Cadet Medical

[2025 hopeful]

DD has been going through some unusual medical things since before spring break. They have been doing testing and keep getting results that require further testing. She has been communicating with us what is going on and how they are proceeding. As a parent from a distance, it's been a bit difficult to determine the severity of the situation, but it does seem like it is not headed in a great direction. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with a cadet having serious medical issues while at USAFA and at what point as a parent did you get more involved and how to go about doing that?

 

[SpiritCommitteeLiaison]

DD has been going through some unusual medical things since before spring break. They have been doing testing and keep getting results that require further testing. She has been communicating with us what is going on and how they are proceeding. As a parent from a distance, it's been a bit difficult to determine the severity of the situation, but it does seem like it is not headed in a great direction. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with a cadet having serious medical issues while at USAFA and at what point as a parent did you get more involved and how to go about doing that?

USAFA cadets have to give permission for parents to get their medical information/status. Have your cadet ask to grant you access and request that you would be allowed to speak with one of the physicians.

In my experience, the physicians are top notch and will explain things thoroughly to you.

 

[2025 hopeful]

Thank you for the information. I will tell her to do that.

How do I contact the physician or medical clinic? Right now, everything has been going from the physician to the athletic trainer to my daughter. It seems like a weird communication system, but DD was told that was the process since she was an athlete. It seems to me at this point, speaking to the doctor directly is needed to ask questions and gather all information.

 

[Capt MJ]

Thank you for the information. I will tell her to do that.

How do I contact the physician or medical clinic? Right now, everything has been going from the physician to the athletic trainer to my daughter. It seems like a weird communication system, but DD was told that was the process since she was an athlete. It seems to me at this point, speaking to the doctor directly is needed to ask questions and gather all information.

Your DD can make the request to open her case with you, and she can make the appropriate request for the doctor to call you. This is not a new process. She will figure it out!

 

[SpiritCommitteeLiaison]

Thank you for the information. I will tell her to do that.

How do I contact the physician or medical clinic? Right now, everything has been going from the physician to the athletic trainer to my daughter. It seems like a weird communication system, but DD was told that was the process since she was an athlete. It seems to me at this point, speaking to the doctor directly is needed to ask questions and gather all information.

In addition to what MJ said, your daughter can also request to speak directly to her physician.

This is actually a hurdle that a lot of cadets have to jump - learning to advocate for themselves. I've seen it at USAFA and at civilian colleges, so its no surprise that her athletic trainer is advocating for her. Let's face it, 2nd hand information isn't the same as being able to question the physician directly. These young people have literally spent most of their lives having another adult handle these situations & ask the questions. Encourage her to insist on speaking to the physician directly.

 

[2025 hopeful]

Totally understand USAFA has been doing this forever and trust the doctors there. However, we have not been thought this before and just trying to figure out the process without bombarding her with questions. Thanks for your insights.

DD has been doing a good job advocating for herself and staying on top of it all. The doctor has called her and spoke to her as well, but the trainer is still involved in the process and has been super helpful. Parents at home have not been involved other than being a listening ear when needed and the occasional text to check in.

Up to this point, she was staying very positive and waiting to get cleared to re-join her team and summer responsibilities. With recent test results, I think she is now just trying to process facts and realizing this is much more serious than we all originally thought. Our focus and hope now is she will just be ok.

As a parent, it's much easier to go through my own medical issues and it's a new experience to see a child go through them (especially from a distance).

 

[justdoit19]

I can empathize with you from the parent standpoint. One thing, is to pass along to her that there is emotional support available for her emotionally, as well as her physical well being. I know the SA Chaplains are WONDERFUL resources….off the record and confidential. And well versed in how all these things work at their SA. Good luck, and hugs. The extremley comforting thing, is that the care IS top notch.

One idea for y’all, is to talk to your DD about FaceTiming you in to her appointments moving forward. If she is ok with that. I know that is something thats been done.

 

[flieger83]

I had two major surgeries while I was a cadet. One was serious, but 100% recoverable from. The second one, also serious, was 100% recoverable however it left lasting "issues." The entire time, the academy medical staff was outstanding.

My parents would have known nothing about it had I not called them and also told the medical team that I wanted to grant them full access to my case, Once that was done, my father (USAF Flight Surgeon) was able to speak with the academy medical team and then translated to me.

They'll take good care of her!

 

[USAFA10s]

I don't have a lot to contribute since the details have likely changed since my time - but I had a serious medical issue at USAFA for nearly my entire last two years there. I barely commissioned and was only able to do so with the very strong advocacy of my AOC making my case. Just throwing my story out there for some perspective in case it helps someone. I'm 100% fine now, but spent my first 5 years on active duty getting an annual surgery. Not fun.

I was a bit frustrated with the answers I was getting (or in my case complete lack of answers) from the USAFA doctors and ended up looping my parents in on everything, but only after maybe 6 months when things took a significant turn for the worse/showed no sign of improving and the USAFA doctors were completely stumped.

