Please help

luvmysoldier

luvmysoldier

PEB Forum Regular Member
PEB Forum Veteran
I am married to a soldier, I was here before the Army my plan is to stick around til after whenever that may be. My soldier has been to both Iraq and Afghanistan. Since Afghanistan he has been assigned a social worker and to mental health and abunch of pills. He has gout that flares up every other month (easily) he doesn't really drink except special occasions and that isn't what triggers the gout (just fyi) My husband has changed, he is depressed, he is in pain all the time. He had a near death experience while in Afghanistan and was sent to Germany then on to DC. His unit however acted like they couldn't operate without him and he finally got clearance to go back after months of begging. (his issue was bleading ulcers and he blead out due to nsaids for gout in return he ended up with an infection 4 pints of blood later he was med evaced outta there) My husband has changed, his health is in a downward spiral. He has had gout since he was 26 and is now 34. All drs say that he should not have these "old man" issues yet he does. Right now he is on the overweight program. But of course 5 outta 7 pills he takes cause weight gain. The clinic here will not wave his weight gain because he is not diabetic. He is on a permanent profile now for running and a specialist has already told him his joints in his toes are seperating due to the gout issues he has had. I wanna if I can ask for a MEB? I don't mind the military life by no means, but I have been with my husband since I was in highschool we have 3 kids and I can see that it is killing him. I need help, he needs help. The doctors here rushes everyone thru like cattle. His last gout attack was in the knee and the dr didn't even look at it. The poor care he recieves urks the hell outta me. They throw up a bottle of tramadol or vicadon some antidepressants and ambien and it is supposed to do. I don't wanna be married to someone that is strung out. I am so frustrated, I have to be the strong one and feel like I have no one to turn to. I found this site so please help!!!
 
ok i went to the dr with him and voiced my opinion, the dr is such a douche the rhematoid dr sent him (the pcm) the test results and he said i can't read these idk what these mean and when i ask for a copy he said you can have these, i dont need them idk what they mean so he didn't even put them in his chart...wtf? anywho i told him i am tired of the pills my hub is 34 and now takes 11.5 (yes 1/2) pills a day not counting the pain pills. I am frusrated they just started him on 100 (yes) 100 more steroids...the dr did put him on 8 hr work days for 2 weeks and the commander is trying to challenge it. REALLY??? OMFG I honestly feel like the ARMY has failed my husband and my family. I ask the dr has he been keeping an eye on my husbands kidneys, he said I don't have to the other drs (talking about the specialist) will do it now....I wanted to smack the white off his face! The just changed him from allpurinol to uloric so we will see how that goes, I am just at my wits end.
 
Under Tricare, you do have the right for a second opinion. I would recommend that you guys request another PCM. The results are in his records somewhere already since everything is automated. If I were you, I would put them in a safe place just in case they are not or something crashes!

I am sorry to hear you have a pain in the butt dr! I work at an Army Hospital and there are steps that you can take. First fill out a complaint card and see the patient advocacy office at the hospital. That will get the ball rolling and hopefully get someone's attention. I would recommend you start there before continuing further. Keep us updated as to if you make any progress or visa versa.

Good luck to you and your hubby....it is a long haul but will be worth pressing the issues in the end.
 
well yesterday the whole 8hr shat was threw out the door I guess because he worked from 0530 to 1900 yesterday no b'fast no effin lunch. It is aggrivating and frustrating to say the least. He has 24 hr duty Saturday but they told him technically after 1 am on sunday it is a new day so he can come in 0900-1700 on sat and then 0100 to 0900 on Sunday but WTF ever I told him to just pull the 24 hrs. His 1sg ask for a list of his medications so I wrote them down and he took them in, his 1sg kinda bowed down a lil then. I didn't tell him but I did call IG and on this post they were worthless as tits on a boar of course. They said it is his commanders right to "check on the soldier" and question medical care. No one cares if your not getting the proper care, they only care when you can't be their bitch for time period. Anywho they also told me that it is the Armys right to flag him, and he will have to follow his pcs orders. Idk if I have mentioned this however my hub has orders to pcs to an overseas location which I'm all about getting away from here however in order for him to take family he would need to extend for 3 months, because he is flagged overweight he cannot extend and as it stands right now they are saying he will have to go 2 years to this location unaccompanied instead of a 3 yrs with dependants. We are gonna work on getting the orders deleted but dunno if it will work or not. He had a weigh in the other day he had lost 20 pounds but only 2% on tape. He was told he not only has to meet weight expectations but also tape he has 15 pounds to lose with 8% of body fat (he has a small neck lol) If he only lost 2% with 20 pounds then we are EFF YOU SEA KAY EEEEE DEEEEE! As for the test results they will not be in his record as far as the military clinic is concerned because they were ran by a specialist off post I am keeping a copy of them. I am going to start getting my own chart for him from all the doctors he has seen. It is just frustrating because I really can't do anything because he is the sponsor he has to actually take time to do it, they want let us do anything for the soldier.

I have filed "ice complaints" and they are nearly useless here, but I'm not going to give up. They will hate me by the time we leave here, but they will know that the way they treat people it is not right.
 
What is your husbands job? If your husband is on the weight management program, he can't accept the orders anyway. Also with the medical care he needs and issues, his medical overseas clearance should be declined. I wouldn't worry about him going overseas without you.

The duty section is allowed to do the "any" 8 hours a day. It sucks, but there is no legal way around that one unless the doctor specifies on his profile 8 hours in a 24 hour period.

