Nuke School Charleston

My SR will get to put in his choice this week for his rate and I heard that a week later they find out what they got.  Does anyone remember if you got to call home from bootcamp when you finally found out your rate? I sure would like to anticipate another phone call in a few weeks. :-)

Thanks!

Deanna, I think I heard about my son's rate in a letter, I don't think they have a scheduled call to announce that news like they do with the 'I'm a sailor' call. However, my son was able to call every couple of weeks, it varies with each division I think; they get rewards for doing well, such as time off at the NEX and phone calls!

William, it's all in the timing. My son was lucky to PIR when he did, right before the schools closed at GC. That is the only time of year that it would have ever happened, that he would be allowed to go home so soon after boot camp. We were truly blessed. He finished indoc before stand down, and classed up for A school right after the holiday break.

happy monday!!  hope everyone is having a good day!!

Hi N2N, my son's PIR was on 12/17/2010, He was able to fly home with us the same day as graduation, his orders were to report to base on 12/28.  We did have to book his flight from Chicago to home and from home to S. Carolina, emailed his travel arrangements to RTC in the beginning of december, they will also be reimbursed for the fare, now that I think about it, I never got my money back from my son :(  LOL.  It actually worked out very well for S, when he did check into base there were not many people around and he had at least a week to acclumate to his new surrounding.  Good Luck to you and your SR.  if you have any other questions feel free to ask, S graduated Power School in October and just received his orders to Ballston Spa for prototype. Im so excited to have him coming back home in mid december.. 

Also, fyi, I received a call from my then SR last November telling me that he would be dressed, ready and awaiting for us to take him on Thanksgiving.  the way it works is that if you have enough time in BC, you can leave for thanksgiving day, it wasnt easy but, we packed the car and drove to Chicago.  we picked he and a buddy up at 8 am and they were able to stay with us until 9pm, It was amazing to be able to do that in the middle of his boot camp.

pmgcakes - this is very helpful!! I appreciate the insight - one last question, when did you find out you got to bring him home, its been my understanding that I may not know his orders until I get the "I am a Sailor" call?? Am I misunderstanding that.. I mean I know he reports to CHarleston but when do I find out when he has to be there?  Thats great about the Thanksgiving, I wish I could but I am about a 26 hour drive away and just cant fly up there and then fly right back.... My SR seems to be following in your S's steps, he is Charleston and then is hoping for Ballston Spa for prototype!!  Thanks again!!

thats a tough one, He can have his want, but its always at the Navy's need.  my son is a MM and  from what I hear they have alot of them.  the other two are ET and EM.  here is a good link that has alot of information about the different fields. 

.hotp://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjob1/a/nf.htm

hello all!!!

tammy-- maybe your local Red Cross can help you.  they might be able to steer you i the right direction.

Yes, Tammy, saying prayers for your son's speedy recovery. 

Kat, I'm a bit surprised at the 14 days recovery time.  My son's appendix ruptured while he was in boot camp, and his recovery time was 4-6 weeks.  He felt OK after 4 weeks, but he was in the recovery unit for the full 6 weeks.  Of course, a rupture is more serious than a non-rupture (he was in the hospital a week), and they have a lot more physical activity in boot camp, but still!  I'm guessing he will be on light duty for a while.

A silver lining:  he doesn't need to worry about appendicitis while he's on a ship or a sub!  One less thing to worry about.

Hi, Dodie.  My son started A school in late August.  He's back in his room now, but with no access to pain medication, and no way to get any.  No pain medication, no antibiotics.  

tammym one thing that is good for keeping the suture area from becoming infected is Betadine antiseptic solution. It is iodine so it stains but is excellent at killing germs. You can get it at a pharmacy, or Amazon.com sells it. Usually the Navy would not give them anything stronger than Advil for pain once they are out of the hospital.

Tammy, did they just not give him any meds?  I mean, does he need someone to get them for him?  are his friends getting him food?  See, this is the problem.  They are just on their own.  No one in medical even checks on them.  My son was having a bad allergic reaction to the pain meds all weekend, vomiting, itching, sleeplessness, couldn't keep the pain meds down so he was in a really bad way.  He finally stopped throwing up yesterday, but no one from the off base dr. office called him until this afternoon and they changed his meds, but he has to get out to get them and taking the stairs is not a good situation.  Gosh, I hope your son's friends can help him.    My son does have some friends helping him out, and a new roommate who is on t-track, but I don't know for how long.  I don't know how he's getting to all of his therapy appointments eventually.  Of course it's his right ankle.

Michimom - I don't know, my son just said that is what the one guy told him, that he got 14 days off after the appendix came out.  My son saw the dr. on base before his surgery last week and he said he is writing him out for 30 days for his ankle situation.  I guess after that they will assign him to a sit down job for grad hold, but he'll have to get out to therapy for a while a couple of times a week.

Kat, what a horrible situation for your son!  No, my son doesn't know anyone who's willing to help him.  He's meeting with his SOP? this morning and maybe some things will get resolved.  It's just all very worrisome.  He's too sick to get to the clinic on his own to get any medication.  He had a high fever last night but didn't even have an Advil.

Tammym there is always someone who is willing to help him and that is the
Chaplain’s Office ........................................(843) 764-7222/7912

It is one of a chaplain's specific repsonsibilities to:
Visit and provide spiritual guidance and care to hospitalized personnel and/or their family members.

