Montblack wrote:
("Mortimer Schnerd, RN" wrote)
Right up to the heart cath, all of the results were false positives. And
of course, I never had any symptoms. As a result, I have zero confidence
that the FAA will do the right thing in any particular instance.


http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2315693&page=1
Talk about false positives. This was weird. I caught about half of it one
night.


Good God... what a nightmare. I thought I had it bad.

Mine started with a mandatory modem EKG hookup to Oklahoma City while my AME ran
a strip on me while renewing my 1st class medical after turning 35. The FAA
docs said they saw something that would require me to get a stress test in order
to investigate it further. I had no money... I was flying cargo and was paid
about $13,000 a year at the time. I kind of ignored it until I got a letter in
the mail telling me they wouldn't be renewing my medical until I got the test
done... something that would cost me roughly two months salary.

At almost the same instant, we got called into a pilot's meeting at work and
were told the bank had taken our aircraft. Thanks... see ya later.

I signed up for nursing school instead of looking any further for flying jobs.
I had an EKG as part of the mandatory physical before being admitted into school
and it was normal. I sent a copy of it along with the conclusions to the FAA
but they didn't care. It was the stress test or nothing for me.

Fast forward 14 years and I'm being worked up for some abdominal surgery. The
anesthesiologist asks how long has it been since I'd had an EKG? "Quite a
while", I replied. So he ordered one and it said I'd probably had a septal wall
MI at some point in the past. "How odd", I thought, "you'd think I'd remember
having a heart attack". They sent me across the street for my long awaited
stress test (this time paid for by insurance). It said the same thing. They
sent me for a heart cath with possible stent placement.

At the end of the cath, the cardiologist bumps me and tells me my arteries are
completely clear... all the other stuff was apparently false positives. Damn.
I did find one new tidbit of information: I'm allergic to Betadine. I must
have scratched my fire engine red balls for a week.

One more bit of surgery (a new hip) and I was ready to face the world again. I
applied for a third class medical and got it on the spot (I arrived with a ton
of documentation). The FAA hasn't seen any reason to question my AME's finding
either... how about that! But I don't trust the *******s any more.

The good news: I make about four times as much money now and only work two days
a week. I'd still be scraping if I'd stayed in aviation the whole time. But
that still doesn't take the bad taste out of my mouth.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com