I better ask someone more knowledgable than I

slinger

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taxvictim
Good medical (3rd class) six years ago. Then diagnosed cancer (non Hodgkins lymphoma)
Did chemo
Am taking suppression drug. (Imbruvica) Doctor won't say, very conservative, but I guess I'm in remission.
Have "crash box" (defibullator) with one lead. No heart attack. Atrial fib controlled w/amioderone.
So I sold my 172 'cuz the chemo kicked ass. Got better; bought an Avid Flyer. Can I do LSA? Doctor have to sign off? (figuratively)
 
Thanx Tim
Heck, I was gonna do this in public and everything. :)

yeah, but based on the info you have posted, it likely needs a specialist to get you through the FAA process, if possible or if basicmed or LSA is a better choice.

Tim
 
If your last medical wasn't denied or revoked and you have a valid drivers license, you can fly LSA.
Assuming you AND your doc agree that you’re able to do so safely, of course.
 
True. I'm guessing he'd need an SI for Basic Med, though, correct?
Not from what he said in the OP. AFAIK cancer doesn't require it, nor does afib unless due to CAD.

The question that needs answering, though, is what is the defibrillator for? Is it really for afib or something else? For a standard medical I think that would be disqualifying and AFAIK not even SI-able, so if it is for "something else", that might nix BasicMed for him.
 
a defib device may be DQ - lets see what Dr. B says
 
Can I do LSA? Doctor have to sign off? (figuratively)
I would have the conversation. No regulation requires paperwork, but there is the "not know, or have reason to know..." thing. (reg page seems to be down at the moment - so no actual quote).
Are you a risk for an accident behind the wheel of an automobile?
 
You are in a gray area,I would guess,Dr. Bruce can give you all the true facts. Going light sport may be beneficial if the weight increase goes through.
 
You are in a gray area,I would guess,Dr. Bruce can give you all the true facts. Going light sport may be beneficial if the weight increase goes through.
Well there was a time (~2012 ) when an AICD/pacer with the AICD section turned off, was certifiable. But as it turns out, modern liability resistant programming requires that the system test from time to time. So the agency upon realizing that decided that that occasional jolt on short final might be just a tad too disconcerting to remain in control of the aircraft and now the current generation is NOT certifiable, even with the AICD section turned off.
 
BasicMed has no prohibition or prejudice against Afib or a pacer with or without a defibrillator. If you can get a physician to sign off on BasicMed you'd be good to go without asking the FAA's blessing. Light Sport should be even easier. Whether that's a good plan or not is up to you and your doctor.

BasicMed rules are specific. If it isn't on there? You don't have to deal with the FAA. Pacers aren't on there. If a pacer patient wants a third class? It's still an annual SI with required reporting and treatment plan. Silly but true. I discussed the disconnect with my RFS before going to BasicMed. Defibrillators are disqualifying. Don't try for a third class or your flying future will end with the denial.

  • A cardiovascular condition, limited to a one-time special issuance for each diagnosis of the following:
    • Myocardial infarction;
    • Coronary heart disease that has required treatment;
    • Cardiac valve replacement; or
    • Heart replacement.
 
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The question wasn't is he certifiable the original question was can he fly under LSA? I am not a doctor/lawyer or the FAA but I would say yes unless you have reason to know of any medical condition that would make you unable to operate a light-sport aircraft in a safe manner.

So are you able to drive a car with you current conditions? Do you have any reason to believe you couldn't operate your plane in a safe manner?
 
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A cardiovascular condition, limited to a one-time special issuance for each diagnosis of the following:
  • Myocardial infarction;
  • Coronary heart disease that has required treatment;
  • Cardiac valve replacement; or
  • Heart replacement.
Right, but the devil is always in the details. Afib may or may not be due to coronary disease, to my understanding. And isn't a defib device normally for a ventricular arrhythmia? Do the benign forms of afib that aren't secondary to CAD commonly lead to someone requiring a defib device? I'm not a physician, but having been through the cardiology mill a number of times as a patient, those questions came to mind. Hopefully I'm off base, for the OP's sake.
 
61.103...
(b) A person using a U.S. driver's license to meet the requirements of this paragraph must—

(1) Comply with each restriction and limitation imposed by that person's U.S. driver's license and any judicial or administrative order applying to the operation of a motor vehicle;

(2) Have been found eligible for the issuance of at least a third-class airman medical certificate at the time of his or her most recent application (if the person has applied for a medical certificate);

(3) Not have had his or her most recently issued medical certificate (if the person has held a medical certificate) suspended or revoked or most recent Authorization for a Special Issuance of a Medical Certificate withdrawn; and

(4) Not know or have reason to know of any medical condition that would make that person unable to operate a light-sport aircraft in a safe manner.
 
