Doc is leaning towards medical discharge

[RiloKiley]

First post.

Hello,
   I am a 6 year EM(SS). Recently I have been diagnosed with a neuralgia (chronic pain) due to nerve damage likely caused by a "routine" surgery i had in the Navy. The medication, neurontin, is Nuke DQ'ing and the doc up here in Saratoga is leaning towards a medical discharge. Nothing is for certain yet, but Doc is fairly sure my time in the Navy is coming to a close.
  I welcome any advice from any of you fine folks on who, what, when, and where I should start on any of the following topics (I understand this is pretty broad so don't bother with trying to answer everything unless you have free time and are feeling generous) Thank you in advance.

1. How soon should i start hunting answers from the DAV and VA and what kind of things should from my medical record will i need to make progress that front?

2. I do not own a home, I have rented the entire time in the Navy. Now, obviously the house will follow the job, but is there any advice on how to plan/coordinate this out to minimize the fiasco? (i.e.: how early out far in advance am I likely to secure a position)

3. I am not necessarily married to nuclear power but i have been "trained" to believe thats where the best salaries/conditions lie for my experience. I joined the Navy when i was 17 so I have effectively no experience with job hunting. (before i went to Great Lakes, I was a cart pusher at Walmart/clerk at a video store... i may regret telling you guys that )

In conclusion, I am scared of how insecure my future recently became, but also very excited.

Thanks again in advance for any replies.

[MMM]

I'll start off by saying, I'm not going to be able to help much, but I'll do what I can. First, Doc doesn't make the call about a medical discharge, he just makes a recommendation, so it might take a while for the actual discharge to happen because of that, it might be tough to plan out a job.

1) Go to Fleet and Family and get the contact info for Paul Stote (I have it somewhere, but I can't find it right now), he's the local VA rep up there and can probably give you a lot of help to make sure your medical record is squared away for your VA claim.

2) I'd start looking for a job now, just be clear with potential employers that you don't know when you'll be available yet. You might want to look at a recruiting agency. I had pretty good luck with Orion and Bradley Morris. They work with nuke plants and non-nuclear companies and can help get your resume set up and some interviews. Another option would be to take advantage of the GI Bill/Navy College Fund and earn you degree (I assume you haven't yet, since you're a sub guy).

3) Yup, nuclear tends to pay big, but you earn it. The medication you're on might DQ you from commercial nuclear as well, others with more experience than I can chime in on that.

[HeavyD]

If things haven't changed much in the last 3 years, when the official message comes back from BUPERS, it will contain something to this effect.... "Discharge member within 10 business days of receipt of this message."

Does that absolutely suck?  Yes it does.  Can you change that?  My gut says no, so be ready for that sudden kick in the midsection.

As for commercial nuclear "paying big", that is subjective.

Operators tend toward very good salaries (think high 80s to over 100k, IF you are a  licensed operator.  That comes after about 18 months of training).

Maintenance you're looking somewhere in the 40-60k range, same thing for QA type inspectors.

Start researching now; don't wait on medical to run through its gauntlet.

Best of luck to ya and thank you for your service!

[RDTroja]

If things haven't changed much in the last 3 years, when the official message comes back from BUPERS, it will contain something to this effect.... "Discharge member within 10 business days of receipt of this message."

Does that absolutely suck?  Yes it does.  Can you change that?  My gut says no, so be ready for that sudden kick in the midsection.

As for commercial nuclear "paying big", that is subjective.

Operators tend toward very good salaries (think high 80s to over 100k, IF you are a  licensed operator.  That comes after about 18 months of training).

Maintenance you're looking somewhere in the 40-60k range, same thing for QA type inspectors.

Start researching now; don't wait on medical to run through its gauntlet.

Best of luck to ya and thank you for your service!

I don't know where you work, but those numbers are very low compared what I have seen.

[HeavyD]

I don't know where you work, but those numbers are very low compared what I have seen.

I know

My utility tends towards the low end; figured that would give him a baselevel to start with.

Wish it wasn't that way here, but it is what it is.

[MMM]

I assume you didn't account for this magical thing called "overtime" that NLOs get. At my plant they also get huge bonuses for getting their RO license.

[hamsamich]

Man all the plants I was at Maintenance and QA made the same as non lic. operators, or more. 

[HeavyD]

I am also speaking from new construction.

Our QA auditors are in the 70 range, with the highest somewhere around 87k.

Our QC guys (with no quals) are in the 50-60k range.

What will be our Licensed Ops guys are making around 87k while in class, not sure about NLOs.

Maintenance techs are in the 50-60k range.

As of right now, overtime doesn't exist for any of us.  Also, no licensed operators so no big bonuses (yet).

All these are based off not actually performing the jobs most of them were hired for yet, due to being in construction still.

Supervisors are somewhere in the 100k and up range, depending on experience and the position.

Hope that provides some clarity to the original muddy pic I painted around midnight in my previous post 

[RiloKiley]

Thanks for the responses, people.

Quick update:

I had another appointment today which effectively confirmed that it's a neurological issue and will not be a navy nuke. So I've got a few more questions maybe a few of y'all could shed some light on:

1. I've always felt that if I'm not a nuke I don't want to be in the navy. I have ~3 years left on contract and am on shore duty. What are the ins and out of force rate conversion? Can I opt out for a discharge? If so will I have to pay my bonus back?

2. The civilian doc I saw today says that my problem may be due to a "botched" spinal tap I had a while back and will likely cause chronic pain for the rest of my life. What's an approximate VA percentage that may yield? (Doc says med retirement is also possible)

I know these questions are kind of specific so I'll understand vague responses.

Thanks in advance.