Thank you!  I don't know what I'd do without this list.  Just knowing there are other moms in the same situation makes me feel not quite so alone : )

Tammy, did he receive prescriptions for antibiotics and pain meds from his surgeon before being discharged? If he's running a high temp (>101), he should be on antibiotics for 10-14 days. Advil or some other NSAID will help w/the fever and decrease localized inflammation, but max 24hr dose is 2,400mg. He can alternate Tylenol, but he needs antibiotics.  

Tammy, I am almost ready to get on a plane and go take care of mine and yours.  Geez.  My son had surgery 6 days ago and no one, other than his friends, has come to see him.  I am really sorry that your son is going through this. 

I just wish that when something like this happens, they would at least assign someone who is on grad hold to go and check on them, help them out, get them food.  I don't think that is too much to ask.

Dodie- Apparently he was told he couldn't bring any prescriptions on base, he has to wait to see a Navy doctor for his prescriptions, but when he got back to base he was too sick to go to the clinic.  I hope to hear from him this morning.  I'll let you all know when I do.

WHAT?  My son brought prescriptions on base.  He saw the Navy dr. BEFORE his surgery, so I don't know if that cleared him or not. 

I just asked my son about prescriptions and he said he was never told he couldn't bring them on base after his surgery. 

He walked! to medical today and got his medicine.  He got one week off duty. 

This is really disturbing.  Why only one week?  that's just crazy.  I wonder why the guy my son talked to said he got two weeks?

I am really glad that he was able to get his medicine.  Hopefully that will help he to get feeling better, and hopefully he is able to get food.  Does he have his car there yet?

Yes, there has got to be something put in place to help with this.  They have corpsmen there, so why wouldn't they be assigned to follow through and make sure these guys and gals have what they need?  Why shouldn't my son have been moved to a first floor room before the surgery?   I wonder if they could form some sort of relief society among the wives and they could get meals to those in this situation and drive them to their appointments, like my son's therapy?  Seems like there are resources there if they would just use them, and I bet people would be very willing to help out.  I know there is a driver on base and he said he thinks he can make appointments to get rides to therapy, but that remains to be seen.  Or like I said, assign someone on hold to help out anyone who has a medical issue going on.

Good afternoon everyone...My son is going to be coming to school here after PIR on 11/18.  Just wanted to get a jump on getting my nerves into high gear :)  I'm really sorry about everyone that's sick and having physical issues--that just makes everything so much harder.

I hope y'all will bear with me if I ask what seem to be dumb questions...I'm still new to all of this and my head hasn't stopped spinning for the last 7+ weeks.

Hi suebal.  No question is a dumb question.  We've all been there.  My son is an MM, graduated from Power School on Oct. 7.  He PIR'd last year on Nov. 5.  He's on grad hold/medical hold right now.  Hopefully will be able to continue on with Prototype with his group.  We just have to wait and see.

Ask anything you like.

Thanks Kat...I'm afraid my questions, right now, are "beginner" type questions. Cameron will be, like I said, PIR'g next Friday (cannot wait!) and then on Saturday he's flying into Charleston.  I'm bringing his laptop (and accessories) and phone to the airport with me on Saturday so that he'll have them when he gets there.  Does he need to buy internet access? How would he go about that? I'm also guessing that he wouldn't actually be able to do that UNTIL he gets assigned to his quarters (duh Sue). Can you give me some pointers/suggestions to make this transition as easy as possible? (Dear Lord, what would they all do without us? :))  I don't even know what his rank is going to be--EM, MM...I guess I'll find that out when I get the "I'm a Sailor" call...?  What, me relax? Don't even know the definition of that word anymore...looking forward to figuring it out in this lifetime tho :)

Oh, you sound like all of us when our kids got there. don't worry, we have answers here, and on the Nuke moms page.

he will be assigned a room when he gets there. He may have a roommate who has already been there a little while, so the roommate can show him the ropes, but sometimes they get a room without a roommate, for a little while, or they put two new guys together.  they have suite mates (another room connected to the bathroom) so hopefully with all of that he will find someone who can give him info.  One of them, a suite mate or roommate, usually has internet and he can pay them his $10 or so a month to have access.  When the person who has the internet in their name moves out, then someone else has to take it on.  Or, he may have to get it in his name.  Comcast is the provider, I believe, and they are used to doing this all the time.  I think they set them up on Tuesdays and Saturdays, so if he wants it and it's not already available, he will want to call them pretty quickly when he gets there to get it going.

I am sending you a firend request.

Thanks, Kat.  When he went to medical there the only explanation he got for only  receiving one week's medical leave after major surgery was "somebody must really hate you."  I hope it was a joke, and when he goes for a checkup next week they will reconsider.

Tammy, I sent you a friend request.  I have some info that I think you will want to see.

Thanks Kat...it's strange that the school doesn't provide wifi for them...but, it is what it is.  Cameron is one of the most outgoing people I've ever met so I don't anticipate him having any problems asking questions and making fast friends. I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone here. You are all going to be my heroes!

hello all!!

suebal--when my son got to goose creek he got roomed with someone that had been there for a little while.  he had internet access already to the room.  my son got the things for wireless connection and helps with the bill for comcast.  this doesnt happen with everyone.  just a heads up.