Out of curiosity, what is the issue in Nick's case? My dad had kidney stones a couple of times and has been able to maintain a 2nd class medical.
If Nick doesn't want to get into personal details, I understand, but I am curious why his case is a problem.
I don't mind at all!
I got kidney stones in 2011 (maybe 2012, I can't remember now). I went to the ER due to pain, and was admitted and drugged, and then they took a CT scan to determine that I had 3 stones, all fairly small in diameter. I passed two of them knowingly, caught in a strainer. Never passed the third, or didn't catch it. They were identified as being made of calcium oxalate, and I was given a diet that should help.
Went back 6 months later to get a clean bill of health, and the CT scan revealed that I had 2 stones. No problem, if they pass, I can get a clean scan in 90 days. Or, if they haven't moved, I can get an SI.
90 days later, I hadn't passed any stones, went in and got my CT scan, identified that I still had 2 stones, but they had moved, so no SI.
90 dayslater, still nothing, got another CT scan, identified that I had 2 stones, but they had moved, so no SI.
90 days later, still nothing, got another CT scan, identified that I now had 4 stones, no SI. At this point, I gave up for a few years.
In 2014, after still no pain or passing, I got another CT scan, identified that I now had 1 stone, so no SI.
Talked to the good Doc, and he said to get another CT scan, and that I could no longer do KUB since I had been using CT to diagnose. My urologist wrote on the Lab to only spell out changes if they were significant, since this was getting so silly. Unfortunately, they found 2 stones, and they were in a different place, so no go, no SI.
Bruce then said that I needed a nephrologist to work on my "Alkanization" to fix my problems. Had to fight my urologist who at this point was afraid that we were just chasing symptoms since there was no health risk (aside from the MASSIVE amount of radiation I had been exposed to), but he finally caved. My insurance would not cover nephrology, since they said it wasn't "medically necessary," and amounted to "quackism" compared to urology.
Fine, paid cash. But alkinization did not fix my issue, and I still have stones that are appearing randomly, and self dissolving, apparently. The only way I'll pass the CT scan at this point is if I happen to get it at the EXACT moment that my urine destroys the stones before my kidney produces another.
After that, there was nothing left to do. I haven't had a kidney stone attack since then. Even when I did, I was able to move around and was not disabled - I was in a LOT of pain, and I'm glad I got pain killers, but had I been in flight, I would not have been disabled. Regardless, since then, nothing aside from a small pain here and there that I can recognize is probably a stone, but have no way of knowing for sure.
But hey - at least I'm not a danger to flight, right?