is bombed, there

are several buildings all attached instead of one large hospital building

 

This morning I headed out and instead of going to the PT formation, I hopped into a TMP and headed off to Landstuhl. I headed out at 0630 with an appointment at 0845 at the Landstuhl hospital. It normally takes a bit over an hour to get there, but I heard traffic in the morning at the gate is horrible…and I have to be there 15 minutes early of course. Traffic was indeed horrible at the gate, but I made it in plenty of time. I went to the coffee joint in the hospital and picked up a mocha and a bite to eat for breakfast.

When I arrived they had me sign in and then my case nurse (or something like that) took me back into her office. We went over all my paperwork and she gave me a little pre-briefing briefing. I headed back to the conference room where there ended up being a total of three soldiers going through the process. We had a total of three briefings all about the medboard process. The first was legal, then another guy who works with a number of soldier organizations, and finally the PEBLO brief. We learned what the process will be like and how long it should take. We learned the various outcomes of the medboard process and what things we can appeal and what we can't. It was an interesting brief, but I had heard a lot of it before from SPC Mac since he just went through his. It's always best to hear it straight from the source though…as the ComSec motto goes "Trust No One".

After the brief I had to make an appointment for an OPIN appointment. This is where a doctor will discuss everything with me and write down kind of a consolidated form with everything on it. This will be sent to the WTU in Ft. Lewis and used as a starting point for the medboard process. I have that appointment next Thursday.

I grabbed a bite to eat at the food court in the hospital, then headed back to my office. By the time I filled up the TMP and turned it back into the ComSec office it was 1500. I met up with the chaplain and we went over everything that's going on with all his events. He also said he talked to my platoon sergeant and got me off of garbage duty from now on. The chaplain said he needs me too much, and can't spare me every Monday. So…no more "Garbage Man Mondays".