I preferred to handle everything myself, and while I felt like all the medical staff on base were receptive and did what they could, my case was just one that no one could figure out. I had tons of scans - CT, MRI, bone scan - but nothing was able to find what was wrong. I ended up seeing 5 different doctors to try to figure it out. When none of them could, I reached out to my parents, but that was primarily because I needed my dad's medical connections to help me find someone that might be able to help (he's an MD). While I discussed things with my parents before that, I definitely didn't involve them early on much at all. I didn't see the need and really did prefer to just handle things myself if I could. USAFA gave me the confidence and access I needed to do so - it was only when everyone involved was stuck that I went outside the AF system.

We did figure it out, but only after one of my dad's close friends was willing to do a procedure not normally done on someone my age in the hopes that it just might work. He thought it was less than a 50/50 chance but was willing to give it a shot anyway. Turns out he was right and that guess saved my career. It was still a long road back to 100%, but I never would have made it otherwise.

I have two points with this story.
1. That I drove the whole process and looped my parents in further when I needed support and to send my medical records to my dad to ask his network, and that I appreciated my parents trusting me to do my own thing but then being ready to help the second I needed it.
2. I have a slightly less rosy review of AF medicine than others and an observation that while the AF does always do their best to take care of their people, I have noticed some limitations in their diagnostic abilities over my years and have relied heavily on the second opinions of my dad, sister and other doctors they know for cases that are uncommon or complex (and I have had a number of them).

 

[Future968]

I had two major surgeries while I was a cadet. One was serious, but 100% recoverable from. The second one, also serious, was 100% recoverable however it left lasting "issues." The entire time, the academy medical staff was outstanding.

My parents would have known nothing about it had I not called them and also told the medical team that I wanted to grant them full access to my case, Once that was done, my father (USAF Flight Surgeon) was able to speak with the academy medical team and then translated to me.

They'll take good care of her!

I am currently a freshman in high school and have very good academics in all honors classes (4.0 unweighted), but I lack leadership experiences, I’m on the varsity hockey team and have some hours of community service. I am thinking about joining CAP as it looks cool and fun. Any suggestions on getting leadership opportunities?

 

[2025 hopeful]

Thanks for sharing your comforting words and experiences.

She is pretty involved in church activities and with the chaplain at USAFA. She has a strong faith, so I know she is leaning on that heavily and encouraged her to reach out to the chaplain if she needed to speak with someone in person.

She has more more testing and specialist appointments early next week, so just taking everything one day at a time as it all evolves. From a parent perspective, we are letting her taking the lead with how much she wants us involved and she has chosen to include us due to the seriousness of the case. Time will tell how it all turns out, but just wanted to say thank you for sharing your experiences and insights.

 

[2025 hopeful]

I don't have a lot to contribute since the details have likely changed since my time - but I had a serious medical issue at USAFA for nearly my entire last two years there. I barely commissioned and was only able to do so with the very strong advocacy of my AOC making my case. Just throwing my story out there for some perspective in case it helps someone. I'm 100% fine now, but spent my first 5 years on active duty getting an annual surgery. Not fun.

I was a bit frustrated with the answers I was getting (or in my case complete lack of answers) from the USAFA doctors and ended up looping my parents in on everything, but only after maybe 6 months when things took a significant turn for the worse/showed no sign of improving and the USAFA doctors were completely stumped.

I preferred to handle everything myself, and while I felt like all the medical staff on base were receptive and did what they could, my case was just one that no one could figure out. I had tons of scans - CT, MRI, bone scan - but nothing was able to find what was wrong. I ended up seeing 5 different doctors to try to figure it out. When none of them could, I reached out to my parents, but that was primarily because I needed my dad's medical connections to help me find someone that might be able to help (he's an MD). While I discussed things with my parents before that, I definitely didn't involve them early on much at all. I didn't see the need and really did prefer to just handle things myself if I could. USAFA gave me the confidence and access I needed to do so - it was only when everyone involved was stuck that I went outside the AF system.

We did figure it out, but only after one of my dad's close friends was willing to do a procedure not normally done on someone my age in the hopes that it just might work. He thought it was less than a 50/50 chance but was willing to give it a shot anyway. Turns out he was right and that guess saved my career. It was still a long road back to 100%, but I never would have made it otherwise.

I have two points with this story.
1. That I drove the whole process and looped my parents in further when I needed support and to send my medical records to my dad to ask his network, and that I appreciated my parents trusting me to do my own thing but then being ready to help the second I needed it.
2. I have a slightly less rosy review of AF medicine than others and an observation that while the AF does always do their best to take care of their people, I have noticed some limitations in their diagnostic abilities over my years and have relied heavily on the second opinions of my dad, sister and other doctors they know for cases that are uncommon or complex (and I have had a number of them).

I sent you a message.