Pre Medical Exam Restrictions?

[Hoosiermom18]

My son has his medical exam scheduled for next week. The instructions say to avoid any strenuous physical activity for 48 prior. It’s a big training week for swim and he’s the team captain so his coach is not going to be thrilled with that—but he certainly doesn’t want to do anything that would cause an issue with the exam. Is this even what they mean by strenuous activity? I thought maybe a regular team practice is okay, just don’t go mountain climbing or run a marathon? Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[Ravens]

I think everyone looks at this differently. For example, my DD went to her exam about 2 hours after finishing a volleyball match. I understand this is not the wisest choice but many of the candidates are physically fit athletes who play sports year round. Asking them to NOT participate in a sport for 48 hours that could have team ramifications is not how most of these candidates are wired. At this age, they are invincible in their minds. My advice is to know your child and make the best choice possible. Mine had no issues at DODMERB in regards to the physical after playing a sport the same day. If your child is not an athlete per se and there is a chance they could be injured, I would take caution and follow the directions. I am sure there are other medical reasons for why they request no strenuous physical activity for 48 hours but I am not a doctor, so I will leave that for the people more qualified. It's a coin toss either way.

 

[THParent]

It is my opinion that the Swim Team needs their Captain.
My advice would be to do everything he normally does, and not stress about what is really just a glorified yearly physical.
Well - there's a vision and hearing check as well - but the rest is just a physical.

If he's still younger than 18, be prepared to go with him to sign something. They may request that you hang out in the lobby and be there
while they examine him, if he's under 18. Or maybe not. You never know.

 

[nk_nuggets]

Admittedly this wasn't the smartest idea, but the day before my medical exam I participated in a full tackle 7 on 7 scrimmage for my football team. Came in with a whole new collection of bruises and scrapes, but the examiner didn't mind. It was essentially a more rigorous physical. The only part that required motor control that I could remember is they made you walk across a room and back to check your gait. I wouldn't worry too much about attending a swim practice before.

 

[kinnem]

I believe the strenuous activity recommendation has to do with dehydration and the urine test. If he maintains proper hydration he should be fine. Of course there is always the chance of a remedial or DQ if issues arise. Choose wisely.

 

[Hoosiermom18]

Thanks all. He regularly donates blood and plasma and the last time he went to donate his blood pressure and resting heart rate were low and they told him that was because he came straight from swim practice. They almost didn’t let him donate, so I think he’s worried about that happening at the doctor. They’re also having issues with the pool heater and the water temp was down to 72 degrees so who know what that might do!

 

[5Day]

Strenuous activity can lead to high protein levels in the urinalysis. That's what happened to DS. He had a remedial to retest. He scheduled the retest early in the morning on a Monday and took it easy over the weekend. He drank so much water prior to the appointment, I thought he was going to float away.

Don't sweat it. It is a common remedial and no big deal, it just requires some planning. Some DoDMERB doctors don't even do the urinalysis, some do.

 

[justdoit19]

Strenuous activity can lead to high protein levels in the urinalysis. That's what happened to DS. He had a remedial to retest. He scheduled the retest early in the morning on a Monday and took it easy over the weekend. He drank so much water prior to the appointment, I thought he was going to float away.

Don't sweat it. It is a common remedial and no big deal, it just requires some planning. Some DoDMERB doctors don't even do the urinalysis, some do.

Our situation was exactly this: summer DoDMRB exam, DS has intense football practices. Which is his norm. We didn’t have the “avoid strenuous” instructions, went to exam after practice. Received a remedial request, to test for protein spillage. Had to fast before so he scheduled appointment before school (took FOREVER...DS was thirstyyyy. And they did it wrong -dipstick vs lab- so he got to do it alllllll over again [emoji849]).

We scheduled on a Monday, and DS did not do team weekend practice, with blessing of his Coach (missing a game would have been another thing...but missing a practice or two, that made sense to us and Coach). Our thought was that it was important to take care of this for his future. Now to have
to do it TWICE bc DR office messed up the technical part? THAT was annoying. So might be worth a mention to staff at your appointment (our assigned DR office does a lot of dipstick urinalysis’ for drug screens...not used to microscopy requirement).

If you want a greater chance of avoiding a remedial requirement, schedule exam to where you can chill for a couple days before. Otherwise the remedial is very common: but you will have to avoid strenuous exercise prior to retesting.

A side note: was discussing all this just last week with another family DR, and he mentioned that supplements and/or powders that contain protein can also add to protein spillage. So if those are part of regiment, stop using prior to appointment as well. DS doesn’t use any, but still had to remediate.

 

[justdoit19]

My son has his medical exam scheduled for next week. The instructions say to avoid any strenuous physical activity for 48 prior. It’s a big training week for swim and he’s the team captain so his coach is not going to be thrilled with that—but he certainly doesn’t want to do anything that would cause an issue with the exam. Is this even what they mean by strenuous activity? I thought maybe a regular team practice is okay, just don’t go mountain climbing or run a marathon? Thoughts? Opinions?

Can exam be reschedule to a Monday? Or another day when practice isn’t
So critical? If not, I would say to hydrate, and stop any supplements containing protein (protein drinks for example). Take a chance, and see if there are any further issues. It’s a pretty simple and common remedial for athletes. But will ultimately require him to take it easy a couple days before if a remedial is triggered.

 

[Hoosiermom18]

Thanks so much for all the info! It makes sense that it has to do with protein in the urine. If it was a regular swim practice it might not be such an issue, but during break they are longer and more intense and the whole point is for them to be completely exhausting and depleting. There’s never going to be a good time to do it until after mid-February so he may as well do it now and just talk to the coach about it.

