Bulging Disc

[Griz882]

For me, I had about 3,000 helo hours, of which 1,000-ish was wearing night vision goggles. Between the survival vest pulling me forward for hours, the torque on my neck from nvgs and helmet, and the vibration itself, I’ve got multiple discs with diagnosed arthritis in my back and neck. Regardless of your fitness level, military aviation is not easy on your back.

All symptoms of the “helicopter hunch.”

 

[whereiswaldo]

I am headed to OCS in a couple of days and I am mentally preparing myself to be NPQ’d for aviation. Just want to seek clarification on one thing.

I had gallstones 2 years ago and I had my gallbladder removed. Before surgery I was given a CT scan where they discovered BL Spondylolysis (L5) and LS-S1 Spondylolisthesis. I was not informed of this after my surgery (or maybe I was and I was too high to remember) but they put it in my record and sent me home.

The doctor at MEPS brought these conditions up and I had no idea what he was talking about and I have never had any lower back pain or back issues in my life.

My recruiter informed me that N33 waived me to go to OCS and I thought I was all good. But I recently took a look at the NAMI waiver guide and both Spondylolysis and Spondylolisthesis are “CD with no waiver for non-designated personnel” (sections 13.9 & 13.10).

Believing that I fall under “non-designated personnel” (please correct me if I am wrong), my question is why would N33 approve my waiver for SNA if these conditions are CD in the NAMI guide?

 

[flgator92]

I am headed to OCS in a couple of days and I am mentally preparing myself to be NPQ’d for aviation. Just want to seek clarification on one thing.

I had gallstones 2 years ago and I had my gallbladder removed. Before surgery I was given a CT scan where they discovered BL Spondylolysis (L5) and LS-S1 Spondylolisthesis. I was not informed of this after my surgery (or maybe I was and I was too high to remember) but they put it in my record and sent me home.

The doctor at MEPS brought these conditions up and I had no idea what he was talking about and I have never had any lower back pain or back issues in my life.

My recruiter informed me that N33 waived me to go to OCS and I thought I was all good. But I recently took a look at the NAMI waiver guide and both Spondylolysis and Spondylolisthesis are “CD with no waiver for non-designated personnel” (sections 13.9 & 13.10).

Believing that I fall under “non-designated personnel” (please correct me if I am wrong), my question is why would N33 approve my waiver for SNA if these conditions are CD in the NAMI guide?

Words. A lot of words. As an OCS guy, they’ll figure it out once you get there. I assume you turned in all your paperwork to your recruiter. NAMI will deal with all of this paperwork after your initial physical at NBHC in Newport and OTCN staff will let you know if there’s an issue. Best answer is just to show up and see what happens, and if you get NAMI whammied have a contingency plan for what you’d like to do in the Navy if you’re DQ’d from aviation. Wish you the best of luck.

 

[ChuckMK23]

All symptoms of the “helicopter hunch.”

There are VA disability templates for former helicopter pilots - regardless of time since active service. Not only for these common neuro-skeloton disorders but also for hearing for those of us who utilized non-CEP helmets.

 

[Mouselovr]

Silver lining is spondy would have shown up in your flight physical at OCS as they do an Xray when checking for scoliosis. They might have missed the old fracture but they absolutely would see the slippage at L5S1...

Show up and see what happens... there's waivers for a lot but I wouldn't bet my cards on this one... you should be medically qualified to do anything else in the navy
Even if you don't have pain, there's instability and slippage already present in your spine.