Complicated Medical Re-Issuance

[Brandon090293]

Hello, I will try to keep this as short as I can. Summer of 2020 I started to get headaches and visual disturbances. I ended up having an arachnoid cyst that was fenestrated and had lots of complications from the surgery which inevitably led to a VP shunt being placed. I have no cognitive deficits from all this non sense, fortunately. However, because of the shunt, I lost my medical and cannot re apply for 2 years from the date of shunt placement (November 2022). As I said, I do not feel that I have any deficits from this whole ordeal, but the problem lies in what happened early this year 2021. I was having a hard time accepting that my job and possibly career had been taken away and was feeling very down in the dumps. I have never dealt with anything like this before or any type of mental illness. I ended up going to the ER for depression and suicidal ideaology. I mostly went because I honestly did not know if I was feeling down because of the loss of my job, or if it was brain damage from the surgeries. Not much came of the visit, talked to a counselor and she agreed that I was feeling like this because of the career change. Anyway, I am in the midst now of getting my medical records from that day to see if I was actually diagnosed with depression or anything, as I am not sure I was. I was not put on any meds or anything like that. My question is does anyone know how/if the FAA would be understanding of this situation if I was in fact diagnosed with depression? Would they see that the reason I was in the dumps was because they took my medical away? If I was not diagnosed with anything, do I have to report it once I am able to apply for another medical?

 

[PaulS]

Hello, I will try to keep this as short as I can. Summer of 2020 I started to get headaches and visual disturbances. I ended up having an arachnoid cyst that was fenestrated and had lots of complications from the surgery which inevitably led to a VP shunt being placed. I have no cognitive deficits from all this non sense, fortunately. However, because of the shunt, I lost my medical and cannot re apply for 2 years from the date of shunt placement (November 2022). As I said, I do not feel that I have any deficits from this whole ordeal, but the problem lies in what happened early this year 2021. I was having a hard time accepting that my job and possibly career had been taken away and was feeling very down in the dumps. I have never dealt with anything like this before or any type of mental illness. I ended up going to the ER for depression and suicidal ideaology. I mostly went because I honestly did not know if I was feeling down because of the loss of my job, or if it was brain damage from the surgeries. Not much came of the visit, talked to a counselor and she agreed that I was feeling like this because of the career change. Anyway, I am in the midst now of getting my medical records from that day to see if I was actually diagnosed with depression or anything, as I am not sure I was. I was not put on any meds or anything like that. My question is does anyone know how/if the FAA would be understanding of this situation if I was in fact diagnosed with depression? Would they see that the reason I was in the dumps was because they took my medical away? If I was not diagnosed with anything, do I have to report it once I am able to apply for another medical?

Yes, there are docs who frequent this board who can tell you how to deal with you and give you an idea of how this will turn out for medical wise.

I hope it works out for you. Hopefully one or more of our AMEs who frequent here will offer advice. Make sure you get a good AME to help with this.

 

[TCABM]

Dr Bruce Chien, @bbchien, would be one of those doc mentioned above. As would Dr Lou Fowler, @lbfjrmd.

 

[lbfjrmd]

the shunt, the suicidal ideation, the stress - all will be investigated by the FAA. Your mental health and cognition will be your primary hurdles.

 

[Brandon090293]

the shunt, the suicidal ideation, the stress - all will be investigated by the FAA. Your mental health and cognition will be your primary hurdles.

Thank you for the reply. So assuming I was not diagnosed with depression, would I be better off leaving it that way? Or should I look for more help and get on some type of meds? Would the FAA look favorably on me not getting on anything for it and riding it out, or would that be a setback?

 

[Kenny Phillips]

Thank you for the reply. So assuming I was not diagnosed with depression, would I be better off leaving it that way? Or should I look for more help and get on some type of meds? Would the FAA look favorably on me not getting on anything for it and riding it out, or would that be a setback?

Making yourself healthy is more important than flying. Full Stop.

 

[Rushie]

My OPINION - I am not an AME - is no, do not pursue “getting on meds” UNLESS you still feel suicidal. You used the past tense “was” down in the dumps. If you’re pulling out of it and are functioning well at the moment, I believe it will hurt, not help, your case with the FAA, to pursue more treatment. On the other hand if you do turn out to have actual chronic depression then yes, the FAA would prefer you to be treated, and there is a certification Special Issuance pathway for that.

But if this was a one time occurrence entirely connected with your (rather drastic) health problem, then it’s likely a situational reaction and the FAA allows for that with certain constraints.

My opinion is based on my own experience. I had a complication from a minor hand surgery that developed into a severely painful condition and I lost the use of my right hand. Due to the extreme pain which dragged on for months, I began to have suicidal thoughts. I ended up being admitted (voluntary) for suicidal ideation but the psychiatrists quickly determined it was entirely due to the physical pain and discharged me with a referral to the appropriate specialists. Once past all that (it took two years to fix my arm) I applied for a medical and sent all those records to the FAA, and after just asking me for a personal statement I ended up getting certified.

So I told you my story to say, yes there is hope for you. But the important thing is not to have a primary depressive disorder. You have to show that your “mental disorder” is entirely caused by and second to, the specific physical event or catastrophe that hit you. If you continue going to therapy and even getting on meds it’s going to start looking chronic. So no, it’s not good for your case to do that, just because you think the FAA wants you to. However, also don’t not do it if you continue feeling suicidal, in that case it’s more important to get treatment if you really do need it.

 

[Brandon090293]

My OPINION - I am not an AME - is no, do not pursue “getting on meds” UNLESS you still feel suicidal. You used the past tense “was” down in the dumps. If you’re pulling out of it and are functioning well at the moment, I believe it will hurt, not help, your case with the FAA, to pursue more treatment. On the other hand if you do turn out to have actual chronic depression then yes, the FAA would prefer you to be treated, and there is a certification Special Issuance pathway for that.

But if this was a one time occurrence entirely connected with your (rather drastic) health problem, then it’s likely a situational reaction and the FAA allows for that with certain constraints.

My opinion is based on my own experience. I had a complication from a minor hand surgery that developed into a severely painful condition and I lost the use of my right hand. Due to the extreme pain which dragged on for months, I began to have suicidal thoughts. I ended up being admitted (voluntary) for suicidal ideation but the psychiatrists quickly determined it was entirely due to the physical pain and discharged me with a referral to the appropriate specialists. Once past all that (it took two years to fix my arm) I applied for a medical and sent all those records to the FAA, and after just asking me for a personal statement I ended up getting certified.

So I told you my story to say, yes there is hope for you. But the important thing is not to have a primary depressive disorder. You have to show that your “mental disorder” is entirely caused by and second to, the specific physical event or catastrophe that hit you. If you continue going to therapy and even getting on meds it’s going to start looking chronic. So no, it’s not good for your case to do that, just because you think the FAA wants you to. However, also don’t not do it if you continue feeling suicidal, in that case it’s more important to get treatment if you really do need it.

Thank you very much for that reply. I appreciate your input! I do believe it was situational and not like a chemical imbalance or anything like that, as if I was still flying I would not have dealt with being down in the dumps. I appreciate it.