 

[Hoosiermom18]

I believe the strenuous activity recommendation has to do with dehydration and the urine test. If he maintains proper hydration he should be fine. Of course there is always the chance of a remedial or DQ if issues arise. Choose wisely.

He won’t want to risk a remedial or DQ for a swim meet.

 

[Hoosiermom18]

Strenuous activity can lead to high protein levels in the urinalysis. That's what happened to DS. He had a remedial to retest. He scheduled the retest early in the morning on a Monday and took it easy over the weekend. He drank so much water prior to the appointment, I thought he was going to float away.

Don't sweat it. It is a common remedial and no big deal, it just requires some planning. Some DoDMERB doctors don't even do the urinalysis, some do.

Our situation was exactly this: summer DoDMRB exam, DS has intense football practices. Which is his norm. We didn’t have the “avoid strenuous” instructions, went to exam after practice. Received a remedial request, to test for protein spillage. Had to fast before so he scheduled appointment before school (took FOREVER...DS was thirstyyyy. And they did it wrong -dipstick vs lab- so he got to do it alllllll over again [emoji849]).

We scheduled on a Monday, and DS did not do team weekend practice, with blessing of his Coach (missing a game would have been another thing...but missing a practice or two, that made sense to us and Coach). Our thought was that it was important to take care of this for his future. Now to have
to do it TWICE bc DR office messed up the technical part? THAT was annoying. So might be worth a mention to staff at your appointment (our assigned DR office does a lot of dipstick urinalysis’ for drug screens...not used to microscopy requirement).

If you want a greater chance of avoiding a remedial requirement, schedule exam to where you can chill for a couple days before. Otherwise the remedial is very common: but you will have to avoid strenuous exercise prior to retesting.

A side note: was discussing all this just last week with another family DR, and he mentioned that supplements and/or powders that contain protein can also add to protein spillage. So if those are part of regiment, stop using prior to appointment as well. DS doesn’t use any, but still had to remediate.

This is really good to know because he drinks a protein drink every night and never would have thought about it. Also this process is stressful enough without having to repeat the testing so thanks for that tip!

 

[USMAROTCFamily]

And technically, according to DoDMERB, the urine test is no longer required. The packet still said it was, and when our medical facility did NOT take the specimen from either of my kids, I was worried. I called DoDMERB and the were the ones who informed me of this no longer being a requirement. However, some facilities still do it and the urine WILL be tested if it is taken. If there is protein, blood or anything else negative showing in the sample, it will cause a remedial.

 

[justdoit19]

Thanks so much for all the info! It makes sense that it has to do with protein in the urine. If it was a regular swim practice it might not be such an issue, but during break they are longer and more intense and the whole point is for them to be completely exhausting and depleting. There’s never going to be a good time to do it until after mid-February so he may as well do it now and just talk to the coach about it.

Our Coach wrote one of his rec letters. He was very honored to do so, and extremely supportive of his journey. And very proud of his appointment!! I suspect his Coach will understand. Good luck to you all!

 

[Hoosiermom18]

Thanks so much for all the info! It makes sense that it has to do with protein in the urine. If it was a regular swim practice it might not be such an issue, but during break they are longer and more intense and the whole point is for them to be completely exhausting and depleting. There’s never going to be a good time to do it until after mid-February so he may as well do it now and just talk to the coach about it.

Our Coach wrote one of his rec letters. He was very honored to do so, and extremely supportive of his journey. And very proud of his appointment!! I suspect his Coach will understand. Good luck to you all!

Nope—-this coach is bananas. She did write a letter for him, but she also has had them swim in a pool with too high chlorine which triggered multiple asthma attacks on the team.

 

[JRS92078]

Lol Bananas Coaches are fun are they not?!?
I would call my kid in sick to practice and not think twice about it.

 

[Hoosiermom18]

Lol Bananas Coaches are fun are they not?!?
I would call my kid in sick to practice and not think twice about it.

Oh, how I wish I could’ve called him in sick, but he felt it was important to be honest and now she’s infuriated with him. She wants a “number of someone I can call to talk about rescheduling this.” Sure. Just let me sign this power of attorney for you!

 

[JRS92078]

Lol Bananas Coaches are fun are they not?!?
I would call my kid in sick to practice and not think twice about it.

Oh, how I wish I could’ve called him in sick, but he felt it was important to be honest and now she’s infuriated with him. She wants a “number of someone I can call to talk about rescheduling this.” Sure. Just let me sign this power of attorney for you!

Holy cow! She is beyond bananas!

 

[Hoosiermom18]

Lol Bananas Coaches are fun are they not?!?
I would call my kid in sick to practice and not think twice about it.

Oh, how I wish I could’ve called him in sick, but he felt it was important to be honest and now she’s infuriated with him. She wants a “number of someone I can call to talk about rescheduling this.” Sure. Just let me sign this power of attorney for you!

Holy cow! She is beyond bananas!

Yes, she didn’t want to talk to me—-or the doctor’s office which wouldn’t have been allowed anyway—-she wanted to talk to the army!!!

 

[JRS92078]

Lol Bananas Coaches are fun are they not?!?
I would call my kid in sick to practice and not think twice about it.

Oh, how I wish I could’ve called him in sick, but he felt it was important to be honest and now she’s infuriated with him. She wants a “number of someone I can call to talk about rescheduling this.” Sure. Just let me sign this power of attorney for you!

Holy cow! She is beyond bananas!

Yes, she didn’t want to talk to me—-or the doctor’s office which wouldn’t have been allowed anyway—-she wanted to talk to the army!!!

That is absolutely Hilarious