Recommended for MEB. 4 Knee surgeries

[Jpg81]

Hello,

I was recently recommended for MEB by the unit PA. I agree that it is a good option for me as well. I have my fit for duty evaluation tommorow as a matter of fact. I tore my ACL while deployed in 2011, that injury cause a complete ACL tear, partial MCL tear and medial meniscus tear. I will lest surgeries:
Feb 2012- ACL reconstruction(alograft), medial meniscus repair
That ACL failed as well as meniscus re tore worse than original
Oct 2012- High Tibial Osteonomy and medial meniscus scope
Recovered from HTO completely but medial meniscus tore again
Jun 2013- ACL revision (using patellar tendon from same knee) and medial meniscus scope (removing large portion of it)
Deployed with waiver Jan 14. Complete ACL failure as well as medial meniscus tear and Post Lateral Corner tear while deployed.
Jun 15- Torn ACL removal and bone grafting in tunnels, HTO hardware removal.
This surgery was done to prepare for 5th surgery on same knee.
Jan 16- PENDING SURGERY: ACL revision using Achilles tendon, medial meniscus transplant and post lateral corner repair.

As you can see I have had alot of procedures done to my right knee, all this has cause bad patellar arthritis which causes extreme pain. I walk with a limp, have significant instability and doing any type of cardio/impact activities/any type of climbing etc.... very difficult. I am now having second thoughts on having the tth surgery because the doctor said that surgery will definitely be the last before needing knee replacemnt. ROM seems okay, defiantly less than my good knee, I can move it pretty far but without pain. I currently take tramadol for pain which gives me bad headaches but helps with pain. When I stop taking it I get restless with my dang legs and can't fall asleep.
I have almost 7 yrs of service and think I have tried my best, gave it 100% but am really not effective as a soldier anymore. By no means do I sham outta work or even co.plain about my knee but when I go home for the day I pay for it with the pain.
I would just like some opinions on what to do?
What to look forward to if I am found unfit for duty?
Overall recommendations?

Thanks JPG

 

[dals]

it kinda depends if your gonna go forward with that surgery or not i also had a reconstruction on my left wrist that did not work. I started MEB before i knew that but now i have to wait until im out or the MEB is over to have the surgery i need, you cant have surgery's while in the MEB process usually, anyway.

I actually overheard at the VA that there are replacement knee's that can have the pad replaced after its worn out. so it could be an option in that case, they try to not replace any joints if your young because they only last so long and could not re replace them in the past.

Important questions to find out/ ask yourself can you do your job now? deploy? PT test? sounds like no to all of them.
What Branch are you in?

the best advice i have gotten from this site is decide what your desired outcome is and go for it 100 % ( don't change your mind half way in )

If you want out, what i did is i went to see my Ortho doctor and talked to him about MEB and told him i cant do my job like this and he noted that my injuries are keeping me from doing my job. Then i went to see my PCM and told her the same thing. Im a c-130 crew chief and my hands are broken basically so i explained all the things i cant do now and that i did not want to get put into a snack bar and end up getting MEB'd anyway.

If you are found unfit eventually you will get a DOD/VA rating based on the VASRD you can looks up all conditions at www.militarydisabilitymadeeasy.com or on this site. the most important thing starting out IMO is learning if any medical issues you have that were either caused by or aggravated by military service. For example my "unfit condition" is my wrist but i also have generalized anxiety disorder, knee pain, tinnitus, hearing loss, carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, scars from my surgeries, probly a few more I'm forgetting but all of those are rate-able conditions that the VA checks to see if you quality for benefits because of them. Its a complicated system so i wont get into it but you can read all about it at that website, which i suggest you read anything that might help you.