2008.11.15 - Going home

I'm currently in Germany.  I was sent here 3 days ago because of some issues with my blood tests that could not be resolved or diagnosed in Iraq.

The diagnosis is rheumatoid arthritis.  All of the bloodwork points to that, and I've got a bunch of joint inflammation, specifically my shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers, knees, and feet.  Sounds like fun, huh?

So as far as the Army is concerned, they should keep me on active duty for treatment until I can go back to my primary job, which is flying airplanes.  If I go through the process and can't get approved to fly again, then they'll send me to a medical board where they'll either give me a new specialty or put me out of the reserves.  If they decide to put me out, then depending on what sort of disability rating they give me, I'll either get a severance or get medically retired.  In other words, I may never fly for the Army again.

As far as my civilian job, the FAA is a little more lenient.  As long as I can get this condition under control, I should be able to return to flying for the airline.  Do I really want to do that?  Well, I don't know.  Everyone who knows me knows that if I'm not flying, I'm not happy.  I left active duty because my last job had me sitting behind a desk for 16 hours a day.  I don't know if I could do that unless I found something I really enjoyed.  Who knows.

So in about an hour a group of us are headed into Kaiserslautern, the local town here near the hospital.  I took out 60 Euro (about $80) for some spending cash, so maybe I'll find some cool stuff to buy.

I'll be leaving Germany on Monday and headed to Fort Bragg.  With any luck, I'll be home on Tuesday night.

I'm pretty bummed about this whole deal.  My future is up in the air, and all of the plans that J and I had are as well.  I don't like that feeling.