Motion Sickness - waiverable?

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Mar 15, 2017
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DD got the unfortunate "disqualified" status from DoDMERB today due to motion sickness. USNA and NROTC applicant. I suppose I never thought of hers as more than mild/typical car motion sickness. So.....assuming USNA views her as a competitive candidate, is a waiver possible? Or is she.... done, sorry about that? [emoji29]
 
I don't know the answer to your question but HAVE a question that might lead yo to an answer. Has she ever been to sea for an extended period? How about during a storm? How did she handle it. Just guessing but I can see where motion sickness might be related to sea sickness.
 
I don't know the answer to your question but HAVE a question that might lead yo to an answer. Has she ever been to sea for an extended period? How about during a storm? How did she handle it. Just guessing but I can see where motion sickness might be related to sea sickness.
Good question/point....she has not ever been to sea, just some smaller harbor cruise/ferry type boats. No issues on those, but (of course) MUCH different than actually being on a rolling and pitching ship at sea!
 
Just keep working the process - you just don't know what will be considered waiverable.

We had a USNA sponsor daughter who went Surface Warfare (SWO), got very seasick on cruise/underway periods. She had to come off sea duty and go through a med board, which found her undeployable, and essentially stalled her SWO career. During the uncertainty period, she took an MCAT cram course, did well on the MCAT and successfully applied to USUHS and was able to switch careers and go Med Corps. Funnily enough, it wasn't always the heavy pitching and rolling storm seas that greened her up, but slow oily cross-wave seas that pitch, roll and yaw a ship simultaneously. Three-dimensional challenges to the stomach and inner ear workings! I don't recall if she needed a waiver to get into USNA, sorry, or if she had a history of motion sickness.

Airplanes, subs, ships, small boats, YP boats at USNA - lots of opportunity for motion sickness if someone has a tendency toward it. Standards for accession are always tougher, and motion sickness could be a biggie.

Harbor cruise, ferry boats and cruise ships typically have stabilizers which flatten the ride for the comfort of seasick-prone passengers. Very different than riding in a ship's small boat from the anchorage to the pier, bouncing through the waves, or waiting on a choppy sea on a hot day smelling engine exhaust while waiting to get up to the ship's landing platform.
 
Just keep working the process - you just don't know what will be considered waiverable.

We had a USNA sponsor daughter who went Surface Warfare (SWO), got very seasick on cruise/underway periods. She had to come off sea duty and go through a med board, which found her undeployable, and essentially stalled her SWO career. During the uncertainty period, she took an MCAT cram course, did well on the MCAT and successfully applied to USUHS and was able to switch careers and go Med Corps. Funnily enough, it wasn't always the heavy pitching and rolling storm seas that greened her up, but slow oily cross-wave seas that pitch, roll and yaw a ship simultaneously. Three-dimensional challenges to the stomach and inner ear workings! I don't recall if she needed a waiver to get into USNA, sorry, or if she had a history of motion sickness.

Airplanes, subs, ships, small boats, YP boats at USNA - lots of opportunity for motion sickness if someone has a tendency toward it. Standards for accession are always tougher, and motion sickness could be a biggie.

Harbor cruise, ferry boats and cruise ships typically have stabilizers which flatten the ride for the comfort of seasick-prone passengers. Very different than riding in a ship's small boat from the anchorage to the pier, bouncing through the waves, or waiting on a choppy sea on a hot day smelling engine exhaust while waiting to get up to the ship's landing platform.

Good feedback Capt MJ, I appreciate it. I suppose that letting it work-through is indeed the only thing she can do. She's feeling fairly discouraged right now, as this has been her focus and dream for several years, while attending Marine Corps SLCDA, USNA Summer Seminar and Candidate Visit Weekends, Girls State, et al. She said it feels kind of like dating someone for 4 years, falling in love with them, and then them breaking up with you (!) I just hope that what she's been dreaming of for so long and has been so passionate about doesn't die. Ironically, I suppose, she could've been dishonest and never reported the motion sickness to DoDMERB and just dealt with it as a "new thing" if she were appointed, but her honor would never have permitted herself to do that.
 
Any advice I can offer her on the process? Should she reach out to her USNA admissions counselor? Her NROTC scholarship application coordinator?
 
"Patience."

Hurry up and wait is a military fact of life.

I do not believe there is anything to be gained by contacting anyone. She has provided an honest medical history, and the decision is out of her hands. Focus on things she can control in the here and now. Work on Plan C if a waiver is not forthcoming.
 
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