Unexpected Medical Issues May Provide Some Teachable Moments

Comments/News/Commentary by ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell

I/We had high hopes for 2018… and while we got through it all (so far), and some significant progress is being made, the year has presented a number of obstacles, personal and professional, that have to be dealt with in order to make sure we get to 2019.

The latest is a personal one… but since it presents some potential for solid lessons for those of you in the aviation world, and especially for those of you who may find yourself in the same unfortunate predicament, I’m making a break with my preference for privacy in order to document a process that many of you may have to deal with, yourselves, at some point in the future.

As noted, 2018 kinda sucked… and not long after the death of my Dad, when issues unrelated to family finally started getting my attention once again, I noted that my current eyeglass/vision situation was starting to deteriorate and the month before Oshkosh, I sought to purchase a new pair of glasses—which started an interesting misadventure in itself… a local eyeglass chain dropped the ball miserably, misdiagnosed my visual issues, and wasted nearly two months of my time and several unsuccessful attempts to produce new glasses with inaccurate, and somewhat unsafe, instructions about what to do.

Eventually; we finally got the attention and testing that should have been done all along, and a worrisome fact emerged… there was a serious difference between my left and right eye… and my right eye was in big trouble.

I’m a few months short of 62 years old (unbelievable, No?) … having survived a number of misadventures in direct defiance of a few critics who thought I’d have killed myself off long ago (and a few who wished an early demise upon me, throughout)… so visual issues should not be a surprise.

In my case, though, the left eye was still in good shape, while the right was significantly impaired – reportedly not the usual situation in regards to the kind of degeneration that occurs with age—which tends to be a bit more symmetrical. However; a stupid and avoidable trip and fall the year before appears to be the culprit in what has been termed a ‘traumatic cataract.’

The initial news was highly unwelcome… caused no end of worry, and was likely to be a problematic issue at a time when we were hunkering down to try and significantly grow ANN and some affiliated programs to finally put a few not-so-good years behind us once and for all.

Unaware of the current protocols in force with the FAA on such matters, I feared the worst… severe restrictions, expensive tests and the potential for an extended grounding. I’ll admit that where the FAA and Medical issues are concerned, that my initial inclination is to expect the worst.

But those less than positive expectations appear to be far more negative than the potential more positive reality I seem to be encountering.

I reached out early on to AOPA’s Gray Crump… who runs one of few aspects of AOPA that continues to have my unrestricted support and recommendation. Their medical support team, under Gary’s guidance, has proven to be exceptionally helpful… even to folks who aren’t necessarily members. I have reached out to them in the past for info pertaining to stories here and there. And for the first time in decades, I called to seek info on a matter that had a direct bearing on my own life and flying privileges.

While we’re still VERY early on in this process; there is some good news to report. The first is that the FAA has kept abreast on cataract medical issues and as a result, current protocols are not only reasonable, but APPEAR to be less than difficult to comply with. And while I’m grounding myself (for much of my solo flying missions requiring full use of my depth perception or night vision) for my own reasons right now; so long as my glasses continue to do the job, I do have the right to pursue airman privileges within specific and surprisingly reasonable guidelines.

So… I have a meeting with a surgeon later today to figure out the surgical options that lie before me, and the eventual processes needed to assure the FAA of my suitability once I’ve healed up—which also appears to be a reasonable process.

But… as the pilot population ages, this is a medical issue that reportedly comes up with great frequency, and as I work my way through the process, I’ll let you know what happens, what I learn, and the suggestions I might find to make the process less arduous.

Yeah… I’m not  thrilled with all this… we did not need the downtime, the potential restrictions on my activities, the expense, or the worry… but the opportunity to provide teachable moments and potentially make it easier for others to follow this path, seems too good an opportunity to pass up. I’ll keep you informed.

More info to follow….

FMI: Jim Campbell, ANN, jim@aero-news.net