What has he been diagnosed with? Is he seeing any specialists off base? His First Shirt shouldn't be going through you for your husbands medical information. It's their way of going around HIPPA and Privacy laws. The Commander can talk to his doctor directly, I would have him do so because then maybe they will get a better understanding of how bad his condition really is.

I've been having trouble this year with my chain, due to all my medical issues, appointments, and limitation.

Sometimes the doctor can grant a 30 or 60 waist tape exemption due to meds to give a member a little longer to lose inches. Especially if the member shows he wants to take nutrition classes and set up an exercise program- Maybe water therapy or a walking program?

I wish someone would talk to the chain of injured/wounded veterans and brief them that just because someone is incapable of physically doing certain things anymore, does not make them incompetent. And just because you are on a profile, does not make you a melingerer.
 
he is a mechanic, however he can come down on orders when he is on the overweight program he just cant attend schools, extend, re-up or any other "favorable" action. I have even called IG and they explained too if we can't get the orders deleted he can and will go without us!

1–15. Processing exceptions
a. APFT.
(1) Flags for APFT failure block promotion, reenlistment, and extension only.
(2) A flag is not initiated if the soldier has a limiting physical profile that specifically prohibits taking the APFT.
b. Weight control.
(1) Flags for weight control block only attendance at full-time civil or military schooling, promotion, awards and
decorations, assumption of command, and reenlistment or extension.
(2) Soldiers attending a civil or military on the date of the flag will not be removed from such schooling.
(3) Commanders may approve reenlistments and extensions under certain medical conditions as advised by the
supporting total Army career counselor.
c. Reassignment.
(1) HQDA will reassign soldiers returned to military control from dropped from the rolls (DFR).
(2) Soldiers in receipt of HQDA reassignment instructions may depart when their case moves into the punishment
phase if the punishment does not require the soldier’s continued presence.
(3) Major oversea commanders approve intra-command reassignments.
(4) Installation commanders approve intra-installation reassignments.
(5) Flagged soldiers may be reassigned if—
(a) The flag is based on APFT failure.
(b) The flag is based on entry in the weight control program.
(c) The flag case is in the punishment phase with no restraints on liberty imposed by civil court, court-martial, or
Article 15.
(d) Reassignment is deemed necessary by installation or major overseas commanders (within their command) for the
maintenance of discipline, morale, and unit order.

His profile stated he could only work 8 hours in a 24 hr period and coulddn't stand more than 10 min in any hour (it is only for 2 weeks not forever). He has a permanent profile that says he can't run either. For all this it is due to gout and the damage it has done to his joints

We ask about a waiver for the overweight program and the dr stated the col to our hospital had to grant that and would not, unless he was a diabetic which he is not. Like I said he is on tons of meds and most of them have a side effect of weight gain. The steroids are a given they cause weight gain! He has been to off post dr and specialist who he is just started working with, he has been to navy dr who states his joints are messed up and then the regular old sucky army pcm!!! We are going to change his pcm and start working on second opinions.
They might hate me and I will almost promise that they will but they will do right by my ole man! hahaha
 
1–15. Processing exceptions
a. APFT.
(1) Flags for APFT failure block promotion, reenlistment, and extension only.
(2) A flag is not initiated if the soldier has a limiting physical profile that specifically prohibits taking the APFT.
b. Weight control.
(1) Flags for weight control block only attendance at full-time civil or military schooling, promotion, awards and
decorations, assumption of command, and reenlistment or extension.
(2) Soldiers attending a civil or military school on the date of the flag will not be removed from such schooling.
(3) Commanders may approve reenlistments and extensions under certain medical conditions as advised by the
supporting total Army career counselor.
c. Reassignment.
(1) HQDA will reassign soldiers returned to military control from dropped from the rolls (DFR).
(2) Soldiers in receipt of HQDA reassignment instructions may depart when their case moves into the punishment
phase if the punishment does not require the soldier’s continued presence.
(3) Major oversea commanders approve intra-command reassignments.
(4) Installation commanders approve intra-installation reassignments.
(5) Flagged soldiers may be reassigned if—
(a) The flag is based on APFT failure.
(b) The flag is based on entry in the weight control program.
(c) The flag case is in the punishment phase with no restraints on liberty imposed by civil court, court-martial, or
Article 15.
(d) Reassignment is deemed necessary by installation or major overseas commanders (within their command) for the
maintenance of discipline, morale, and unit order.
 
Bottom line; doctor draws a conclusion (in writing) he cant do this and that. Have the doctor write a letter; stating all the conditions and his recommendation. A profile is drawn up and the leadership MUST adhere to the profile period. A MEB will be started if concluded it affects him in his duty position all falls below fitness standards.

A Cmdr/1SG are not going to fight or attempt to make a service member do something against the profile (in most cases). This would be considered an unlawful order. If that happens; bring it to a higher echelon, IG, congressman or JAG. and just plain don't go against the profile.

Trust me; any puntitive action will be dismissed against your husband if it is attempted (provided he has it all in writing). The only punitive action will probably be against the leadership ie 1SG/Cmdr.

The reality all the rest of the trash will come together once this is done.

I was a Marine and not even in the Corps would a leader attempt to go against a doctors recommendation/conclusion (most of the time).

A side note; Tramdol (cant mix this with many drugs)!!!!
 
How many active duty years does he have in? Read AR 40-501, chapter 3. These are the retention standards for the Army. If he fails any retention standards, then a MEB is required. Find and area where he does not meet retention standards and demand a MEB.

Mike
 
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