I hadn't posted on here about this yet. But I thought some might be interested in my recovery and return to flight status after a somewhat serious injury. Unfortunately this will be from an Army National Guard perspective, but it might be interesting anyway (at least the pictures are).
One month after returning home from Iraq, I was mountain biking on some benign trails at a local park. I was pushing hard to keep my heart rate up and leaning into a left turn with both feet clipped into the pedals. The front wheel broke loose on some pine straw and leaves and I went over on my left ankle and leg going about 10 mph.
Results? Broken fibula about an inch below my left knee and a badly dislocated ankle. I had 2 screws placed through my ankle on the 31st of January .
Well, today, 3 months after the injury occurred, the screws were removed. For the Army, hardware is not a permanently downing injury unless the hardware goes through a joint. If they go through the joint, a waiver is possible, but not automatic. With my injury, the screws did not go through the join, so the flight surgeon said I could get an up slip with the hardware still in, but my civilian doctor says the screws need to come out before I put weight on my leg. The explanation is that the tibia and fibula rotate slight as weight is applied. This would cause the screws to work back and forth and possible break. That would be BAD from a removal point of view.
So, now that the screws are out, I'll have about another 4 weeks of recovery and hopfully I'll be back flying by the first part of May. It's a good thing, because I have test flights coming up and an APART for an MTP/ME in Georgia.
Oh, and from an insurance point of view, the injury occurred after deployment but while I was on title 10 orders. The surgery occurred after my orders ran out. I have my government service insurance, GEHA, and I am still covered by TriCare. If any of you are reservist or National Guard and are interested in a complex coverage scenario like mine, fire away with the questions and I'll try to answer them.
One month after returning home from Iraq, I was mountain biking on some benign trails at a local park. I was pushing hard to keep my heart rate up and leaning into a left turn with both feet clipped into the pedals. The front wheel broke loose on some pine straw and leaves and I went over on my left ankle and leg going about 10 mph.
Results? Broken fibula about an inch below my left knee and a badly dislocated ankle. I had 2 screws placed through my ankle on the 31st of January .
Well, today, 3 months after the injury occurred, the screws were removed. For the Army, hardware is not a permanently downing injury unless the hardware goes through a joint. If they go through the joint, a waiver is possible, but not automatic. With my injury, the screws did not go through the join, so the flight surgeon said I could get an up slip with the hardware still in, but my civilian doctor says the screws need to come out before I put weight on my leg. The explanation is that the tibia and fibula rotate slight as weight is applied. This would cause the screws to work back and forth and possible break. That would be BAD from a removal point of view.
So, now that the screws are out, I'll have about another 4 weeks of recovery and hopfully I'll be back flying by the first part of May. It's a good thing, because I have test flights coming up and an APART for an MTP/ME in Georgia.
Oh, and from an insurance point of view, the injury occurred after deployment but while I was on title 10 orders. The surgery occurred after my orders ran out. I have my government service insurance, GEHA, and I am still covered by TriCare. If any of you are reservist or National Guard and are interested in a complex coverage scenario like mine, fire away with the questions and I'll try to answer them.
