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Less than -8.0 diopter pre-PRK, Any chances?

sonnyg004

New Member
So I just got back from my flight physical where I was disqualified due to having -8.75 and -8.50 for my eyes before I went in for PRK. From all the indications I'm getting is that this is the end of the road for me regarding this career path. I'm OK with it as I know I'll be happy as long as I'm a Marine Officer. There's a lot of great jobs on the ground side. However I've gotten a huge amount of great info from this forum over the last few months and I wanted to give one last shot before I gave up on this. So does anyone know of anyone getting a waiver for the -8.0 diopter limit or is there any indication that this limit will be removed in the near future? I appreciate any info you all can give. Thanks!
 

torpedo0126

Member
this will probably piss you off, but the excimer laser has the ability to correct beyond -8.75 it just has not been approved by the FDA (at least thats what my doc told me).

Are you disqualified as a Marine NFO? Marine NFOs are going away so I don't know where you are in your pipeline
 

ea6bflyr

Working Class Bum
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
I had a student that was DQ by DODMERB because his diopters were greater than 8.0. He joined the NROTC, got the PRK and when he was selected for the scholarship, he passed the DODMERB with 20/20 eyesight. YMMV.

-ea6bflyr ;)
 

torpedo0126

Member
I had a student that was DQ by DODMERB because his diopters were greater than 8.0. He joined the NROTC, got the PRK and when he was selected for the scholarship, he passed the DODMERB with 20/20 eyesight. YMMV.

-ea6bflyr ;)

this is just a side story, but a friend of mine who is a Marine went to Canada to get Lasik because the FDA has not approved use of the Excimer laser to correct the degree of astygmatism he had.

surgery went well and is now at TBS.
 

JSF_Dreamer

Busted Head
When I last spoke to the navy refractive surgery center, he said for officers it was +/- 6 diopters and +/- 8 diopters for enlisted, but they were trying to make it +/- 8 for both.

From everything I have heard/read, if you have worse than 8 either way, it's over. I know you won't just take my word for it since this is something you really want. Call the refractive surgery center, call your OR...

Hope something works out for you. Best of luck.
 

biograd06

Princess of the Pulpmill
I am pro rec'd SWo, but was NPQ'd for excessive refractive error...-10 in my left eye, -8.0 in my right. I'm trying HARD to fidn a way around it...but my OR seems to have given up on me. He told me the only thing I can do is get a letter from my private eye doc stating that my vision hasn't changed in recent years (and in reality, it hasn't changed all that much since I was 15, and not at all since I was 19). So...I know this can't be it for me. I'm not giving up. I just don't have a clue as to where to begin, since my eye doc hasn't returned my phone calls, and I have strong doubts as to whether or not a civilian doc's opinion matters all that much.

Anyone got any suggestions? I am willing to do whatever it takes to commission.
 

Thisguy

Pain-in-the-dick
I had -9.00 diopters, which was a no go for the Navy, but I got that part waived.

It prevented me from getting NFO though, and from what I understand, if you're in the refractive error range, getting PRK can make you eligible for SNA. However, I don't think you can have the surgery if you are outside the limits. My statement is less than official, but it's what I came across a few years ago poking around the web.
 

Aggie08

IFS complete, starting API June 26!
I got disqualified initially for being CLOSE to -8. My eyes pre-PRK were -7.25 and -7.75. In order to get waived I had to prove my eyes had stabilized (prescription hadn't changed for 5 years) and so the chance of me going over -8 was low. This was 4 years ago when I got my waiver, but they were pretty serious about it then. I got PRK 2 years later and I'm good now.
 

dsevo

Registered User
So I just got back from my flight physical where I was disqualified due to having -8.75 and -8.50 for my eyes before I went in for PRK. From all the indications I'm getting is that this is the end of the road for me regarding this career path. I'm OK with it as I know I'll be happy as long as I'm a Marine Officer. There's a lot of great jobs on the ground side. However I've gotten a huge amount of great info from this forum over the last few months and I wanted to give one last shot before I gave up on this. So does anyone know of anyone getting a waiver for the -8.0 diopter limit or is there any indication that this limit will be removed in the near future? I appreciate any info you all can give. Thanks!

Have you learned anything new? I just got a call from my OR saying I will likely not get the PRK waiver because my vision was too bad before I had PRK. My vision was like -4.5 or around there though, not even close to -8.0, and I'm 20/20 now. My case has been deferred to NAMI now, but whoever looked at my stuff told my OR that I will not get the waiver.
 

Immy

New Member
My eyes are currently at -4.75 and I'm only 18 and about to go into NROTC in the fall and hopefully get PRK in a couple years. I pray to God they don't get any worse before then.
 

nugget61

Active Member
pilot
Have you learned anything new? I just got a call from my OR saying I will likely not get the PRK waiver because my vision was too bad before I had PRK. My vision was like -4.5 or around there though, not even close to -8.0, and I'm 20/20 now. My case has been deferred to NAMI now, but whoever looked at my stuff told my OR that I will not get the waiver.

Something was posted in another thread recently - I'll see if I can find it for you.

edit: thought Biograd's pic was familiar: http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=148049
 
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