Not from what he said in the OP. AFAIK cancer doesn't require it, nor does afib unless due to CAD.

The question that needs answering, though, is what is the defibrillator for? Is it really for afib or something else? For a standard medical I think that would be disqualifying and AFAIK not even SI-able, so if it is for "something else", that might nix BasicMed for him.

The defibrillator was originally installed "because it was a good idea" according the oncologist and the cardiologist who came on board the case because the chemo messed up the ejection faction in a valve. That issue has semi cured itself. There was "some" afib later. The cardiologist prescribed amioderone; the defib. has never fired.
I carried a 5 gallon bottle of water to my car two hundred feet away this morning and could have carried it back. I am seventy five.
I'll be content to fly slowly with one passenger.
 
The defibrillator was originally installed "because it was a good idea" according the oncologist and the cardiologist who came on board the case because the chemo messed up the ejection faction in a valve. That issue has semi cured itself. There was "some" afib later. The cardiologist prescribed amioderone; the defib. has never fired.
I carried a 5 gallon bottle of water to my car two hundred feet away this morning and could have carried it back. I am seventy five.
I'll be content to fly slowly with one passenger.

I have heard too many stories like yours. I have resolved never to let a doctor implant one of those things in me "because it's a good idea". :( Best of luck to you.
 
The defibrillator was originally installed "because it was a good idea" according the oncologist and the cardiologist who came on board the case because the chemo messed up the ejection faction in a valve. That issue has semi cured itself. There was "some" afib later. The cardiologist prescribed amioderone; the defib. has never fired.
I carried a 5 gallon bottle of water to my car two hundred feet away this morning and could have carried it back. I am seventy five.
I'll be content to fly slowly with one passenger.


I was watching the TV show I can't remember if it was the cop show Live PD or the Ambulance one Night Watch and this woman's implanted defibrillator was going off she was walking and talking and other than a quick jump and yelp every time it went off she was seemingly OK. She did end up having some weird rhythm that was setting off the device.
 
I have heard too many stories like yours. I have resolved never to let a doctor implant one of those things in me "because it's a good idea". :( Best of luck to you.
For low EF cardiomyopathies these patients are at risk for ventricular tachycardia and “sudden cardiac death”. There is a lot of data to support this. Usually for VT if you don’t get shocked quickly. You die. Not a lot of time to fool around. A lot of defibrillators get implanted and never once fire. But if you go into VT and don’t have a defibrillator Inplanted you get to say goodbye to the room. That is why it is considered a good idea if you have one of these conditions, theyll save your life. Often more then once.

To the OP if your pacer is showing no arrhythmias that would require a shock, which it is always recording and reports when you have a pacer check. You can opt to have the unit pulled in favor of a pure pacer only and move forward. That is also depending if your EF has improved as well.
 
For low EF cardiomyopathies these patients are at risk for ventricular tachycardia and “sudden cardiac death”. There is a lot of data to support this. Usually for VT if you don’t get shocked quickly. You die. Not a lot of time to fool around. A lot of defibrillators get implanted and never once fire. But if you go into VT and don’t have a defibrillator Inplanted you get to say goodbye to the room. That is why it is considered a good idea if you have one of these conditions, theyll save your life. Often more then once.

That's exactly what I mean. If I were 30 or 40 or even 50 and still raising kids I'd go for it but not now. You can keep the multiple shocks and resurrections, I'll happily depart this world with the first VT like God intended thank you very much.:D

To the OP if your pacer is showing no arrhythmias that would require a shock, which it is always recording and reports when you have a pacer check. You can opt to have the unit pulled in favor of a pure pacer only and move forward. That is also depending if your EF has improved as well.

Great option! For the OP, not me. :)
 
The defibrillator was originally installed "because it was a good idea" according the oncologist and the cardiologist who came on board the case because the chemo messed up the ejection faction in a valve. That issue has semi cured itself. There was "some" afib later. The cardiologist prescribed amioderone; the defib. has never fired.
I carried a 5 gallon bottle of water to my car two hundred feet away this morning and could have carried it back. I am seventy five.
I'll be content to fly slowly with one passenger.
Sorry to hear you had to have this done. I can't comment on whether it was actually necessary from a medical standpoint. But if there was no CAD dx'd, then as others have said, in addition to LSA, you do have BasicMed as an option as well. LSA does not require a doctor to sign off (though it does require you to consult with a doctor for assurance that you are safe to fly a LSA); BasicMed does require a signoff, and also you have to take an online course. The advantage of BasicMed is that you are then legal to fly a wider range of aircraft; the disadvantage is the cost of the exam, and maybe some legwork in finding a doctor who will do it, depending on where you live.

