Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK, vision)

[Guest bullseyekp]

AN ANSWER TO END THIS THREAD

I am almost 5 weeks post-op and I am getting my ducks in a row to make a waiver application for PRK. I just talked to my helpful contact at Brooks regarding the issue discussed above. You MAY apply for the waiver/FC1 as early as 3 months post-op but must have the cyclopentolate (dialted) exams at 3 months and 6 months instead of 6 months and 12 months. You will be required to have a 12-month exam as well but your waiver should be approved/declined before then. See section 5.1 of the doc pilot2B posted earlier.

I believe this is the root of the confusion - you MAY NOT actually go to Brooks for MFS/FC1 before you are 12 months post-op, even if you have the waiver approved and in-hand. She said that you cannot be one day early, period.

If you would like the name/number of the contact at Brooks, send me a PM and I will give it to you. She should be able to straignten out your recruiter or anyone else giving you trouble.

[ 07. April 2005, 14:47: Message edited by: bullseyekp ]

[Guest utsandman28]

Okay here is the TRUTH - i just received my waiver for PRK, and although I am ROTC, from everything I understand it should work the same. The 3-month waiver is in regards to APPLYING for things like UPT, OTS, FT, whatever, meaning you can apply to these things as soon as 3 months post-op, however you won't be able to get the FC1/FC3 waiver until it has been a FULL 12 months post-op. Basically, the 3-month waiver is giving you a "conditional waiver," and if you're good to go at 12 months post-op, then you can get the real official waiver which DOES require 12 full months.

[Guest Eric1516]

Does anyone know the age requirements for PRK? I heard you had to be 21 before you get the surgery and the Air Force accepts it. I am currently 20 and wont turn 21 for several months but would like to get the surgery before then. If anyone has the info I would appreciate it.

highflyin

crew chief F-16

[aspec]

There is no age requirement as far as I know. Last I heard it was recommended that you don't get PRK until you are at least 21 due to the fact your eyes might still be "growing", but no minimum age before the Air Force will accept it.

Maybe if you're trying to get it done through the Air Force you have to be 21?

But Rage probably knows much better than I. They might have changed it recently...

[ 17. October 2005, 17:22: Message edited by: Eluzion ]

[Guest doctidy]

21 is the age for the Warfighter PRK program

There is no age for FC-1/1A. Just...gotta have had it done 6 months prior.

[Guest gixer]

I'm finishing up my last year in ROTC and had PRK done after receiving my pilot slot. My eyes were borderline at the time (20/100) and my officers told me that if I didn't get my eyes fixed I would probably lose my slot after going to Brooks. Now that I'm 7 months post PRK (with 20/10 both eyes!) they are telling me that I am at risk of losing my slot since you're supposedly not allowed to get PRK after being picked up for UPT. I should come off MRS status in April and that gives me until late July/early August before I commission. My intention is to get down to Brooks asap in April for the FC1, which gives them several months to finish the paperwork before I commission. Do you guys foresee a potential problem with my situation? Is getting PRK after receiving a pilot slot an automatic DQ or, as in my case, is it permissible assuming you have enough time before comissioning to jump through the necessary hoops?

[ 26. October 2005, 10:58: Message edited by: gixer ]

[Guest mkuzmukerau]

I got my PRK done right after getting back from field training, and have allready done the 5 day torture test at Brooks that will make your PRK eyes want to fall out. (Non-PRK'ers dont worry, its the extra tests for PRK people that are bad). Anyway, everything that I have heard said that getting PRK done after UPT selection will disenroll you as you do not have enough recovery time (must be 1 year before brooks will even look at you), and that only a percentage of the UPT slots handed out each year are awarded to PRKers.. I would get in touch with your det staff ASAP....

[Guest ET]

F-15-

Make sure to clearly have it documented that you are within waiverable limits. When I went to Brooks they told me that is the #1 reason for disqualification on the PRK waiver. You must be within the waiverable limits prior to surgery with no exceptions. As for telling the Doc that is doing your eyes... I would be completely up front with them about everything. It shouldn't matter for the waiver and you want the doc to know as much as possible to give you the best result, but be sure that he doesn't have anything in his paperwork which contradicts your documentation of being within the waiverable limits.

Gixer-

Maybe you could call someone at Brooks, it sounds like you will have well over the year post-op, I don't know why they would DQ you if they specifically looked at your situation.

[Guest F-15-Eagle]

Thanks for the info, guys. I guess I should get my eyes better before next year. Also, if I was pilot DQ'd in the DODDMERB (I don't know the correct acronymn), am I permanently DQ'd? Thanks.

[Guest Sammy]

Originally posted by F-15-Eagle:

Thanks for the info, guys. I guess I should get my eyes better before next year. Also, if I was pilot DQ'd in the DODDMERB (I don't know the correct acronymn), am I permanently DQ'd? Thanks.

No, all you have to do is go get another eye exam and take it to your Det NCO and they can upload the info and change your status.

