Seeking Advice

[brokenhips]

I am active Army, one year into a three year contract. I received a $24,000 bonus which is broken down into a $20,000 Quick Ship Bonus(shipping to basic training by a specific date) and $4,000 for my three year enlistment. My MGIB is paid off as of this month.

My current medical condition is as follows:
-Stress fractures in both femoral necks
-"Very bad"(orthopedist's wording) shin splints
-Constant knee pain in both knees while walking
-Knees feel weak when going up or down stairs
-Occasional shooting pain from the inside of either knee up the inside of my leg to my hip joint
-When walking with a cane(which I use everywhere I walk) I occasionally have shooting pains from my wrist up through my elbow and to my shoulder

My initial injury(the stress fractures) originated in April of this year and I have been seeing an orthopedist since late May/early June - I can't remember the exact dates. He told me that if I wanted a med board that I should let him know and he will start the process.

I do have some apprehensions and questions:
-My femoral neck and knee injuries appear non-existent on x-rays and a bone scan. I am afraid that the medical board will see this and may just think that I am malingering.
-If I am discharged, under what conditions(if any) will I be allowed to take advantage of my MGIB?
-If I am discharged with a disability rating of less than 30%, will I have to pay back my bonus? I have already fulfilled the obligations of the $20,000 portion of my bonus, so it would be my understanding that I would not be required to pay that back. I understand that the $4,000 would likely become void.
-If anyone wants to throw a guesstimate disability rating out there, I'd be interested to see it.

My fear is that if I choose to go to the MEB I will get screwed over medically as well as financially. It seems like it might be easier to ride out the rest of my contract as a "dirtbag" even though I am slated to deploy next year. Any advice or references are very welcome. Thank you in advance.

[xeno]

Originally Posted by brokenhips

I do have some apprehensions and questions:
-My femoral neck and knee injuries appear non-existent on x-rays and a bone scan. I am afraid that the medical board will see this and may just think that I am malingering.

????

Originally Posted by brokenhips

-If I am discharged, under what conditions(if any) will I be allowed to take advantage of my MGIB?

DD will void your MGIB

Originally Posted by brokenhips

-If I am discharged with a disability rating of less than 30%, will I have to pay back my bonus? I have already fulfilled the obligations of the $20,000 portion of my bonus, so it would be my understanding that I would not be required to pay that back. I understand that the $4,000 would likely become void.

Medical Discharge & you will not have to pay this back.

Originally Posted by brokenhips

-If anyone wants to throw a guesstimate disability rating out there, I'd be interested to see it.

Not sure without reading the NARSUM & other info in your file.

Originally Posted by brokenhips

My fear is that if I choose to go to the MEB I will get screwed over medically as well as financially. It seems like it might be easier to ride out the rest of my contract as a "dirtbag" even though I am slated to deploy next year. Any advice or references are very welcome. Thank you in advance.

A medical discharge is perfered over a DD or GD.

X

[WindyinKuwait]

I am curious how you were diagnosed with stress fractures in the femural neck of your femur??? Did they see the stress fractures in an MRI? Im asking because while I was in Kuwait the TMC diagnosed my leg pain as an acute muscle strain when actually I had stress fractures. The Doc let me walk out of there thinking I just pulled a muscle until I completely fractured my femur {compound femur fracture of the femural neck} outside the wire just from walking. Now I may be facing a medboard in the near future.

[brokenhips]

Originally Posted by xeno

????

Allowed me to elaborate. I am worried that without "solid" proof of an injury(i.e. a physical image that shows that I am injured) the board would second guess my orthopedist's diagnosis and the results of the board would be less than favorable.

Originally Posted by xeno

DD will void your MGIB

Medical Discharge & you will not have to pay this back.

A medical discharge is perfered over a DD or GD.

X

DD = Dishonorable Discharge, GD = General Discharge? Or am I way off the mark here?

Originally Posted by WindyinKuwait

I am curious how you were diagnosed with stress fractures in the femural neck of your femur??? Did they see the stress fractures in an MRI? Im asking because while I was in Kuwait the TMC diagnosed my leg pain as an acute muscle strain when actually I had stress fractures. The Doc let me walk out of there thinking I just pulled a muscle until I completely fractured my femur {compound femur fracture of the femural neck} outside the wire just from walking. Now I may be facing a medboard in the near future.

I was originally diagnosed with a groin pull and began to run on a treadmill and go to physical therapy to heal it. When the pain got (much) worse and there was no improvement, my orthopedist decided that, based on the symptoms, they were stress fractures rather than a groin pull.


I also forgot to include two pieces of information in my initial post. One, which may be pertinent to the results of the MEB is that I am a combat arms MOS attached to a light infantry unit.

Two, the reason an MEB came up in the first place is because my doctor recommended TDRL to me. It is my understanding that this is a possible result of an MEB. If it is made known that you would prefer one result to another, will the board take that into account at all? For example, if my options were TDRL or to be medically discharged and I make it known that I would prefer TDRL, will the board make its decision with that in mind?

[brokenhips]

I'm going to bump this in hopes that someone can give me some advice on this matter.

[Jason]

Originally Posted by brokenhips

My current medical condition is as follows:
-Stress fractures in both femoral necks
-"Very bad"(orthopedist's wording) shin splints
-Constant knee pain in both knees while walking
-Knees feel weak when going up or down stairs
-Occasional shooting pain from the inside of either knee up the inside of my leg to my hip joint
-When walking with a cane(which I use everywhere I walk) I occasionally have shooting pains from my wrist up through my elbow and to my shoulder

Remember, you will only be compensated for those conditions that are unfitting. It sounds like your knees will/should be unfitting. I would also be interested in getting an neurology consult to address the shooting pain (knees and wrist through shoulder). This may be an additional condition (peripheral nerve damage/impingement), and is often overlooked.



I do have some apprehensions and questions:

-My femoral neck and knee injuries appear non-existent on x-rays and a bone scan. I am afraid that the medical board will see this and may just think that I am malingering.

Unless the doctors state malingering, this is unlikely to be an issue.

-If I am discharged with a disability rating of less than 30%, will I have to pay back my bonus? I have already fulfilled the obligations of the $20,000 portion of my bonus, so it would be my understanding that I would not be required to pay that back. I understand that the $4,000 would likely become void.

You won't have to pay it back

-If anyone wants to throw a guesstimate disability rating out there, I'd be interested to see it.

Impossible to guess without reviewing your records or knowing what the doctors and your MEB states. It would not surprise me if they try to rate you at 10% for one or both knees. Whether this is proper or not would take more information to say.

My fear is that if I choose to go to the MEB I will get screwed over medically as well as financially. It seems like it might be easier to ride out the rest of my contract as a "dirtbag" even though I am slated to deploy next year. Any advice or references are very welcome. Thank you in advance.

Not sure how you would do worse going to an MEB/PEB if you are going to get out anyways. You have the possibility of severance or retirement, while ETSing will only give you VA compensation.

...the reason an MEB came up in the first place is because my doctor recommended TDRL to me. It is my understanding that this is a possible result of an MEB. If it is made known that you would prefer one result to another, will the board take that into account at all? For example, if my options were TDRL or to be medically discharged and I make it known that I would prefer TDRL, will the board make its decision with that in mind?

TDRL is a finding from a PEB, not MEB, which only determines what conditions you have are disqualifying for retention. Your desire to be put on TDRL will have minimal impact on the outcome. It will depend on the the facts (your rating of 30% or more and stability of your conditions).

Hope this helped.