Phenixcitypiper
5-Year Member
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2012
- Messages
- 1
Hello,
I would greatly appreciate if someone could shed light on my issue. Basically, I have a great desire to join Army ROTC. However, I am very worried about my past medical history might keep me from pursuing my dream. Here is a little about me and my past medical history.
Sex: Male
Age: 23
Height: 6' 0''
Weight: 211 lbs
Grades: My grades in high school were very good. I was in the top 10% of my class and won awards for the standard testing the school puts students through.
Past Medical History:
I realize some of the history Im listing is very common and some not so common but I am curious what is the chance of getting a waiver if one has all the proper paperwork and approval from your family dr. However I know that a family dr is NOT a military dr.
-right hernia repair, and hydrocele repair of the right testicle as a newborn, left testicle removed due to infant testicular torsion. no complications healed well saw the dr again around age 13 during puberty to confirm.
-tonsillectomy age 4 no complications
-all wisdom teeth removed age 19 no complications
-G.E.R.D completely resolved as stated in medical records.
and the big one that i think ill have the most issues with as far as a waiver process.
- during highschool the doctor put me on antidepressants NOT due to depression but because I would get quite nervous due tot he fact I was very self concious about my stuttering. Even though i only have a 3% stutter which is VERY mild i was still very self concious about it. I would be very nervous about going to school because I was afraid I would stutter and get embaressed. The dr put me on antidepressants to help a "nervous stomach" I have never seen a shrink for anxiety or depression. All stutterers know that antidepressants CAN improve stutter and they did but it wasnt until 3 medications until i found one that worked and improved my stutter by a great deal. I was on buspar,celexa then cymbalta. Granted even though I was very nervous about my stutter I maintained GREAT grades during HS. After highschool was when I really came into my own. I learned to not let your disability define who you are and strive to do your best no matter what you have to do to get there or what obstacles you have to pass. By doing this it decreased my stutter greatly. However when I was 21 I decied I wanted to try and pursue my dream in the military. I read that you had to be off all medications for AT LEAST a year for them to even look at your file and meet the weight/height standards(I was taken off the meds by drs supervision "weened" off them).Through alot of hard work I lost over 100 lbs of fat and now i meet the BMI standards for the army. I am not self concious about my stutter anymore. I have been off meds for over a year and the dr says im in great shape and thinks I would have no problem in getting through medical. I personally know a captain with more severe stutter than myself in the guard. Last year I even bought a SpeechEasy with completely eliminates my stutter going from a 3% to a 0%. It is a device that goes in your ear and you hear what your saying in a different frequency and a little delayed. So i know my stutter will not hinder giving commands or talking on the radio. I know they do waivers by a case by case basis. They want to know everything: why you were on the meds, how long were you on them, did the dr take you off them, etc. I even asked the speech therapist if she helped any other military get speecheasys. She told me she helped over 15 military in the last year get thier SpeechEasys and said my stutter was really the least severe she has ever encountered and told me I shouldnt even need the SE. However it is nice to be able to talk like normal
.
My question is what do you think my chances are in getting through medical with my past medical history if i can produce all the right paperwork.
Another question is if i dont get an ROTC scholarship and have to pay out of pocket when would i go to DoDmerb. I would like to contract asap into the active army if possible. WOuld I have to pay for 2 years of rotc then see if I pass DoDmerb medical. It would be a shame to have those loans and do all that work to find you dont pass medical.
Any information is helpful and sorry for the huge post.
Alex
I would greatly appreciate if someone could shed light on my issue. Basically, I have a great desire to join Army ROTC. However, I am very worried about my past medical history might keep me from pursuing my dream. Here is a little about me and my past medical history.
Sex: Male
Age: 23
Height: 6' 0''
Weight: 211 lbs
Grades: My grades in high school were very good. I was in the top 10% of my class and won awards for the standard testing the school puts students through.
Past Medical History:
I realize some of the history Im listing is very common and some not so common but I am curious what is the chance of getting a waiver if one has all the proper paperwork and approval from your family dr. However I know that a family dr is NOT a military dr.
-right hernia repair, and hydrocele repair of the right testicle as a newborn, left testicle removed due to infant testicular torsion. no complications healed well saw the dr again around age 13 during puberty to confirm.
-tonsillectomy age 4 no complications
-all wisdom teeth removed age 19 no complications
-G.E.R.D completely resolved as stated in medical records.
and the big one that i think ill have the most issues with as far as a waiver process.
- during highschool the doctor put me on antidepressants NOT due to depression but because I would get quite nervous due tot he fact I was very self concious about my stuttering. Even though i only have a 3% stutter which is VERY mild i was still very self concious about it. I would be very nervous about going to school because I was afraid I would stutter and get embaressed. The dr put me on antidepressants to help a "nervous stomach" I have never seen a shrink for anxiety or depression. All stutterers know that antidepressants CAN improve stutter and they did but it wasnt until 3 medications until i found one that worked and improved my stutter by a great deal. I was on buspar,celexa then cymbalta. Granted even though I was very nervous about my stutter I maintained GREAT grades during HS. After highschool was when I really came into my own. I learned to not let your disability define who you are and strive to do your best no matter what you have to do to get there or what obstacles you have to pass. By doing this it decreased my stutter greatly. However when I was 21 I decied I wanted to try and pursue my dream in the military. I read that you had to be off all medications for AT LEAST a year for them to even look at your file and meet the weight/height standards(I was taken off the meds by drs supervision "weened" off them).Through alot of hard work I lost over 100 lbs of fat and now i meet the BMI standards for the army. I am not self concious about my stutter anymore. I have been off meds for over a year and the dr says im in great shape and thinks I would have no problem in getting through medical. I personally know a captain with more severe stutter than myself in the guard. Last year I even bought a SpeechEasy with completely eliminates my stutter going from a 3% to a 0%. It is a device that goes in your ear and you hear what your saying in a different frequency and a little delayed. So i know my stutter will not hinder giving commands or talking on the radio. I know they do waivers by a case by case basis. They want to know everything: why you were on the meds, how long were you on them, did the dr take you off them, etc. I even asked the speech therapist if she helped any other military get speecheasys. She told me she helped over 15 military in the last year get thier SpeechEasys and said my stutter was really the least severe she has ever encountered and told me I shouldnt even need the SE. However it is nice to be able to talk like normal
.My question is what do you think my chances are in getting through medical with my past medical history if i can produce all the right paperwork.
Another question is if i dont get an ROTC scholarship and have to pay out of pocket when would i go to DoDmerb. I would like to contract asap into the active army if possible. WOuld I have to pay for 2 years of rotc then see if I pass DoDmerb medical. It would be a shame to have those loans and do all that work to find you dont pass medical.
Any information is helpful and sorry for the huge post.
Alex
