Pee and the Suit - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 265

As I was sitting in my car in the WTB parking lot waiting for morning formation, my squad leader texted me with a heads up letting me know that I have been selected for a pee test. I do appreciate the advanced notice, because I can then bring my coffee with me to formation and then straight to the pee test. The morning formation was in ACUs for sergeant’s time training. As expected, my name was called along with about 9 or 10 others for the pee test. Those of us called had to head directly to the company headquarters, while everyone else had some sort of sergeant’s time training. This might be the first time I’m happy to actually take a pee test!

Once at company headquarters we gathered in the lobby and slowly one by one each person who felt the urge to pee went in for their test. I finished my coffee and refilled my tumbler with water from the water fountain. I drank…waited…and watched people head into the bathroom with the NCO escort to conduct their pee test and come out with a little bottle of pee. I continued this process until I had refilled my tumbler at least 3 times and there were only me and one girl left to test. I didn’t want to risk a false start like what happened last time. After a little over an hour and a half I had to call my NCM and left her a message letting her know I wasn’t going to make it to my 0800 appointment because of the pee test. Then it happened…I had no doubt that I had to really take a good piss. I slowly took off my ACU top and headed over to the table that had my little empty plastic bottle waiting for me. I verified my bottle was empty and initialed next to my name on the sticker. The NCO put the sticker on my bottle and handed it to me. I then went to the men’s room with an NCO behind me to witness. The NCO witnessing was much better than previous ones, he just stood about 5 feet behind me and let me do my business…much better than 6 inches from my penis trying to cheer me on like the last time. I easily filled up the bottle and had to take a while longer at the urinal just to finish peeing. Once finished I screwed the cap back on my little plastic bottle, washed up, and then took the little bottle back to the NCO waiting outside at the table. The NCO at the table then secures the lid with some tamper proof tape and has the witnessing NCO sign to say he watched me pee. That is the entire process for a pee test…now I can go on with my day.

Since I was already in the company headquarters lobby, I went back to see if my NCM could see me…but she was already gone. I left her a message. I then stopped by “the suit closet” and tried on a few tops and pants. The suit closet is for soldiers in the WTB and has a total mishmash of items that we can choose from to make a complete suit to keep and use for interviews in the civilian world. I was able to find a good coat, pants, and a tie. I also swung by the SFAC and checked my army email.

I had an acupuncture appointment at 1000. I started as usual walking back and forth on the hard plastic rocks for about 15 minutes. I then took off my top down to my t-shirt and my socks, then laid on my back. I got poked in the forehead, wrists, hands, below the knees, the ankles, and the feet. I must have been pretty tired because I totally fell asleep after she put on the music, turned off the lights and left me.

After the appointment I got a call from my NCM saying she wanted me to come by now if possible or tomorrow. I figured I would knock that out of the way and went to see her. The visit with my NCM was the typical questions and then she gave me some VA paperwork to fill out. I guess they’re going to try and setup my first VA appointment before I get out, which will make for a nice transition. I took the paperwork and left. I drove home, ate lunch, and then did schoolwork.

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.

Sergeant’s Time Training…No Thanks - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 258

Headed to morning formation at 0630 in winter PTs. They do all the general announcements as usual and since it’s Thursday, there is sergeant’s time training at 0900. Luckily I have an appointment at 1000, which I of course need to arrive 15 minutes early to…so I will not even be attending the stupid training. I really can’t wait to get out of the army and back into normal life as a civilian doing a civilian job. I did the warm ups with the group for PT, but once we started walking I just walked straight into the building. If anyone stopped me to ask, I was going to let them know I had to take a piss…which i did. I then just headed to my car, it’s cold out and I was in a bad mood already.

Once in my car I ate my breakfast, then pulled up my blanket and slept. At around 0900 I made my way to the SFAC and checked my army email. I then went to the pain clinic and had my acupuncture appointment at 1000. I started off as usual walking back and forth on the hard plastic rocks in my socks for about 10 minutes. I then laid down on my back and the acupuncturist put needles in my forehead, hands, wrists, close to my knees, ankles and feet. Once she turned on the relaxing music, turned off the lights, and left, I pretty much just slept the whole time. It’s always a very relaxing experience, even with all those needles in me!

After the appointment, I drove home and did my schoolwork. I then spent some time looking for jobs online. I’ve been applying to an average of about 1 a day and I’ve heard back from a couple so far. If I don’t find something soon, I’ll probably open my search to a wider area.

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.

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.  

Dragon’s Blood - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 228

The plastic rock path I walk on with my socks before each acupuncture appointment

This morning’s formation was in winter PTs as usual. After the warm-up exercises, we headed to the parking lot to do the usual walking. I had planned on just ditching everyone once we started walking, but the first sergeant decided to join us today. This means there will be no disappearing. I may have to change my morning routine and come up with a better plan. Walking around in a big circle in the cold is not what I plan to do each morning.

After PT I went to my car and did the usual routine, listen to the radio, eat, and take a nap. At 1000 I had an acupuncture appointment. It started off the same, I took off my boots and walked along the hard plastic rocks for about 10 minutes. I then took off my socks and my shirt and laid face down on the exam table. I then proceeded to get stuck with needles in my wrists, my ankles, the top of each foot, and many on each side of my spine. As I lay there with needles sticking out of me and listening to relaxing music, the acupuncturist then put some ointment on the back of my neck. She said it was a combination of cinnamon, peppermint, and dragon’s blood! She also moved some hot lamps above my neck and feet, then turned off the light and left. I got totally relaxed and probably dozed off a few times. She usually leaves for about 15 minutes before returning to take out all the needles. Even though I only lay there with the needles in for around 15 minutes, the entire appointment takes a good hour. This includes the walking on the plastic rocks, answering any questions she may have, and the process of putting in all the needles.