[Guest mkuzmukerau]

I would check that.... Brooks is the final line when it comes to medical stuff. If they dont approve of your vision, they arent going to change there minds from recieving a letter from a civilian doctor. Everything I was told is that they make the final call. Keep in mind these are flight surgeons whos whole purpose in life is to determine if pilots, and wannabe pilots are fit to fly. So when you are sitting next to a LtCol in there who is going for a recheck on something, dont be suprised. One more thing I want to emphasize...> The Air Force must APPROVE you to get PRK. You must get Pre-PRK tested to make sure you fall within the AF's acceptable standards of being elgible for the surgery otherwise they will not accept the surgery, and your done.... No way around it.... Get in touch with Brooks ASAP.

Mike

[jazzdude]

depending on how far out your eyesight is, you might be able to get by without surgery. I was a bit out of limits (about 20/100) when I went down to Brooks, but did recieve a waiver for vision.

Waivers can be your friend, but dont count on them. Good luck!

[Guest doctidy]

First - I edited the title of the post to help future searching

1 - You are required to be "correctable" to 20/20 following PRK. Waived a G.O. yesterday who was 20/25 following PRK w/o glasses but was 20/17 w/.

2 - You should not have any complications as from Haze/Glare/ and should have

[Guest Flying_high_CFI]

How does the commissioning physical work then? I get DQ's because of PRK but i don't need the waiver approved to meet the board?

How does that work?

Thanks again,

Eric

[Guest Knight]

You will get a DQ on the FC1 because PRK is intially disqualifying but you can submit for a waiver. The Flight doc will need to write up a waiver request and submit the waiver request and FC1 to the SG office. The Doc's in the SG office will review the avalible info and make the final decision on whether or not to approve the waiver.

[Guest eppnet]

The flight DOC just signed off on my PRK waiver and the next step is AETC for final approval. My question is roughly how long? I read some horror stories and is it a sure thing the waiver will get approved at this point or could I still have a dilema? Any advice would help......

[ChkHandleDn]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, BUG THE SHIT OUT OF FLIGHT MED!! They'll tell you they're going to send it off, but if it's anything like mine it'll take them a year and a half. :mad:

If you want to find out the status of your FC1 PRK Waiver call Mr Kelly out of AETC HQ at DSN 487-3900 EXT#5. He deals with all of the AETC medical waivers. He delt with mine and was EXTREMELY HELPFUL. There's no way I would've had my FC1 done in time for this year's board if it wasn't for him. He told me everything that was missing and I in turn went back to Flt Med and told them what was missing. Don't trust your package to Flt Med alone. Call this guy, find out what you need then call Flt Med. Speaking of which, if ever make it to Randolph I owe him a few.

[ChkHandleDn]

Oh and an answer to your original question: once AETC received my "COMPLETED" package, it took about a week.

[Guest P27:17]

If the flight med clinic did the exam correctly and filled all the squares you could hear something in a couple weeks. The key is to get them to forward it as soon as possible! The good news is PRK waivers are usually no big deals. Once you get your waiver you'll be in line for your MFS. You can't go to MFS until you've been post op for at least one year. At MFS you'll get 2 days of exams and then Brooks sends the paperwork to AETC for the official waiver.

As lagger said...stay on top of the clinic...once they've sent it, give it a couple of weeks an ping Ken Kelly.

Good luck

[Guest P27:17]

All IFC 1 and 1A's have to be certified by AETC so it couldn't hurt to check...when and where did you have you physical done?

Right now (besides the AFA) about 60% of all IFC1 (not 1A,II and IIIs) exams are being done at Brooks. The advantage is you get the MFS and FAA exams and your average certification time is about 2-3 months.

The rest of the IFC1s are being done at local (short manned and over tasked) MTFs. These don't include the MFS and normally don't include the FAA. The average certification time is 6 months to a year.

Hope this gives you an idea of the time lines...

[Dukecush]

I have posted on a few other boards with questions regarding PRK, the waivers and refractive limits. However i have one other question regarding PRK, how soon after you have the procedure, can you actually apply to the OTS Boards? I understand you cannot start the waiver process until i believe 3 months after the procedure ( i have seen both 3 months and 6 months) and cannot get the waiver approved until after 12. I know you cannot attend OTS until 12 months postop, so when can you apply for OTS?

One other random question, does anyone know what the excessive refractive limits and visual accuity have to be to apply for a standard vision waiver for both pilot and nav slots? My vision is currently about -4.50 and -4.75 in each eye with little if any astigmatism (maybe -0.50) (these are not cycloplegic refraction values).

[Guest Rage_:P]

I have posted on a few other boards with questions regarding PRK, the waivers and refractive limits. However i have one other question regarding PRK, how soon after you have the procedure, can you actually apply to the OTS Boards? I understand you cannot start the waiver process until i believe 3 months after the procedure ( i have seen both 3 months and 6 months) and cannot get the waiver approved until after 12. I know you cannot attend OTS until 12 months postop, so when can you apply for OTS?

