Openbah / Journal of a Marine Officer Candidate

Category: Marines

  • 6 month post-FVFG follow-up

    I had my 6 month follow-up appointment last week down in NYC. My doctor took a look at my MRI and said things looked great and the hip was healing nicely. My level of pain is normal, but should subside with physical therapy. And the best news of all… I’m officially weight-bearing as tolerated! I can walk!

    It is now time to move onto the next step and make my leg strong and usable again. I am going to physical therapy twice a week and doing exercises at home the other five days a week. I also rejoined my gym yesterday, I can’t wait to get back into shape.

  • Unfit for duty

    TDRL Unfit for Duty

    I have some pretty big news to those of you that have been reading my journal for the past couple years. It seems the higher-ups in the Navy have decided that I am unfit for duty, and should be discharged. They have recommended my case be submitted to the Physical Evaluation Board (PEB). The PEB basically reviews the medical evidence and makes determinations of fitness or unfitness to continue service. If the service member is found unfit, the PEB then determines the percentage of the service member’s disability compensation using the Veterans Administration Schedule for Rating Disability (VASRD). Depending on the severity of the injury, the service member either receives medical retirement or severance pay. (more…)

  • 5 month post-FVFG follow-up

    Had my 5 month post-FVFG followup at Boston Medical Center a few weeks ago. They took another set of X-rays and compared them to the previous set taken the month before. The doctor said that there were no changes, which isn’t a good or bad thing, it just means that there were no changes significant enough to be seen on an X-ray. I am getting another MRI tomorrow morning, which I will bring down to my 6 month post-FVFG followup in NYC this weekend. My doctor in NYC hopes to see enough progress made in the head and neck of the hip to let me walk unassisted. I’m not getting my hopes up, but this could be the light at the end of a long tunnel.

  • 4 month post-FVFG follow-up

    Had my 4 month follow-up at Boston Medical Center the other day. They took a set of x-rays, which looked good, and my doctor increased my weight-bearing up to 50%. I have to stay on 2 crutches still, but it feels good to stand with equal weight on both legs. I have one more appointment in Boston in a few weeks, then back to NYC for my final appointment at New York Presbyterian in September.

  • 3 month post-FVFG follow-up

    It’s been 3 long months since I was operated on at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. A lot has changed in the past few weeks. The hip doesn’t hurt like it used to. When I’m relaxing, it doesn’t hurt at all. I take Motrin sparingly, almost exclusively at night.

    Until this point, I was on a non-weight bearing status, and was desperately looking forward to a change. Well that change finally came this past week at my 3 month follow-up in NYC. The surgeon looked at the film from an MRI I got last week and said things looked great. He was able to show me where the new bone graft was integrating with the old hip. He said I can start putting weight on my leg, starting with 30 lbs. I’ll slowly increase the weight on my own over the next 3 months. Hopefully in September I’ll be able to walk unassisted and never have to use crutches again!