VA med. center & ankle fusion?

[Guest guest]

Had a check-up, at the Indy VA medical center on Monday (January 14),

and related my current ankle problems, especially that things are

starting to get worse. My doctor told me that, likely, the only

surgical option for my ankle would be to fuse it.

He also switched me

back to Naprosyn, from Etodolac, since the Etodolac was giving me

heartburn/acid reflux, whereas the Naprosyn didn't (at least not

frequently, and not as bad when it occurred).

I also related how the

physical therapist (the only one I've seen so far, for a new patient

evaluation) told me there's nothing they can do for me, until the

instability of my ankle is fixed, yet the foot and ankle specialist

thinks there's nothing wrong with my ankle just because no soft tissue

damage shows on the MRIs of my ankle.

I have another Orthopedics clinic appointment for February, which my

primary doctor had to refer me (again) because it had been 6 months

(or more) since I'd last been seen at that clinic. But what should I

push for, rather than settling for them wanting to fuse my ankle.

I " play Army " this weekend, and my unit has a medical section, so I'm

going to start pushing for another orthopedic consult at Ft. Knox,

since my ankle injury was incurred during a period of active

duty nearly 4 years ago, by now.

I've done some reading on the web,

from googling " ankle fusion, " and a lot of what I'm reading indicates

that it won't alter my daily living too much, even for a job like I

have in die (tooling) maintenance.

As far as my ankle getting worse, as I'd mentioned above, I think that

my primary VA doctor is keeping me on an anti-inflamitory (Naprosyn)

only because it can work. As I'd related to his intern (who talked to

the doctor, then the doctor examined me himself), my ankle is

frequently locking on me, when I walk, and whenever that happens, my

ankle and foot swell anyway, in spite of any anti-inflamitory I have

in my system.

Around Christmas (between Christmas and New Year's Eve),

I'd taken a nap, and when I got out of bed and started to step out

with my right foot, I ended up right back on the bed because my ankle

gave out on that step. It simply was not available for weight bearing,

when I took that step.

Hopefully I'll be able to, finally, get my ankle fixed, this year.

There's (reliable) talk about my National Guard unit going to be

heading to Iraq in 2009, but I doubt I'd be deployable to a war zone

with the current condition of my ankle. Of course I'd rather not have

to go to Iraq, but I'm not simply trying to weasel out of it, either.

I'd rather not end up being a liability to the safety of my buddies in

a war zone because my ankle " collapsed " while we were running for

cover.

I'll have 19 years of military service, come June 22 this year,

and although my current contract ends in December 2012, I'll be

eligible to retire once I hit 20 years. I'm hoping that although I

might not be medically fit to go to Iraq, they'd use me with the

stateside rear detachment. That way I'd be more of an asset to my

unit, rather than a liability.

If you've read down this far, thanks for putting up with my rant/vent.

Although I don't regularly post/reply here, I do read other's

rants/vents, and can empathize with what they're going through, based

on my own experience.

Matt in Indiana

[Guest guest]

> Hopefully I'll be able to, finally, get my ankle fixed, this year.

> There's (reliable) talk about my National Guard unit going to be

> heading to Iraq in 2009, but I doubt I'd be deployable to a war zone

> with the current condition of my ankle.

Matt,

I had the same thing happen to me when I was in the Reserves, I was a MSC

(hospital administrator) and has degenrative disc disease

and I was close to 20 years. They was placed on restrictive duties

and even then (three years ago) they needed members. I made my twenty years and

even to 26.

So just hang in there and sounds like you got things in order. Make a copy of

you military records PLEASE. I always hand carried mine but they lost mine when

I retired and I could not file for service

connected injury.

I cannot stress this enough because when you retire, you must file

within two years. They cannot find my records anywhere. I was

stationed at Lackland and they pulled all the Reservists assigned

records in a storage bin because the whole unit was moving. Well, I

think my records are somewhere out in a wharehouse rotting away.

Good Luck and consider all options, ask if you will be disqualified if you have

an ankle fusion. I would have been disqualified if I had a spinal fusion so I

waited until I made twenty years. * I could have stayed to 2012. I miss the

Reserves as we all are a military family.

Good Luck

Bennie