When I say that you have these options, I mean from a strictly statutory standpoint. Either way, you need a doctor to agree that you are safe to fly. I have no idea whether you actually are, of course; that's for you, and your doctors, to determine.
 
That's exactly what I mean. If I were 30 or 40 or even 50 and still raising kids I'd go for it but not now. You can keep the multiple shocks and resurrections, I'll happily depart this world with the first VT like God intended thank you very much.:D



Great option! For the OP, not me. :)
This thread isn't about you!
 
To fly sport? You need a driver's licence and you have to certify to yourself that you have no condition which would prevent you from being safe. The FAA is not involved, your doctor is not involved. LSA uses a self certification, it is entirely up to you.

The OP is legal to fly LSA as long as his original medical was never revoked and he agrees now that he is OK.

Is it smart to do it? Different conversation. The fact that he is asking here may call into question the self certification part.
 
. . . LSA does not require a doctor to sign off (though it does require you to consult with a doctor for assurance that you are safe to fly a LSA);

Is this written anywhere? Common sense, yes. Required? I find that surprising.

I thought if you had a drivers license you were good to go?
 
Is this written anywhere? Common sense, yes. Required? I find that surprising.

I thought if you had a drivers license you were good to go?
Not quite -- you're expected to self ground if you "know or have reason to know" of a condition that would render you unsafe to pilot a LSA. That's in the regs somewhere though I'm too tired right now to go looking for it. The part about needing to consult with a doctor is in some FAA guidance that someone (Bruce maybe? or could have been C'Ron) posted a while back. My takeaway was that you're supposed to exercise due diligence in assuring yourself that you're safe to fly.
 
61.53, operation during medical deficiency. However, for LSA, there is never a requirement to consult with an AME, it is self certification. That judgement might consider some conditions that the FAA considers disqualifying or it might not. That is the self part of self certification.

If anyone can quote a rule otherwise, I would like to hear it.
 
BasicMed has no prohibition or prejudice against Afib or a pacer with or without a defibrillator. If you can get a physician to sign off on BasicMed you'd be good to go without asking the FAA's blessing. Light Sport should be even easier. Whether that's a good plan or not is up to you and your doctor.

BasicMed rules are specific. If it isn't on there? You don't have to deal with the FAA. Pacers aren't on there. If a pacer patient wants a third class? It's still an annual SI with required reporting and treatment plan. Silly but true. I discussed the disconnect with my RFS before going to BasicMed. Defibrillators are disqualifying. Don't try for a third class or your flying future will end with the denial.
the problem is the AICD section is there exactly for the CAD arrest. Yes it can be tgere for dislted low EjFxn cardiomyopathic rhythms, too. That is also grounding.

“What!”, say you, I don’t have coronary disease!”

Just don’t count on you doc to sat that, he could be testifying to insurance fraud.....

Thr AICD gives him the presumed diagnosis of CAD, a problem for a basic med....and the low ej fxn is a warning to the signing physician.

A pickle indeed.
 
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“What!”, say you, I don’t have coronary disease!”

Just don’t count on you doc to sat that, he could be testifying to insurance fraud.....

This seems to be a recurrent theme... more so these days?
 
the problem is the AICD section is there exactly for the CAD arrest. Yes it can be tgere for dislted low EjFxn cardiomyopathic rhythms, too. That is also grounding.

“What!”, say you, I don’t have coronary disease!”

Just don’t count on you doc to sat that, he could be testifying to insurance fraud.....

Thr AICD gives him the presumed diagnosis of CAD, a problem for a basic med....and the low ej fxn is a warning to the signing physician.

A pickle indeed.
Sounds like the OP likely does have a CAD dx somewhere in the insurance record... even if the doc didn't explicitly give him the dx. As Rushie said, that sort of thing is all too common these days, and makes one wonder how many of us have DQing diagnoses that we've never put down on the MedXPress because we don't know about them... :dunno: :(
 
Or the ICD is simply a solution for a rhythm problem, like most pacers and pacer-defibrillators are. I hope the OP finds his way back into airplanes. With his health history it sounds like he could use a little fun in his life.

Good luck, Slinger!
 
And just to be clear, I was NOT saying that a CAD dx automatically disqualifies one for light sport, just BasicMed, unless one gets the one-time CAD SI. For LSA, it's between you and your doctors, and the standard is quite different.
 
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