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End of the line... NOT!!!!

Bob, I've been away from the forum for a while and just read about your situation. All I can say is WOW. At least it sounds like you have something starting to work in your favor.

I doubt I need to tell you how much help you've been to me (and I suspect most of us) getting into our builds. I'm in my early 60's and in good health, but even your plight is helping me see how to handle medical situations like these. Realistically, it's not if these situations will come, but when.

Hang in there, my friend, and keep us posted on your progress. Sending my best wishes and prayers for a speedy treatment and return of your medical certificate.
 
Catching up reading here

I just read this thread from the beginning. Wow! So many thoughts come to mind. I have had my battles with OKC AME's and know very well how things can quickly change in the eyes if OKC Aeromedical.

I would keep pushing, but also consider a spouse pilot option as mentioned earlier. I know it's a lot to ask of your wife, but hey she married you, watched/helped in your build, not to mention was likely your best friend over the years....maybe.

I know that life is such an awesome amazing gift, and every day I am on this planet is a great day, pilot or otherwise.

I wish you success here. I pushed in my case and with persistence and luck I am still flying.
 
And even more updates:

A gentleman was kind enough to send me an FAA medical examiner bulletin from 2007, detailing the woes of an airline captain with Meniere's. He eventually got it back after an injection of gentamicin, a substance that is toxic to the little hairs in your ear that wave around and, thus, send signals to your brain regarding which way is up. It kills them, and is an alternative to a more radical surgery -- a labrythinthectomy, which takes all of your hearing and balance nerves with it.

"I've been thinking about that for you," my neurotologist said to me when I emailed it to him last month, and I followed up today for a love conversation (my nursing-student son in tow) to evaluate the next course of action.

There's not a lot of hearing left in the ear, but I still would like to keep what little is still there. It's possible the Meniere's has completely burned itself out in that ear, but we don't know that and while this is not a guarantee there'll be no future episodes, it's a pretty good bet as a next step.

So we scheduled a procedure for December 4th. I've been doing physical therapy for the last three weeks to begin training the remaining ear (and eyes and other parts) to compensate. The recovery time is a few weeks, and then it takes about four months for everything to return to normal.

That starts the clock on what I presume will be a six-month period that the FAA will want without any symptoms.

So, bottom line, this seems like the best course of action now and one that the FAA may very well look favorably upon. I'll probably miss Oshkosh 2014, but I'm still hoping to fly to Cleveland for a game before the end of the season.

One other thing. I met Daniel Alvarez last year in Minneapolis, at the beginning of his kayak trek to Key West. he arrived there after 7 months down the Mississippi and Gulf. Then he decided to paddle back by way of the Atlantic Ocean, Hudson River and down via the Quetico to International Falls and Minnesota's Northwest Angle. He arrived there a week or so ago.

When I last visited with him in person, I told him I was a little nervous about flying to New England. "If you're not nervous," he said, "you're not dreaming big enough."

I've remembered that all this time.

Though we've been communicating, and while he was giving me grief for not flying, he was unaware of the reasons for it until I sent him this thread.

He sent this picture back after reading it:

daniel.jpg

I'm guessing you've heard more than enough "I'm so sorrys" and "keep your head ups" for a lifetime by now, but I thought I'd send you a picture from the Appalachian Trail. This is from the day before I finished the trail. I was walking with my friend and we see this guy walking toward us. Suddenly, we realize he has one leg and is on crutches. He's hiking the Appalachian Trail too.

I'd actually seen him before at a trail event and he had an artificial leg. It was super technical looking and had sponsor's stickers all over it, but he didn't have it with him when we saw him on the trail. I asked him about it and he told us it had bruised his stump, so he had to ditch it for a bit to let the stump heal. He got a pair of crutches so he could keep hiking. He was going southbound into a section of the trail that is fairly remote and called the "hundred mile wilderness." I'll never forget seeing him walk away on those crutches, finding a way to keep going.

Maybe you can find a way to keep going too. Maybe it means fighting like **** to get that medical clearance. Maybe it means switching to powered gliders or whatever you are able to fly. Maybe it means getting a co-pilot (I wish I could fly, I'd be there in a heart beat!). Maybe it means forgetting about flying and dreaming of something else. Who knows, but whatever it is, I'm cheering for you and if there is anything I can do to help--even if you just need to call someone up and yell at the phone--you know how to reach me.


