I'm a 29 yr old airline pilot, I just lost my medical...

[sailvi767]

Steve, I am not sure what airline you work for or if you are represented by ALPA. If you are represented by ALPA make sure you call ALPA medical yesterday. They are the very best at getting pilots back in the cockpit and flying. No one else is even a close second. They will review your records and can suggest specific Dr's who have helped in the past with people with your problem. They will also deal with all the paperwork the FAA requires and have a very close working relationship with the FAA aeromedical department. They have put many friends back in the cockpit who thought they would never work again.

George

[N55CU]

Hi Steve, best of luck to you and very sorry to hear about the medical issue. Glad you & Alan had a great day with "Charlie U" when you got to solo it and take the air to air photo's. Filling both seats in the "7" is still a whole lot of fun!
Best to you and your new wife over the holidays!
Randy Utsey

[Thermos]

Originally Posted by jferraro17

....try Virtual Flight Surgeons...they were great in my case; I owe them my career.

Steve,

I'll second Joe's recommendations....don't give up, and call VFS as soon as you can. They've helped put my mind at ease on more than one occasion, and their advice has always been right on target when working through issues with my AME.

Best of luck!

Dave

[Sig600]

Keep your head up brother, and don't ever accept "no" as the answer. There's always a way. I can't imagine it's going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination, but not impossible.

[breister]

I was 32 when I decided to walk away from aviation as a career - but was fortunate enough to have made the choice myself. At the time I made the choice, the simple possibility that that could happen factored into my thinking - I thought I was still early enough to obtain alternate job skills, and in that I was also fortunate.

Keep the faith, but have a plan "B." We'll keep you in our prayers this holiday season.

Blue skies,

Bill Reister

[aarvig]

It would be tough to be in your shoes no question BUT as you and others have said you have many things to be thankful for. First of all, don't panic. If you love to fly as much as we all do, as much as you say you do then you will be in the air again. It may not be originally how you imagined it but you will fly again. And it doesn't matter what you are sitting in, when those wheels come off the ground (whether the wheels belong to a 747, RV-7 or RV-12) there is a magic that happens that cannot be duplicated by anything else. I for one plan on letting my medical lapse when the day comes and flying LSA. It doesn't matter what I am in, for me the magic happens the minute the wheels are off the ground.
Keep your chin up, stay in the fight, educate yourself to the MAX regarding your condition, seek out experts and get multiple opinions. Make informed decisions with information from people who know what they are talking about. Put the negative thoughts out of your head and move forward with life. Good luck my friend.

[steve91t]

Hello everyone. I wanted to thank everyone for the responses.

It took a while, but we finally got some answers. Long story short, I am scheduled for brain surgery on the 15th of March. The surgeon specializes in my condition and is known as the best in the world. The surgery is very straight forward, and has low risk. They also give me a 95% chance of a full recovery, with absolutely no problems at all. Once I'm done with the surgery, I will apply for my medical. Then there is a 1 year waiting period, just to make sure there are no problems. So, in just over a year, I should have my medical back.

But here's the really good news. I think I mentioned that I had been selected as a pilot to fly KC-135's for the Air National Guard over the summer. I would have bet money that brain surgery was disqualifying. Actually, it's even easier to get flying again with the military than the FAA. Once I'm off all my medicine and fully recovered (a few months from now), I'll have some follow up scans, doctors will sign off saying I will never have another problem, and then it's up to the Flight Surgeon in my ANG unit.

If he signs me off, I'm good to go. There is a good chance that I will be starting my pilot training this fall as planned.

I definitely had some holy **** moments in the past few months. Especially when I saw the clip of the reporter who had a stroke (or something similar) while on the air. My wife told me that was exactly how I sounded. Scary.

While I can't find a word strong enough to describe much I'm dreading brain surgery, I am very happy to know that this is a very low risk surgery, and that I have been given an very high chance of a full recovery. Can't ask for much more than that.

Anyway, hopefully by the end of this year, I'll be ripping up the skies in a T-6 learning all kinds of new things.

Then, soon after, I'll be ripping up the skies in a Harmon Rocket II

Again, thank you everyone for all the kind words. When this first happened, I was pretty numb. I didn't know what to think. But now, I can honestly say that everything is going to be alright.

Steve

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ4shANmIN8

[Sig600]

Tell them you want a keep sake video of your sponge tweaking, then post it on you tube!

[ccsmith51]

Steve, that is wonderful news. I, for one, believe that prayers and good thoughts help, and there were tons of both focused on you and your family.

Best of luck with the surgery, the good thoughts and prayers will continue in your direction.

Chris

[Ron Lee]

Excellent news.