I then went to the pain clinic desk and scheduled my next couple of weeks worth of chiropractic and acupuncture appointments. After that I headed to my car, listened to music and ate lunch. I had an FTR (Focus Transistion Review) group appointment. This is a new mandatory class that we have to go through to prepare us for the actual FTR meeting that will be coming up within the next couple of months for each of us in the class. The army wants to make sure we all have a plan for our transition when we get out. We went over education and finances during this class. There was not really much group participation because you could tell nobody wanted to be here for it. It’s just another one of those “check the box” requirements that we have to get done before we can get out.

After the group meeting, I headed home and did schoolwork.

Getting Poked! - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 219

The acupuncture bed I laid down on and had all the pins stuck in me. 

Pretty much your basic examination bed.

This morning I headed to formation in my ACUs because I have a 0800 appointment with my NCM. After accountability, I headed back to my car, grabbed my blanket and took a nap. At 0800 I went to my NCM appointment. It was the same as usual. The same questions, the same answers, the same everything. After the appointment I went back to my car and listened to the radio while eating breakfast. I hung out in my car until my 1000 acupuncture appointment.

I was looking forward to this appointment, I’ve never had acupuncture done and I’m optimistic about trying anything now. I’m so tired of always being in constant pain. The appointment started with the acupuncturist asking me a few basic questions and then rolling out a mat that was full of very hard plastic rocks. She said while she is inputting information in the computer, she wanted me to take off my boots and walk back and forth across this mat with my socks on. I could use the edge of the examination bed to help balance during this time. She proceeded to show me once by doing it herself. I took off my boots and started the walk…the walk of pain…lol. I’ll admit I have tender feet, I don’t go around barefoot much. This mat full of hard plastic rocks is about two feet wide and 5 feet long. I tenderly walked back and forth very slow and using the exam bed extensively. I’m not sure what this does, but I did it.

I then laid on my back after taking off my socks and my ACU jacket. The acupuncturist then used a little alcohol to clean up each of the places I was going to get stuck. She then stuck a needle in the middle of my forehead, I didn’t feel a thing with that one. The others went into each wrist, each ankle, and on the top of each of my feet. I could feel a little stick, but nothing hurt. The tops of my feet were the only that were a little more intense for the slight moment she was sticking the pins in, but it was nothing to complain about.

I then listened to relaxing music for a total of almost 15 minutes or so. Laying on the exam bed, listening to relaxing music, focusing on my breathing, with 5 pins stuck in me. She came back in and took out all the pins. To tell the truth I didn’t feel any different, but I guess it will take a few sessions before I notice anything. I then headed straight to a class in the pain clinic that my acupuncturist was teaching and suggested that I attend. The Class was CTM (Chinese Traditional Medicine) Nutrition. We covered a lot of things, but basically focused on the benefits of nutrients and sleep. The class was interesting, as is all of this eastern medicine that the pain clinic focuses a lot on. I’m going to go all in with this eastern medicine stuff. I’m still surprised that the army pays for all of this because it’s so alternative to what western medicine is all about. I may have said this before, but I don’t think I have anything to lose by trying out and learning all I can about eastern medicine. So far western medicine hasn’t done much. I get pills that dull the pain at times, and that is about it. I guess we’ll see what the east has to offer!

Acupuncture…almost - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 214

This morning we had morning formation as usual in winter PTs. After accountability, I did warm-ups with the group and then just headed to my car when everyone was released to do the walk. It’s really too cold to be out in this crap even with the winter PT uniform. I am so done with stupid stuff. When I got in my car, I grabbed my blanket and took a nap. When I woke up, I listened to the radio and ate my breakfast.

At 1000 I had an appointment at the pain clinic with the acupuncturist. I thought I would just lay down and get a bunch of needles stuck in me…this is my first time ever seeing an acupuncturist. Instead the entire 90 minute appointment consisted of an in depth question and answer session. The acupuncturist wanted to get a full history of my issues and my pain. I guess she’ll use this info when she does actually start to poke me. We then talked a lot about eastern medicine (traditional Chinese medicine) and the beliefs that come with it. I’m actually pretty optimistic…nothing else has seemed to work very well so far. The pain meds I’m taking work well with the moderate headaches, but when the pain goes to the extreme nothing seems to work. I also still use the home traction device about 3 times a week and I’m sure that has helped a bit.

She gave me some homework to do before my next appointment. I have to write down everything I eat for three days and also the hours I sleep. I also have to take a photo of the vitamins I’m taking so she can take a look. At the appointment desk I scheduled the next appointment for next Monday.

Once that was done, I was finished here for the day so I headed home. I watched a college basketball game via the watchESPN app on my AppleTV. I ate lunch and then did schoolwork. I received a surprise call from my PEBLO. My PEBLO is basically my point person for all things in the medboard process. I thought for a split second that my VA Ratings have finally come in, but that was not the case. She was just calling to check in and let me know that she hasn’t heard anything. After I submitted all my paperwork she said it would be about 4 months. 4 months came and went without a word. Now she tells me that it’s probably going to be about 4 months before I hear anything. I’m starting to think that she just says everything is going to be about 4 months. I guess we’ll wait and see…that’s about all I can do.

Later on in the day I received a text from on of the squad leaders in my platoon that said I had staff duty with him this Sunday night starting at 2000 until 0800 Monday morning. I didn’t reply…I’m just very pissed off right now. I have appointments on Monday that I just scheduled and now that means I’m going to be up all night pulling some stupid staff duty shift and then staying up for the appointments on Monday. Monday is going to suck balls!