The picture is now in my hangar. I don't yet know how any of this will turn out, but it's all a metaphor for building a plane anyway. You should read all about Daniel's journey here; it'll sound familiar.
 
Great Story!

One thing's for sure: it's sometimes tragic and it's sometimes magic, but life (at least a life worth living) is always a great story! Keep on dreamin' Bob... It teaches those who've never learned, or have forgotten how.
 
All of us here will have our fingers crossed for you over the next months. If it all plays out as we would like, just THINK of the celebration we could have at OSH next year !!!! :D
 
Lurking but had to say something

Hi Bob, I have been following your plight with a little bit of "so sorry but thank god its not me" attitude. Today when I checked in I was so very impressed, and more importantly, encouraged by your attitude and determination. Please keep pushing to get back into the sky, you are acting as a trail blazer for many of us who have those same "FAA fears".

Z
 
I had the gentamicin procedure 10 days ago. So far. So good. That is to say, the brain did not like having balance nerves in one ear killed off. After 5 days, I had a vicious vertigo attack. The neurotologist assured me this is normal and will subside as the brain, eyes, joints, and remaining good ear learn to compensate. And, indeed, I am feeling better and going back to work after a couple of weeks off.

So, in effect, I've reset the 6.month clock for seeking special issuance and feel pretty good about things. Hearing in the bad ear is gone for good, though. I'm going to need a good ANR headset.

The plane goes to the paint shop on April 15th so we're keeping hope alive for now.
 
Bob, I'm glad you continue to soldier on and have not given up hope!

As for paint, Vlad only asked because he's not completely sure what "paint" really is.

The rest of us are interested in the paint scheme as further inspiration !
 
I had the gentamicin procedure 10 days ago. So far. So good. That is to say, the brain did not like having balance nerves in one ear killed off. After 5 days, I had a vicious vertigo attack. The neurotologist assured me this is normal and will subside as the brain, eyes, joints, and remaining good ear learn to compensate. And, indeed, I am feeling better and going back to work after a couple of weeks off.

So, in effect, I've reset the 6.month clock for seeking special issuance and feel pretty good about things. Hearing in the bad ear is gone for good, though. I'm going to need a good ANR headset.

The plane goes to the paint shop on April 15th so we're keeping hope alive for now.
Bob,

I admire you for your commitment to getting your medical back and as one who's been half deaf most of his life and a pilot for some 30-odd years, it's not a big deal...yes, get a good ANR headset and you will be great! I can't wait to hear (so to speak) that you're back in the air! You deserve it!
 
Bob

Good to hear (not funny!) that you have had the surgery and are moving forward. Actually just checked your blog a few days ago for any updates and noticed the surgery date there and nothing posted since. Didn't want to bug you. Finger crossed that it works out well. Your due for some good luck.

Hope your are well recovered by the holidays and can enjoy the really important stuff.

Blue skies and Merry Christmas. I hope 2014 is a great one for you.
 
Bob---I too have been following this story. I admire your tenacity to achive your goal. Stick with it--you can do it!
Tom
 
Just another datapoint for the archive's.

I've had no problems since my early December procedure and was feeling pretty optimistic about getting back in the air this summer, so today I contacted a regional flight surgeon with whom I've been consulting thanks to a contact on VAF.

I told him I plan on a big checkup in May and would calculate on reapplying with the FAA after 6 months of being symptom free.

That's when he told me the FAA now requires a year..

Sigh.
 
Nothing like moving the goalposts...

I may have the facts slightly jumbled, but I have a buddy out here that had a melanoma removed and now he has to get a brain scan every year to maintain a class 3. The type of scan is apparently "special" enough that he has to travel to the LA area to get it done.

Hang in there, it'll be worth it!

Doug
 
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Bob I'm sure it feels like it might as well be an eternity right now, but in less than a year from now you'll be back in the air. When you look back on the wait it won't seem like it was all that long....
 
Another update for the archive:

I had my medical with a new AME down at the Mayo Clinic. I couldn't get in to see the guy I wanted -- Clayton Cowl -- because he was booked into August. Popular guy.

So I got Mark Steffen at Mayo's Aeromedical Dept., who has been tremendous.

