The Squidget Chronicles
Well....it all comes down to this. The last stand. The final round of fireworks. The moment has arrived and I have officially gone into mentallockdown mode.
For 2 long years, Rebecca has been fighting the Army. And she's been doing a damn fine job of it. The little, introverted girl that used to squeak like a mouse while in the presence of officers has called on her inner strength and mustered the courage to take on those even higher up, including an Adjutant General.
Here is the "nutshell version" of what's been going on with her for those of you who never saw the "Chronicles" on Newsvine.
It all started waaaayyy back in December of 2010. She was at AIT doing an early morning round of PT when she was hit with a chest pain. Because she enlisted with a waiver for a low level heart murmur, they insisted she go see a cardiologist, despite her insistence that it was likely caused by the cold air combined with the heavy exercise.
She was diagnosed with Mitral Valve Prolapse and put on beta-blockers which she took as prescribed.
In February of 2011, she was reclassified as an Engineer and headed off to Sheppard AFB for her new AIT. Everything was swell. No chest pains and she was still taking her beta blockers.
She graduated with flying colors and received her orders for Tompkins Barracks in Germany. She was thrilled. But during outprocessing, the Dr. gave her non-deployable status due to her previous diagnosis. The army then began the process of booting her out.
That's when she stepped up to the plate and demanded a second opinion. Her request was granted. The new cardiologist ran several tests and stated there was no sign of Mitral Valve Prolapse. He took her off the beta blockers.
Upon review of the report, the base Dr. seemed unwilling to admit to the error and came up with a new diagnosis of Patent Ductus Arteriosis. She again, demanded another opinion. And again, the Cardiologist stated there were no signs of Patent Ductus Arteriosis.
Again, the base Dr. was unwilling to admit to his misdiagnosis. He put in writing: "While the testing proves inconclusive for PDA, I am reccommending this soldier for MEB, anyway."
That's when the feces hit the fan.
Rebecca stepped up to the plate and launched a Congressional Inquirythrough her Senators office. Through a series of their office formally addressing the situation, Rebecca obtaining complete medical records that not only show a series of misdiagnoses, butwrongful prescription of medications as well as reclassification to a 'heavy lift' MOS AFTER she was diagnosed with a supposed 'heart condition' (and prior to discovering it was a misdiagnosis)...and constantly exercising her rights up to and including demanding a formal hearing in front of the Med Board with her Attorney present.
That's where we're at today. There is a good chance she has the Army's collective balls to the wall.Her attorney says one of three things are going to happen. 1) They will keep her in because of the overwhelming evidence that they screwed up so many times and the high cost of booting her out. 2) They will continue to boot her out, but with a substantial medical severance due to their contrubution to the situation. 3) They will admit to no liability and boot her out anyway, giving her a 0% rating for medical discharge. The attorney is optimistic that she may get the first option, only because there is heavy recruitment right now for Intelligence Specialists, which was Rebecca's first MOS and she still holds her TS-SCI Clearance.
So. As a mom, I have gone into total, mental lockdown. She hopped on a plane today and will be appearing in front of the M.E.B. tomorrow morning at Fort Lewis.
Asking you all to keep her in your prayers. And if you aren't the praying type, please keep her in your thoughts and send good vibes her way.
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I'm one screwed up mom tonight....
I just realized that either it's going to be another 4 years for her, or I'm going to have her living back home again in very short order...
Wow.
Thanks John. I genuinely appreciate that
What an awesome looking crew that is! A big group of heros! Thanks for the comment, Mike. And the picture.
Ya know...I have to wonder if I'm ever going to be able to "let go". Is any mom ever capable of that? I mean, she's 21 for chrissakes.
I want to fly out to WA and stand next to her while she goes through this...(sigh)
She's taking it better than I am.
pat , Im gonna be 51 in a couple months , my moms in her 70s and 2700 miles away ,ive been married , have 3 kids , and 2( soon to be 3 ,ones due any day now) grand kids , and im still her "baby boy" . i dont think moms ever have to let go .
Thank goodness. Because it's times like these, I don't think I ever could.
I remember when she turned 21. She was always a "by the book" kid and never took so much as a sip of alcohol prior to her 21st. She wanted her first drink to be with mom, and she wanted sake.
She's interesting when she drinks. She starts talking about quantum physics and tries to teach people binary code. LOL.
That was one of those times that I was OK with her growing up and taking on responsibility on her own. Now? Not so much.
Well...it's done. One chapter in her life has closed and we turn the page to a new one. A Lt. Col. went to bat for her, but in the end, was overruled by a full bird Col. She will be getting a medical severance and we're looking at about 2 months until discharge date. Her clearance will remain active until 2015.
Now....Here's hoping she can find someone who needs an entry level gal with TS-SCI Clearance, a strong work ethic, high integrity and is genuinely loyal.
She may be disappointed but I'm sure she's gained invaluable experience and has developed much more character than her fellow recruits.
and did she get a VA disability rating for the militarys fuck ups? that in the future can be very helpful .
While the ending wasn't the best hope, at least she gave it her all. No regrets!
Best wishes for her in landing where she belongs.
The way I understand it, Mark....there is an Army disability rating and a VA disability rating. She'll know about the Army disability rating when she gets her outprocessing paperwork in a couple weeks. I guess she's supposed to then pursue the VA disability rating.
Not really sure how it all works. I think I'm about to learn.
yep you are , currently im sitting at a zero percent compensatable rating with the VA ( even after having lost 60% of my hearing while on active duty, about all my disability rating gives me is points towards government jobs if i want one and free hearing aides from the VA if i go to a VA hospital to get fitted and get them , not worth the travel time to one from where im at and i can buy better on the civilian market. might want to talk to a lawyer that specializes in military disability ratings . the local VFW should be able to help put you in contact with one .
Consider it done, Pat. She will be in my prayers.
I've had a mitral valve prolapse since I had rheumatic fever at age 7. It really isn't a big deal...
I wish you both the very best of luck!
Heck....I was doing great until I read the part about the discharge. Sorry, but all I can say is what a bunch of crap. Here's someone perfectly capable of doing their job and out the door. And especially with all the misdiagnoses. They are looking for anything to get rid of people that want to stay in. I'm sure you're correct. She has probably gained a lot more than she lost and will carry it with her in the future. Best Wishes. Still I hate stories like that.
Looking at the pretty sizable amount of her peers that have been kicked out on med discharge for some of the craziest things, lately, I really believe that they are using it for an excuse to reduce headcount.
You're right. On her FB page last night, she wrote: "I'm not going to just give up because of this. If anything, it makes me more determined".