Hello,
First of all, I am sorry if I am posting this in the wrong place. I am still very new to the Navy and I am not sure about all of the terminology and acronyms, to be quite honest! I am just a newbie E-3.
For a little background on me, I joined the Navy a little over 9 months ago. In boot camp, I had severe groin pain the entire time I was there. It was misdiagnosed as a groin strain and I was told to use ice and ibuprofen and to suck it up so I could graduate. I did this, because I always wanted to be a Sailor, since I was a very young child.
After I graduated A-School, when I got out the pains persisted, so I went back to the doctor. When I was getting orders to go to a ship, I finally said my groin hurts to bad, I don't think I can do this. So they did more X-rays and MRI. Finally they said that I have a bilateral hip impingement and a severe labral tear of the right hip.The doctor seems to think that my FAI was congenital, and he asked if anyone ever told me I had a hip impingement. I told him NO, and that is the truth. In fact, I used to run and swim before boot camp, and I never once had an issue with hip or groin pain in the past, or had any symptoms that I know of. I was scheduled for surgery and assigned LIMDU orders working out of rate.
Fast-forward to now, I have had surgery on my right hip. I am currently going to physical therapy and I have to be on a PCM machine 6 hours a day for continuous motion, physical therapy, avoid blood clot, etc.
Now here is where it gets tricky. My first limdu expires in 2 months. They said my recovery can take as much as 7 months. So I guess I will be in LIMDU for awhile. My other hip does not usually hurt that much, and I would usually rate the pain between 0 to 3 on bad days. Also, I had a few instances in boot camp when I had a sharp, horribly painful pain in the front of my right shoulder. Now it is impossible for me to do pushups without a lot of pain, or do any activities overhead. It got better for awhile where I was able to do pushups for about 2 months, but now it is back to where it started in boot camp.
Here are my questions:
1) What are my chances of staying in the Navy at this point would you say? I really want to stay in. I have a degree in the civilian world but the pay and benefits were not adding up to be what they are in the military. I am married and my wife is depending on me.
2) Should I get the surgery on my left hip now since it is not bothering me too much at all? If my left hip bothers me significantly in the future, say after I get out of the Navy, will the VA cover the surgery to have it fixed?
3) If I am medically discharged, what benefits do I have to look forward to as a "veteran"? Will I get the GI Bill/ Post 9/11 GI Bill? VA health benefits? Will the fact that my doctor seems to think my hip issue was congenital effect any of these? I had no issue with either of my hips before boot camp, and boot camp destroyed them! I used to run before I joined the Navy! It was all the stupid "beatings" we did in steel toe boots that did this to me!!
4) Should I see my PCM about the shoulder issue, or should I wait it out to see if it gets better, since I want to stay in the Navy, and this can hurt my chances of staying in?
5) I really want to change LIMDU commands. When I finish this first 6 month limdu, is it at ALL possible for me to change commands and get new orders somewhere else in this area? I really don't like my job because I feel like I do nothing useful for the Navy. I joined up to serve my country. Even if I am working in a barracks somewhere serving junior sailors or something, that would be more gratifying to me than jockeying a telephone. What are my options? Nobody is telling me anything at my command.
SORRY IF THIS SEEMS LIKE A LOT. Thank you all very much for your assistance in my problems!!!
First of all, I am sorry if I am posting this in the wrong place. I am still very new to the Navy and I am not sure about all of the terminology and acronyms, to be quite honest! I am just a newbie E-3.
For a little background on me, I joined the Navy a little over 9 months ago. In boot camp, I had severe groin pain the entire time I was there. It was misdiagnosed as a groin strain and I was told to use ice and ibuprofen and to suck it up so I could graduate. I did this, because I always wanted to be a Sailor, since I was a very young child.
After I graduated A-School, when I got out the pains persisted, so I went back to the doctor. When I was getting orders to go to a ship, I finally said my groin hurts to bad, I don't think I can do this. So they did more X-rays and MRI. Finally they said that I have a bilateral hip impingement and a severe labral tear of the right hip.The doctor seems to think that my FAI was congenital, and he asked if anyone ever told me I had a hip impingement. I told him NO, and that is the truth. In fact, I used to run and swim before boot camp, and I never once had an issue with hip or groin pain in the past, or had any symptoms that I know of. I was scheduled for surgery and assigned LIMDU orders working out of rate.
Fast-forward to now, I have had surgery on my right hip. I am currently going to physical therapy and I have to be on a PCM machine 6 hours a day for continuous motion, physical therapy, avoid blood clot, etc.
Now here is where it gets tricky. My first limdu expires in 2 months. They said my recovery can take as much as 7 months. So I guess I will be in LIMDU for awhile. My other hip does not usually hurt that much, and I would usually rate the pain between 0 to 3 on bad days. Also, I had a few instances in boot camp when I had a sharp, horribly painful pain in the front of my right shoulder. Now it is impossible for me to do pushups without a lot of pain, or do any activities overhead. It got better for awhile where I was able to do pushups for about 2 months, but now it is back to where it started in boot camp.
Here are my questions:
1) What are my chances of staying in the Navy at this point would you say? I really want to stay in. I have a degree in the civilian world but the pay and benefits were not adding up to be what they are in the military. I am married and my wife is depending on me.
2) Should I get the surgery on my left hip now since it is not bothering me too much at all? If my left hip bothers me significantly in the future, say after I get out of the Navy, will the VA cover the surgery to have it fixed?
3) If I am medically discharged, what benefits do I have to look forward to as a "veteran"? Will I get the GI Bill/ Post 9/11 GI Bill? VA health benefits? Will the fact that my doctor seems to think my hip issue was congenital effect any of these? I had no issue with either of my hips before boot camp, and boot camp destroyed them! I used to run before I joined the Navy! It was all the stupid "beatings" we did in steel toe boots that did this to me!!
4) Should I see my PCM about the shoulder issue, or should I wait it out to see if it gets better, since I want to stay in the Navy, and this can hurt my chances of staying in?
5) I really want to change LIMDU commands. When I finish this first 6 month limdu, is it at ALL possible for me to change commands and get new orders somewhere else in this area? I really don't like my job because I feel like I do nothing useful for the Navy. I joined up to serve my country. Even if I am working in a barracks somewhere serving junior sailors or something, that would be more gratifying to me than jockeying a telephone. What are my options? Nobody is telling me anything at my command.
SORRY IF THIS SEEMS LIKE A LOT. Thank you all very much for your assistance in my problems!!!