Today, I went to my doctor's office to get some required vaccinations. At the same time, my doctor told me that I had to get another physical, so I reluctantly agreed. Long story short, I may have a possible but (mild?) hernia. It does not hurt at all and she said it is very mild, but I should consult with the general surgeon to see if surgery is required. I've been appointed as a midshipman for the Class of 2015, should I be concerned about this? What should I do if surgery is necessary?
I'll tell you
our "hernia story" but it is a little different than your situation.
As one of my sons was taking his DoDMERB medical exam, the doctor pointed out that he had a "slight hernia". Like you, he had no pain and was completely unaware of it. Surprisingly, they did not disqualify him for a hernia.
I was stunned that a hernia was not a disqualifier for admission.
I figured the lack of a disqualification was an oversight and I was concerned that it would come up again, much later in the admission process when there would be no time for corrective action.
So, we preempted this possibility by having it rectified with a simple in-and-out surgical procedure. Fixed!
We did not inform the academy nor the DoDMERB. We figured, "
They are the ones who pointed it out. They
know he has this condition. It's
documented." We weren't hiding anything. So we fixed it!
It had plenty of time to heal -
well before I-Day. I think it was over 6-months from surgery to I-Day.
The last thing we wanted was for somebody to look through his medical records and say, "Hey! Wait a minute! This kid has a hernia. How did that slip through? He can't be appointed with a hernia. Sorry."
If that happened - we were prepared.
We fixed it! Now it's a non-issue.
Well - that's the way we handled it and it never became an issue and was never discussed again. He's now in his second year at the academy.
