Two Pilots & an LSW: Medically Cirrusly

I'm sitting here Tuesday afternoon after having had 3 small samples, sniffs, splash, dash, I think "dash" is the appropriate term, of bourbon in a tiny little bourbon glass. I thought I'd just need one, but I ended up needing three. And I don't really care. It wasn't enough to do anything but steady the ole nerves. ;)

I woke up this morning to an email from our HoldShort system telling me that my medical was expired as of today, just in case I woke up and had actually forgotten about it for a few seconds. That actually made me laugh, because I have a weird sense of humor. Then I went online to look up my medical status, which you can do, and it actually said it was in the "Final Review", which meant next up was a decision, either yes, you're good to go, or no, you're denied, or no, you're still deferred while we gather more information from you or send it on to Washington DC.

In the meantime, I scheduled several flights in April, putting Morgan with me, on the assumption I wouldn't be able to do it alone.

After lunch I got a call from the PA Doc office, which will make your heart jump, especially when she sounds hesitant and nervous. But she was just letting me know that Dr. L had (finally) called the FAA to talk to them about my case, and was waiting on a phone call back from them, that it could be up to a week, and no promises, yadda yadda, but he WAS calling them on my behalf.

I'm sitting there actually feeling a little less good than I did before she called for some reason, I guess because she went over the negative possibilities too, and then ten minutes later my phone rings again, and it's the PA doc office again. I'm like....what?? So I just answered "Hello" instead of my usual, and it was Dr L himself. He started off sounding angry and frustrated and said what I'd heard about the FAA moving faster on cases right now was totally wrong, and my heart sinks into my stomach. Then he says that this only happened because he called the FAA doc he knows in person, and reamed him a new one, and yelled at him, told him there are people who you should be worried about and SHE is not one of them, he's looked me in the eye and knows that I am not a problem, and I do this for a living, and my future depends on it, and the FAA really needs to turn this one around Right Now and give me my 2nd Class back asap. He said the FAA guy asked if he was done yet, and when he said yes, told him to relax, it was already done. It's been approved. My medical will be emailed to Dr. L's office sometime between today and Friday, and he will forward it on to me, and once I have it in hand, I can operate off of it until the paper one comes in the mail. FAA will also be providing a warning letter with it telling me not to consume too much acetaminophen in the future. Well, no shit, Sherlock, but if that letter is the only thing that comes from the FAA regarding my medical, I will take it.

I'm having trouble processing a little bit. I've been worried about this in the background of my mind since I went INTO the hospital last April. I knew this was going to be a problem and I knew that it could be a show stopping problem. I considered not telling the FAA about it at all. But if you do that and they find out anyway, you're done. You lose all your certificates, ratings, medical, for lying. And they could find it 20 years down the road, (I know people this has happened to) so it would always be hanging over you. And since I was in the hospital for an entire week, and all those records are digital and online, it didn't seem like something I could intelligently or reasonably sneak. I had a terrible time trying to decide what to do with this for awhile, because *I* knew there was nothing wrong with me, but I also knew it looked bad; but finally I decided to go to a medical specialist, open up almost all the cans of worms, seek help, cross my fingers, send up prayers, and go for it.

Right out of the gate, the nurse asked the doc if they needed to send a notice to FAA and have me immediately grounded for cause. I didn't think they'd do that if you were there for their help, but in retrospect it makes sense. If you are a hazard to yourself or others, and you tell them about it, they would HAVE to inform the FAA for everyone's safety. If I'd known that ahead of time I don't know if I would have dared to go that path or not, but I think I would have. Fortunately he said no, she is not a hazard to anyone, she has a valid 2nd class medical while we work on this. Thank God.

I started this process with them in early December, so I would have almost 4 months before my medical expired to get all these ducks in a row. I got them all the information they requested, in December. I got them letters from my dentist and my PCP that were great. I went and got other test results done on cardio stuff because I'd had an irregular EKG in the hospital. I did everything they asked for, and then had an appointment the end of March where I hoped to walk out with my medical.

Instead, I got there and they acted as though the conversations we'd had with them never happened, and now I had to meet with a HIMS Shrink and do a consultation. I set that up, and he ghosted me the first day. Set it up for another day, and this time we talked. He told me he would be signing me off. A week later the office got the report that I was mentally sound and not suicidal at all.

