I am getting off active duty and switching to the Guard, but I need surgery. What is my best bet?

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 06 Oct 2019 09:10:54 -0400

I have a tear in labrum that will need reconstruction and it’s a 6 month recovery period. I only have 35 days left on Active duty so getting it done now isn’t an option; I want to know if I’ll be able to go through the VA, my NG unit, or what.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 6 at 2019 9:39 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 06 Oct 2019 09:39:48 -0400

I wonder how many folks regret waiting until they separate from service to let the VA or Reserve or Guard take care of their surgery.
If the surgery is needed, now is the time to get it.
I'm certain there are Career Counselors on here that can provide the answer with regard to whether you can extend for a period, or not.
If that is an option, that's likely your best course of action.
If you don't have it done before you separate, do yourself a huge favor and get a line of duty, buddy statements on how the injury occurred, and multiple more visits to your PC doctor and a specialist to thoroughly document that this condition is service connected.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Oct 6 at 2019 9:45 AM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Sun, 06 Oct 2019 09:45:06 -0400

Get it done now. Extend if necessary. Do not "turn it into someone else's problem" (VA/NG/whoever). You will regret it. Documentation is "subjective" and therefore never done to the receiving side's satisfaction.
So, talk to medical and find out if "getting it done now REALLY isn't an option" or what will make it an option. If you are planning on switching to NG anyways, why not just extend to get this fixed, then switch?

Response by CSM Charles Hayden made Oct 6 at 2019 10:53 AM

CSM Charles Hayden — Sun, 06 Oct 2019 10:53:17 -0400

I was held over for 20 days past ETS date ‘convinence of the government’ for recovery from my shoulder surgery in 1956. SPC Private RallyPoint Member

Response by CSM Charles Hayden made Oct 6 at 2019 10:53 AM

CSM Charles Hayden — Sun, 06 Oct 2019 10:53:56 -0400

Get it done NOW!

Response by Maj Robert Thornton made Oct 6 at 2019 1:21 PM

Maj Robert Thornton — Sun, 06 Oct 2019 13:21:33 -0400

Get it done now, even if you have to extend. You will still get paid while recovering and you will get all the PT you will need.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 6 at 2019 1:39 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 06 Oct 2019 13:39:41 -0400

Absolutely DO NOT wait till you separate. Walk into your Career Counselor office and extend for a year, get the surgery and recover. Or get the surgery and if you don't recover, separate through a med board.
I can't tell you how many times I've seen young Soldiers just assume they'll be good separating and needing surgery. Best case scenario is it takes you months to inprocess and be seen at the VA, and several more months to recover completely. All that time you will not be gainfully employed and not in school.
Worst case scenario is that it takes you months to get a surgery, you live hours away from the VA and miss several appointments because they have the wrong contact number. They make you go through months of physical therapy first. The PT turns out to be ineffective while your injury continues to worsen. Then the surgery doesn't fix everything the first time and needs multiple surgeries. A year later you're fighting for a disability rating from the VA because you've lost mobility but they say it's not service connected. All the while you will have no gainful employment and the surgery, PT, and pain will have been too disruptive for you to maintain a full college load, meaning you are not getting full BAH and your grades drop causing you to have to repay the TA and BAH for some of your courses before being allowed to use your GI Bill again.
Not that ALL of those bad things will happen all at once, but any of them are possible and very common. Extend and get your surgery done on Active Duty. You can recontract into the NG later and whatever job you may have lined up right now is not going to keep you employed when you're too broke to work. Civilian employment is not the Army, they don't have to give you time off when you're hurt, they'll just fire you. You can use your extra year of Army time to start some college courses.

Response by PO1 John Meyer, CPC made Oct 6 at 2019 2:07 PM

PO1 John Meyer, CPC — Sun, 06 Oct 2019 14:07:29 -0400

I wouldn't wait. I had a friend whose discharge date was pushed off so she could recover after having back surgery.

I work in orthopedics in a private practice and let me tell you that it's best to get it done while you're still active duty. Why? There's no guarantee that the VA will take care of you. It must be documented in your medical record that your tear was directly related to your active duty service.

For example, if your tear was say due to a training accident, then the VA would most likely help you since it’s directly related to your time in the Army. If your tear was because you were playing football, then the VA won’t touch you because it wasn’t directly related to your time in the Army.

Believe me when I tell you this. I’ve seen enough of our brothers and sisters that have gone through this in the private orthopedic practice I currently work at. They separate from the military and assume that because they were injured while on active duty, that the VA will care of them, only to find out that isn’t going to happen because their injury was not directly related to their military service.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Oct 6 at 2019 2:35 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sun, 06 Oct 2019 14:35:53 -0400

Do you have a permanent profile?

Response by Charity Kuhns made Oct 6 at 2019 11:24 PM

Charity Kuhns — Sun, 06 Oct 2019 23:24:52 -0400

Get it while active duty so you can prove it was brought on in service so you can at least get some money to support yourself on

Response by PV2 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 7 at 2019 10:15 AM

PV2 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 10:15:39 -0400

A veteran who has VA loan entitlement wouldn't be extending this benefit to anyone else, but he or she could look to have the new spouse as a co-borrower on a new VA loan. You can talk to a specialist {financial Agent} more detail below

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Response by Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth made Oct 7 at 2019 5:56 PM

Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 17:56:49 -0400

I agree with commets below..get it done now and in your AD records. If you need it they have to do it...they are just telling you that to kick the can down the road. Go to the Doctors office everyday if youhave to and bug the $#!+ out of them until they relent. This is an active duty problem and the guard won't give a darn if yourknee is jacked up or not...it will be up to you at that point. You need it in your records for VA down the road. Similar thing happened to my brother...he was on terminal leave when he had his surgery and thank goodness he got it fixed on AD.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 8 at 2019 4:03 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 16:03:17 -0400

What do you mean it isn't an option because you only have 35 days? Get that scheduled for next week. you will regret it if you don't. The Reserve component (NG or Reserve) will not take care of any issues that happened while on Active Duty. Once you get off Active Duty, your insurance will change as well. Do not trust the VA (I speak from experience) to do your surgery! (just my experience though) DO IT NOW. You will need your LOD signed by our commander and uploaded into your electronic medical file (not iPERMS). if you do not have an LOD, you can forget it. You should have an exit physical, you need to extend to have that surgery. I promise you will regret it..

Response by Maj Irma Groot made Oct 9 at 2019 10:59 PM

Maj Irma Groot — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 22:59:10 -0400

Make sure it is well documented. Get the physical copies of your medical record and copies of labs, radiology, other reports. Then have VA or TRICARE verify it and outsource you for the surgery.

Same goes for DENTAL that you need.

Response by PV2 Bob Ondown made Oct 9 at 2019 11:39 PM

PV2 Bob Ondown — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 23:39:52 -0400

Get er done on the army's dime.
While your at it, if anything else bothers you, get it checked out and keep documentation on it.
If you got roids, chronic rhinitis, bum knees, ankles, back neck aches etc... get it checked out. You will thank me later in about 30 years if I'm still around.

Response by AB Bobby Crook made Aug 24 at 2021 2:08 PM

AB Bobby Crook — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 14:08:08 -0400

Get it done, extend active duty if that’s an option. It’s gonna be your best option.