Well I'm a senior Marine option Mid and I just got the letter from NAMI informing me that I am disqualified from both Aviation contracts. My PRK waiver has been denied because I still have haze and am not fully 20/20 in my left eye. Righty is doing good but the left one stabilized around 20/40 or so and doesn't want to clear up. My MOI tells me I will still commission and go ground but I can't get a touch-up and reapply before commissioning or I'll screw up the whole timeline. I searched around and couldn't find anything but my question's this: Does anyone have any experience getting a PRK touch up done post-commissioning but pre-TBS? or Has anyone faced a similar disqualification and been able to reverse it or become SNFO-qual'd? Thanks.
Bumping this thread... My civilian doc says both my eyes are 20/20 now just weeks away from 6 month post op but I feel that my left eye isn't quite there. I am worried when I go in for the flight physical they might find me to be 20/30. Will that affect me in any way with regards to a waiver or is it OK because I am within 20/40?
Think the Marines have stricter requirements. You only need to be 20/40 uncorrected if you can see 20/20 with correction for the Navy. Same as if you had not had lasik. Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
Requirements for the Marine Corps is the same as for the Navy. NAMI handles both services waivers and, when you get to API, you'll all be checked out by the same docs (Navy or USMC).
If that's the case, then I'm guessing the reason for the OP's denied waiver is the haze, not the 20/40.
Corneal Haze was my problem after my first PRK surgery. I'm not sure what the regs say about 'haze' specifically, but in my case it was the haze causing greater than 1.0 diopter of astigmatism and therefore worse than 20/40. Honestly, you dont want to walk into OCS just barely seeing 20/40 on a normal eye chart. My eyes were 20/15 and 20/30-35ish and by the time I went to have that physical I couldn't read the 20/40 line to save my life. They use a different type of chart that is, in my opinion, much harder to read. Your eyes will be shot while your at OCS. There's something about being starved, sleep-deprived, and under flourescent lights 24 hours a day that will F%^$ your eyes up.
How did you pass the flight physical then, if you don't mind? I'm getting wavefront PRK in a couple weeks but my BCVA with contact lenses is about 20/15 to 20/12 so I'm hoping to see at worst 20/20 with no errors.
Bump again. I got PRK in October 2011 and have been 20/20 or better since January. Today I got an NPQ for the Navy due to "unstable post-surgical spherical refraction to right eye when compared optometry exams conducted X date and X date." These exams were about a month apart. Then it goes onto say that a waiver is possible with additional information including an optometry exam that includes refraction data to assess post-surgical stability. I already scheduled an exam with my doctor and will bring a copy of the NPQ letter with me. I don't really know how my sphere would have changed so much in between two checkups that they would NPQ me when I have not noticed any fluctuations in my vision for months. I'm hoping there was a mistake or that my spherical refraction has "stabilized" since the last checkup. I guess I would add that when they have checked my refraction error the last two times, I never really see any difference between "clearer here, or clearer here". They told me I had to choose even if the difference was minuscule, so it felt like guess work. Would guessing on that screw up my refractive error reading? Has anyone had any experience with this type of NPQ for PRK? If I get an NPQ for SNA after resubmitting an optometrist's exam, can I still take an NFO spot with unstable spherical error after PRK (I know vision requirements for NFO are much less strict)? My NRD seems unsure and I've found that it is always best to ask Air Warriors because even if you are told "No" by the Navy, someone else was told "Yes" in nearly identical situations.
For pilots, the required chart isn't the normal snellen chart you always see at Optometry offices. You have a goodlite chart with 10 letters that are closer together. That's why it's harder to read.
These checkups were at the office of the doctor that I got my PRK so it should be a normal civilian chart. So it sounds from your response that it might be even harder to do the "clearer here or there" thing once I'm getting my eyes done at OCS for a flight physical? I hope that does not spell doom for my SNA chances. I'd be very happy with NFO but that doesn't sound like a certainty either. This probably sounds like an ignorant question, but I don't fully understand how diopters and all that are measured: How could my spherical refractive error be changing so much if I've had 20/20 vision for 4 months?
Something is not adding up - your spherical refractive error is basically your prescription. If you've been reading 20/20 then perhaps it has been changing from better than 20/20 to 20/20. Seeing an Optometrist for a throrough eye exam is the right answer.
Thanks AOCM. That is how I understood refractive error and diopters originally. I know my doctor had me at 20/15 with one or two errors on that line at one point and then MEPS put me down as 20/20. Maybe that explains it. My gut instinct is that nothing is wrong and it will all work out....but you never know. Thanks again.
A prescription for a refractive error is 3 parts. You have your sphere power which is first, then your cylinder power, and finally your Axis. SO: -1.00-0.50X180is a prescription. You have -1.00 spherical power, a cylindrical power of -0.50 and this cylinder power is corrected at axis 180. The spherical portion of the prescription corrects for whether you have a short or long eyeball. If it's short then you have hyperopia and that's correct with + spherical powers. If you eyeball is long then you have - power. In the United States we use - cylinder values, and cylinder corrects for misshapen corneas that are shaped like footballs instead of perfects circles. The axis is just where on the eye you correct for the cylinder value. In regards to a changing prescription after surgery, it's not uncommon for that to happen. Your eye is still in it's healing process. I work with a guy who got PRK, was 20/20 in both eyes after one month, and now is 20/30 in his left eye only one year afterwards. The surgery is intended to reduce your dependency on glasses, not exactly to rid yourself of them. Hope this clears up some confusion.
I should be all set. Went to the doctor today and I was measured at the same refractive error and vision as my last visit. If they don't consider that stable, I don't know what is. Guess I will get final word from CNRC next week on whether or not I am PQ or NPQ.
That took a lot longer than expected. For anyone that was following this thread in a similar situation, I got the word today that my PRK waiver was approved
Just a follow up on this. I was pretty much ready to go ground after TBS because I was dq'd for anything aviation. I commissioned and asked about getting a touch-up during my 11 month wait for TBS. After getting a bunch of "No's" from various staff in my ROTC unit, I was finally given the go-ahead to get the damn PRK touch-up and reapply for the waiver and the flight contract. I may be joining you boys in Floribama after all.
