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Take the MEB. Get paid to take care of yourself. If you're medically retired, you will have access to other benefits that aren't available to a regular retiree.

TexasTACP, Once you get disc replacement, it's very likely that you will get need future surgeries on the same disc or associated discs around the area. The timeline between now and then is more on how you maintain the discs based on your current lifestyle. However, your symptoms should be...

In the military, I have gotten excellent care under real physicians. The drug pushers are usually PAs who care more about acquiescing to military commands rather than patient care. If this act becomes the norm, there will be a day when your surgery is performed by nurses with accordance to...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/05/27/to-cut-wait-times-va-wants-nurses-to-act-like-doctors-doctors-say-veterans-will-be-harmed/ Oh, damn. Tricare Standard looks better with each passing day. Why the hell should veterans suffer from poorer care in general?

You got screwed over with the 10% DoD. Do you know that health care insurance plans nowadays cost about $400/month? Think about it for a second. That severance pay is pittance in the grand scheme of things.

If your VA rating is 70% or higher and your DoD rating is 20% or lower, you should always appeal in order to get your fair share of the deal.

Talk to your Behavioral Health provider for a referral to a sleep study. You need to get one before you get out just in case in order to rule out sleep apnea. If you do have sleep apnea, it's another 50% for your ratings. I was referred by my provider for a sleep study while I was in the IDES...

It depends on the general of your post. At JBLM, the commanding general wants to get broken soldiers out asap. Docs who keep broken soldiers in the system normally get chewed out at those medical meetings.

After I signed my NARSUM, my PEBLO told me that it will go to PEB on the same day and I should hear back in five days whether I'm fit or unfit. I called my PEBLO five days later and she told me that I was found unfit 3 days ago and my case had been sent to the VA for rating considerations.

Nope, that seems to be the new pace nowadays. See my timeline. I think there's a push from the top about getting broken soldiers out in order to make the lower number set by our new budget.

After my appointment with the neurosurgeon, here's the SOAP note from that neurosurgeon: Assess: Radiculopathy secondary to disc disease.

This is what my primary care provider wrote before referring me to neurosurgeon. Note that here my only diagnosis is chronic low back pain. He recognizes that I show some radiculopathy symptoms but it's still not conclusive: 1. Low back pain: 30 yo M with chronic LBP. Has completed physical...

The only one who can give you a radiculopathy diagnosis is a physician specialized in nerve. Your PC team may say that you have sciatica. However, their expertise doesn't allow them to give the final say about your radiculopathy diagnosis. If they suspect that you have radiculopathy, they need...

BTW, I just looked through my medical file. Despite my MRI showing nerve impingement, my diagnosis remained "chronic back pain" until after my physical exam with a neurosurgeon. So, I think the military is trying to cheat you out of a medical retirement if they're pushing you through IDES...

You may describe symptoms that are relevant toward radiculopathy. However, in the medical world, symptoms are subjective. Your diagnosis in your MRI describes severe spinal stenosis. That may lead to sciatica/radiculopathy. However, you need a specialized physician to do a full physical exam on...

Your MRI hasn't diagnosed you with radiculopathy. You need to see a neurosurgeon in order to have radiculopathy added to your diagnosis. Right now, you will get 20% for your back assuming forward flexion more than 30 degrees but less than 60 degrees. BTW, getting radiculopathy added to your...

Yes, if you have all of these conditions as unfit on your narsum, you will get at least 30% for your dod rating.

The back is usually rated as 20%. Radiculopathy can be rated as 10%, 20%, 40%, or 60%. In my case, my radiculopathy was rated 40%.

Klhagg, It's very likely that you re-herniate your discs. The next course of action is a back fusion. Even after a back fusion, it's very likely that your other discs will be impaired, forcing future surgeries down the road. Therefore, it's usually recommended to forgo back surgery unless it's...

If you push for MEB, you will get MEB 30% or higher for your unfit conditions assuming chronic neck pain with radiculopathy.