One other random question, does anyone know what the excessive refractive limits and visual accuity have to be to apply for a standard vision waiver for both pilot and nav slots? My vision is currently about -4.50 and -4.75 in each eye with little if any astigmatism (maybe -0.50) (these are not cycloplegic refraction values).

Believe you will find the refractive limits posted on the sticky at the top of the Aeromed forum. We currently waive to -5.50 However, its gonna go up.

Rage

[Dukecush]

I am just following up my previous thread. I am a civilian and have my PRK consultation set up for July 7th. I have just begun the process of applying to OTS and have my first meeting with my recruiter on July 9th. I am really hoping to have PRK this summer and apply to the board in October. However, the recruiter told me that he is under the impression that if i have PRK done, then i will not be able to apply to OTS until next year. He said he would get back to me on this. I am just wondering if i would have to wait to apply until next year, presumably when i apply for the CRS waiver, or can i apply this year? I thought i had read somewhere, either on this forum or on the Airforceots.com forum that you can apply before you have the waiver. Any help would be greatly appreciated as i would really like to get the process moving along. Also, are there any checklists available to bring to the surgeon so that i have everything documented the way the Air Force wants it for when i apply for the waiver? Thank you.

[Guest rtstolwo]

I am just following up my previous thread. I am a civilian and have my PRK consultation set up for July 7th. I have just begun the process of applying to OTS and have my first meeting with my recruiter on July 9th. I am really hoping to have PRK this summer and apply to the board in October. However, the recruiter told me that he is under the impression that if i have PRK done, then i will not be able to apply to OTS until next year. He said he would get back to me on this. I am just wondering if i would have to wait to apply until next year, presumably when i apply for the CRS waiver, or can i apply this year? I thought i had read somewhere, either on this forum or on the Airforceots.com forum that you can apply before you have the waiver. Any help would be greatly appreciated as i would really like to get the process moving along. Also, are there any checklists available to bring to the surgeon so that i have everything documented the way the Air Force wants it for when i apply for the waiver? Thank you.

I had PRK in January and my OTS application is submitted and awaiting the July 10 board. Your recruiter (like most I have talked to or heard of) is mistaken on the time frame. The Waiver criteria says that the official waiver will not be granted until a minimum of 1 year post op (that is what confuses them), but you can get your commisioning physical as early as 3 months after. If they try to tell you otherwise even after you politely inform them of this (like mine did), you should print out the policy letter and give it to them. If they continue to not want to help (like mine did), you need to take the policy letter to his/her superior. Keep things civil but the main thing that I discovered during my application process is that sometimes you have to do whatever you have to to motivate these guys to help you out.

Good Luck

P.S. I will find the policy letter with the 3 month rule on it and post it here later, right now I have no time. I am pretty sure I have posted it on here before so do a search for it.

EDIT: Duke, I just did a search and, low and behold, I found the policy letter with the 3 month rule in a link that YOU cited before, and not only that but it is in a thread pinned at the top of the forum. Come on man. https://www.flyingsquadron.com/forums/index...=7897&st=40

I'm just giving you a hard time, but seriously, search search search. Oh, and good luck.

Edited June 28, 2007 by rtstolwo

[Dukecush]

.

EDIT: Duke, I just did a search and, low and behold, I found the policy letter with the 3 month rule in a link that YOU cited before, and not only that but it is in a thread pinned at the top of the forum. Come on man. https://www.flyingsquadron.com/forums/index...=7897&st=40

Hey rtstolwo,

I know i had cited the current crs policy in the sticky thread but i don't see anything about the 3 month policy that you speak of. I know i had read some where a while back that you could begin the waiver process between 3 and 6 months if you vision had stabilized with less thana 0.50 shift in diopters between checks or something to that affect. I understand this time frame is to begin the actual waiver process, though i have no idea where it shows up in any of the AF CRS policies or memos. Do you know if you have to wait for the 3 to 6 months post op until you actually apply to OTS, or can you apply before that? I only ask because i probably won't be able to get the time off of work i need until august but the next board is in october... so would i be able to apply to this board of have to wait until the rated 0803 board, which i believe is next May? Also, you mentioned you had PRK done this past winter... what type of documentation, policies or checklists did you give to your surgeon when you had the PRK performed? Even though i am a civilian, i was wondering if it was possible to get the official checklist that the AF wants filled out for the preop and postop evaluations? Thank you. If you don't mind me asking, how much did your surgery end up costing (i know it varies and i am expecting it to cost atleast $4000 or so)?

One last thing, since no one really specifies... the crs waiver states 12 months post op until you can start UPT (i believe for active duty who are applying for waiver)... so for a civilian applying to OTS, is it 12 months until you can begin UPT or 12 months until any training including OTS? THanks.

Edited June 29, 2007 by Dukecush