The last four months of waiting, this last month in particular of just waiting for the FAA to decide my entire fate and future has been...traumatizing. I don't think that's too exaggerated of a word. I am a hell of a compartmentalizer, always have been. But this one was tough. You keep going, you put one foot in front of the other, and as things come in for the month of April, and May, and June, and you put them on the schedule, and you don't even know if you'll be able to do them, how you're going to pivot and bring in income, what's going to happen. It is not...comforting. I have been buried in aviation since I was 19 years old. It is my job, it is my hobby, it is my passion, it is my volunteerism, it is my therapy. I cannot begin to tell you how...tilting...it is to face not having that ability at just 54. You know it's coming some day, but. Not yet. So having it done, and in the clear, and the medical almost back in my grubby little hands, it's hard to process and relax today. A year of quiet but deep stress doesn't disappear in an hour, even after 3 dashes of bourbon. ;)

Steve and I are going to go out to Pastarrific tonight and have a big old drink and dessert to celebrate. :)

After I wrote that, I got up to go to the bathroom, and saw something on the floor in between our kitchen and living room. It looked like a little brown rope. And then I saw that it was a baby snake. Maybe 6" long, maybe a little longer. I said out loud (pardon me) "What the FUCK??" and then I pointed at it and turned to Steve and said "Is this a joke?" and he jumped up and looked and said "NO" and then I saw a SECOND one about 3' to the left of it in the same spot and I said it again. I stared at them for awhile, and then one of them moved. We had two live baby snakes in our kitchen. I have NO idea where they came from, how they got there. They were light brown and very small heads. Steve was like "what do we do with these things" and I said...well, they aren't going to hurt us right, they're not poisonous? I picked up snakes when I was a kid, maybe I can just pick it up and take it outside. So that's what we did. We both got a paper towel and each picked up a Nope Rope and carried them outside to the grass and tossed them into the grass and let them go. That's the weirdest damn thing I've found in my house. Why did they both end up in between the kitchen floor and the living room carpet in a line staring at me?? What the bloody blue blazes was that?! We walked through the kitchen looking for any others and haven't found them, but I might not walk around in the dark barefoot for a few days.

Monday was a work day. I drove to Indy Exec, and on the way had two birds I was pretty sure I hit, and two more that divebombed my car. I don't know what was going on, but it was "launch at Laura in her car" day for birds. I get to Exec, and the Cirrus is out and ready for me. I'm getting faster at getting it going, and I've taken off and landed at Delphi by 8:30. The guys get there at 8:45, and we head to Hendersonville, Kentucky, where it is windy as heck and 70 degree crosswinds. Land, drop off Tell, and then I take Clay on out to Malden, MO again. Where it's 30 knot winds, blowing dust everywhere. Clay goes and does his thing, I self-serve fuel the Cirrus, and go inside and wait on him, do some work. He gets done late, brings me a Subway Sammich to eat in the airplane (yikes. I told him NO MESSES in there), and we stop in KY to pick up Tell. Again, huge crosswind. The airplane yells "CROSSWIND" at you at this point, and every time I say "no shit". It was a big one. I drop them both off at Delphi, more 25 knot crosswinds, and then go back to Exec, more 25 knot crosswinds. I had six major crosswind landings 25-30 knots in one day. The airplane now feels pretty familiar and good to me. lol I did run out of aileron a couple of times, so I think I've found the limits of the plane.

I go to get back in my car, and there is a dead bird stuck in the grill. I really did hit one. I thought I did. I tried to pull it out and the wing came off in my fingers. Urp. I drop that and can't bring myself to touch the body/head, so I use my foot to try to push it out. Yuck. It finally plops to the ground, I say "I'm sorry!" while I look for grill damage (don't see any), and leave. Gross.

Kaylee's car was finally approved for all the repairs from when a truck smashed into the back of her brand new car. So that's good news, and will hopefully be on its way to full repair soon. In the meantime she's driving this hybrid car, which is a good thing for fuel costs driving back and forth to Indy all the time. I think she likes it, actually, even though she misses her own car.

Oh, and I went in after lunch today and updated my car registration. Since I bought it, I got an email that said I need to go in and give them my driver's license and they'd be able to pull up my info and I need to re-register. I didn't have a good feeling about this. Who likes going to the BMV and since when does it go well, especially if you don't have any paperwork to give them? Well, it's been going well for awhile but it was SO BAD for so long, who trusts it?? I walked in, took #212. Aimed for the plastic seats in the waiting area and was called "Number 212". I went over, gave them my driver's license, explained what I needed, he looked up my car, changed the registration to me, I asked if I could get blackout plates, he said sure, I paid $45 for that, and I was out the door in like 5 minutes flat with zero hassles. I gave them a little green smiley face on the survey for a job well done. Ran through the car wash, and even that has been improved and actually gets the front and back of my car clean now too.

Today was a winning day, all around. Winning, I say.

(Just got back. I started with Turtle Cheesecake, and alcoholic iced mocha coffee, then had a couple pieces of thin pizza. Celebration, complete. ;) )