Some background on our situation: My husband is Active Duty Air Force with 9 yrs of spotless service in. Last October he began experiencing a new onset of back/hip/neck pain that he had never previously been seen for. He was referred off base to see a Rheumatologist and got MRI's done which revealed bulging discs and inflammation which his doc wrote up as being "inflammatory arthritis, likely Rheumatoid Arthritis". She told us that she could not yet determine if it was RA and prescribed him with Methotrexate and Prednisone.
His PCM informed him that he would likely be MEB'd at some point but that for the moment he could hold off on taking his meds because we were trying to have a baby (Methotrexate causes terrible birth defects) and that the MEB would take place after a couple months when we had enough time to see if his condition could be well controlled with meds. One month later we get a phone call saying the MEB process had been started even though they GAVE HIM PERMISSION to hold off on the meds, especially since we do not yet have a definitive diagnosis of RA!
Doesn't the AFI specify that a "definitive" diagnosis is needed to proceed with an MEB? He has not missed a single day of work due to his condition, and we have no documentation of him having been treated or even seen for this prior to last October. Needless to say he has started to take his meds and having a child is out of the question since our future is so uncertain. His CC has written a glowing narrative strongly supporting him being retained as an AD member but how much weight does that really carry? He has only even met his PCM twice so we have no idea what her narrative will say and feel so lost and confused about this entire situation. Does anyone have any experience writing a personal narrative? Can we submit character letters for this first stage of the process?
Sorry my post is so long but there's just so much! Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. This site has become an invaluable resource for us....
His PCM informed him that he would likely be MEB'd at some point but that for the moment he could hold off on taking his meds because we were trying to have a baby (Methotrexate causes terrible birth defects) and that the MEB would take place after a couple months when we had enough time to see if his condition could be well controlled with meds. One month later we get a phone call saying the MEB process had been started even though they GAVE HIM PERMISSION to hold off on the meds, especially since we do not yet have a definitive diagnosis of RA!
Doesn't the AFI specify that a "definitive" diagnosis is needed to proceed with an MEB? He has not missed a single day of work due to his condition, and we have no documentation of him having been treated or even seen for this prior to last October. Needless to say he has started to take his meds and having a child is out of the question since our future is so uncertain. His CC has written a glowing narrative strongly supporting him being retained as an AD member but how much weight does that really carry? He has only even met his PCM twice so we have no idea what her narrative will say and feel so lost and confused about this entire situation. Does anyone have any experience writing a personal narrative? Can we submit character letters for this first stage of the process?
Sorry my post is so long but there's just so much! Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. This site has become an invaluable resource for us....