U
Unregistered
Guest
Hi All -
Looking for some advice on getting my medical back after some time away. Here's the situation:
I started flying about 20 years ago. I was working at a non-flying aviation industry job at the time but, after a few years of that, I realized that what I really wanted was a career as a pilot. I started working down that path. Shortly after getting my instrument rating, I was diagnosed with type I (insulin dependent) diabetes. So, that put an end to my career aspirations.
After the diabetes diagnosis, I did work through the SI process smoothly and successfully, and got a third class medical. I flew for fun for a year or two with that. But, after a while, the frustration with not being able to progress to where I wanted, feeling like I was burning up a lot of money for no reason, and the hassle of the medical process led me to quit flying.
So, I've been away from flying for 14 years. Recently, I had a chance to fly again with a friend, and...well, you know how it goes. I'm looking at getting back in the air, and the medical is one of the hurdles.
I think I could probably handle renewing the special issuance with the diabetes. I had that down to a science (prewritten letters I wrote for the docs to sign, a cover letter from me, a checklist of documents, etc) and it worked well.
Unfortunately, there's a new complication. About a year ago, I had an ultrasound for some abdominal pain I was having. That was chalked up to bruised ribs, no big deal and it's all resolved itself. However, the ultrasound found a kidney stone (4mm upper pole). It's just sitting there doing nothing. I've had no other history of stones. I'm otherwise in fine health.
I've had (and continue to have) zero symptoms from the stone. But, my understanding is that the FAA isn't going to like it. I'm thinking that the stone needs to go away before I go back to flying or go for my medical. I also do some other hobbies that take me away from civilization (backpacking, boating, etc), so it seems smart to get rid of the stone before I proceed much further.
From my research, it seems that either ESWL (sonic smash) or a basket extraction might be candidates for treatment. I'd like to have an FAA-optimized game plan in mind before I have more detailed conversations with the urologist. I'm concerned that ESWL will leave fragments and create more of a mess than the current situation (lots of little retained stones causing random pain and FAA denial), while the extraction seems just generally unpleasant (post-op ureteral stent, etc) and complication-prone for something that's causing no symptoms.
So...
1) Any suggestions or personal experience on the best way to handle things...particularly the stone situation? I'm pretty sure that I need to aim for a "no retained stones" and "metabolism normal" labs and letter from the doc, but any advice on getting there would be welcome.
Other questions that come to mind:
2) Should I prepare the diabetes paperwork as a "renewal" of the old and expired diabetes special issuance, or just start fresh like a new applicant?
3) There's also a "maximal graded EKG" test that's required for the diabetes SI over age 40. I'm currently 39 1/2. Should I get that done now to avoid any surprises shortly down the road? I don't want to work on getting my medical back (and get current) only to lose it a year later.
Thanks...
Looking for some advice on getting my medical back after some time away. Here's the situation:
I started flying about 20 years ago. I was working at a non-flying aviation industry job at the time but, after a few years of that, I realized that what I really wanted was a career as a pilot. I started working down that path. Shortly after getting my instrument rating, I was diagnosed with type I (insulin dependent) diabetes. So, that put an end to my career aspirations.
After the diabetes diagnosis, I did work through the SI process smoothly and successfully, and got a third class medical. I flew for fun for a year or two with that. But, after a while, the frustration with not being able to progress to where I wanted, feeling like I was burning up a lot of money for no reason, and the hassle of the medical process led me to quit flying.
So, I've been away from flying for 14 years. Recently, I had a chance to fly again with a friend, and...well, you know how it goes. I'm looking at getting back in the air, and the medical is one of the hurdles.
I think I could probably handle renewing the special issuance with the diabetes. I had that down to a science (prewritten letters I wrote for the docs to sign, a cover letter from me, a checklist of documents, etc) and it worked well.
Unfortunately, there's a new complication. About a year ago, I had an ultrasound for some abdominal pain I was having. That was chalked up to bruised ribs, no big deal and it's all resolved itself. However, the ultrasound found a kidney stone (4mm upper pole). It's just sitting there doing nothing. I've had no other history of stones. I'm otherwise in fine health.
I've had (and continue to have) zero symptoms from the stone. But, my understanding is that the FAA isn't going to like it. I'm thinking that the stone needs to go away before I go back to flying or go for my medical. I also do some other hobbies that take me away from civilization (backpacking, boating, etc), so it seems smart to get rid of the stone before I proceed much further.
From my research, it seems that either ESWL (sonic smash) or a basket extraction might be candidates for treatment. I'd like to have an FAA-optimized game plan in mind before I have more detailed conversations with the urologist. I'm concerned that ESWL will leave fragments and create more of a mess than the current situation (lots of little retained stones causing random pain and FAA denial), while the extraction seems just generally unpleasant (post-op ureteral stent, etc) and complication-prone for something that's causing no symptoms.
So...
1) Any suggestions or personal experience on the best way to handle things...particularly the stone situation? I'm pretty sure that I need to aim for a "no retained stones" and "metabolism normal" labs and letter from the doc, but any advice on getting there would be welcome.
Other questions that come to mind:
2) Should I prepare the diabetes paperwork as a "renewal" of the old and expired diabetes special issuance, or just start fresh like a new applicant?
3) There's also a "maximal graded EKG" test that's required for the diabetes SI over age 40. I'm currently 39 1/2. Should I get that done now to avoid any surprises shortly down the road? I don't want to work on getting my medical back (and get current) only to lose it a year later.
Thanks...