It's the first time I've had an AME who actually seems interested in helping me navigate the process. Most of the guys I've gone to have cashed the check and sent the paperwork to Oklahoma City.

I spent about four hours down in Rochester on Monday and Mark called three times on Tuesday and once on Wednesday with updates on how the process is going.

He's still getting more clinical notes and old EKGs (I have a right bundle branch block in the heart and that's always made the FAA nervous) but he's sent what he has on to the Great Lakes office and it's getting some attention.

Bottom line: He says I'm normal and he's recommending -- pending the acquisition of more data -- that I be approved.

He said the worst that's likely to happen on the Meniere's is they make me wait another 5 months (bringing it to a year sympton free), which I said is fine at this point since I can save more money on Avgas to pay for what's likely to be a pretty big bill from Mayo.

The FAA also may require another stress test for the heart, which I'll pass with flying colors as usual.

So, to keep the narrative updated, there's hope.

Still: I constantly think that if someone here hadn't known about that 2007 Aeromedical bulletin article that the FAA put out, I'd be out of the flying business and sold the plane by now.

There was zero information on the options therein available.

And I also keep thinking about the EAA consultant who intervened on my behalf and reported back -- after conferring with the FAA --that I was finished as a pilot.

It's kind of a crazy, disjointed medical certification system we have. Granted -- and this is important -- it was a GOOD decision not to deny my medical. I wouldn't have been a safe pilot. But the gap in the process is the lack of direction and assessment upon denial that gives the airman a clearer picture of the path (or not) to recovery.

Yes, I realize you can pay some consultants big bucks for that, but that fact only further defines the problem. They're usually ex-FAA'ers who, AOPA's case, helped create the system in the first place, now making money as consultants to navigate it.

A better idea is to have a system that's navigable in the first place.
 
So very happy for you Bob. Sounds like you got a winner with this doc. Here's to seeing you back in the left seat!
 
Good news, Bob. I can't say enough about the aeromedical team at Mayo. They were great when I needed them to be great.
Hope you are back in the saddle soon.
 
I'm back, baby

And to conclude this endless thread, I got this email from Dr. Schall today:

Bob:
I hope this finds you doing well. I have reviewed and approved your Special Issuance for your Medical Certificate. You should receive it in the next 5-10 days. If you need to fly sooner, I can email you a Fax-Wire letter that you can fly on for 60 days until your Certificate shows up. Let me know if you need one. All the best.

Kindest Regards,

Dave Schall

David G. Schall, MD MPH FACPM FACS
FAA Great Lakes Regional Flight Surgeon
Aerospace Neurotologist


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9q70zCJYBc
 
Awesome!

Wonderful news, Bob. Glad to hear you will be back in the saddle in a few days.

So glad your perseverance paid off, and the "system," even if only this once, worked like it's supposed to.

Fly safe!

-Stormy
 
FANTASTIC!!!!

And to conclude this endless thread, I got this email from Dr. Schall today:

Bob:
I hope this finds you doing well. I have reviewed and approved your Special Issuance for your Medical Certificate. You should receive it in the next 5-10 days. If you need to fly sooner, I can email you a Fax-Wire letter that you can fly on for 60 days until your Certificate shows up. Let me know if you need one. All the best.

Kindest Regards,

Dave Schall

David G. Schall, MD MPH FACPM FACS
FAA Great Lakes Regional Flight Surgeon
Aerospace Neurotologist


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9q70zCJYBc

So wonderful to read this Bob!

Tenacity. It pays.

James
 
Wonderful news, Bob, and a long time coming. Congrats for sticking with it.

It does present a problem, however. Who are we going to cheer on now?

Bob
 
Congratulations!

Now go fly that beautiful bird that nobody on VAF would buy because they wanted you to keep it! :D
 
Congratulations!

Bob,
Congratulations! I hope that by this time you have gotten airborne again with your fresh new medical. Unfortunately as you have found help is needed in navigating the FAA maze; I found it necessary to go through Pilot Medical Solutions in Oklahoma. They gathered and submitted the data to the FAA. From submission to issuance was five (5) days! It is sad that we need "professional" help to get things done in government, but it is better to get that help than languish. (A friend had a issue with cured cancer, too, and after 18 months of trying to get something done on his own, still did not have his medical back.)
Here's a toast to you, Bob! Keep flying!:)
 
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