- Joined
- Mar 29, 2008
- Messages
- 5
First of all, I would like to thank RetNavyHM and all those who give advice on this website. Everything that I have read here has been really helpful and insightful to me. The actions that I have taken towards my waiver were all influenced by the advice that I read from here.
During this whole waiver process, I have asked many people for help and advice. My Liason officers (including the Deputy Commander of liaison officers
for Kansas), school counselors, the acadamy coodinators of the congressman and senator who nominated me, the JROTC Instructor from school, and my high school alumni who are now in a service academy.
Well to start off... *BIG BREATH*
I received appointments to the Air Force, Naval, and Coast Guard Acadamies sometime around November and December. Then in January, I got DQd over my eyesight (not too worried about that) and for "Asthma/reactive airway disease/exercise induced bronchospasm after age 13".
My asthma history is pretty short. At age 11 and 12 (NOT 13, which is the cutoff) I had asthma symptoms and was treated. After taking up running at 12, my asthma was gone and never had to visit the doctor for it. In high school, I do cross country, swimming, and track. I lettered in all of them. There is one single isolated incident though. During the fall season last year, I had a cold which triggered seasonal allergies that I never had or at least never had to take medicine or visit a doctor for. Symptoms included wheezing and coughing. The doctor I visited was someone who never met me before, so after mentioning that I had asthma as a kid, she prescribed an inhaler along with allergy medicine. Symptoms disappeared in two days and I never used the inhaler. I continued the cross country season, then the swimming season, and now the track season without any other incidents.
After the DQ, I immediately decided to take action to prove that i don't have asthma. I collected doctors' statements, coaches' statements, medical test results, and my own statement as a rebuttal. The pulmonary function test and bronchodiltor tests came out very good and both coaches and doctors gave me positive statements. I mentioned in my statement that I was in good shape who participates in three Varsity sports in all three seasons this and previous years. I also take up weights as a class.
So I sent the rebuttal package in late January and received a DQ again as expected, but I hoped that my rebuttal could affect the waiver boards from the acadamies. Unfortunatly, USNA, and later USCGA, gave me a waiver denial. So I decided to take the methacholine challenge test. I called (and others on my behalf) the academies and DODMERB to tell them that I am planning to take the MCT. The message must have gone through, because I received a remedial for it. Good news is that I don't have to pay for it then, USNA changed my status back to "pending", and USCGA said they will do the same once they receive the remedial. Bad news is that it means MORE waiting.
I'm not too worried about the tests themselves, but the timing of all of this is a bit tight. Acceptance deadline is a little more than a month away, but I can't even schedual a doctor appointment yet since "Concorde is in the process of locating a Doctor to perform your Remedial". So I called CONCORD and asked how long it takes for them to locate a doctor. They said up to 30 DAYS!!!!! That seems incredible to me since it took just two days for me to find a pulmonary lab with my doctor's approval. So I decided to go to that lab and explain my situation. The doctor said that she would be more than happy to do it and said that she will call CONCORD soon to tell them that they are willing to do it in order to skip the step of locating them. Concorde is still "in the process of locating a Doctor", but it has only been two days since I talked to the doctor so I probably shouldn't expect anything right now.
I called up the acadamies to ask them about the whole deadline issue. USNA says that they can extend the deadline a few weeks based on a case-by-case basis, USCGA says that they automatically give you two weeks to accept once you receive a waiver regardless whether that is after the deadline, and I haven't heard back from USAFA but I left a message.
*BREATHE*
So now that you know my history, here are a few questions over it:
How good is my case, in your opinion?
Is receiving a remedial a good sign, and if I do good on it will they most likely give me the waiver?
Does anyone have any advice on taking the MCT?
Does it USUALLY take CONCORD 30 DAYS just to locate a doctor?
How long do you think this whole process will most likely last?
What should I do with acceptance offers from other colleges when the deadline of accepting the offer is close and the waiver process is still not done?
Is this the longest post you have ever seen, or what?
Sorry for the long post. I guess I'm just a bit anxious over the whole thing. I think in the long run though, this waiver process has done some good for me. With all the extra effort, it made me more and more sure that serving my country and attending an acadamy is what I really want out of myself. I am determined to do all that I can possibly do and I thank you again for being able to read all of this and give advice over it.
During this whole waiver process, I have asked many people for help and advice. My Liason officers (including the Deputy Commander of liaison officers
for Kansas), school counselors, the acadamy coodinators of the congressman and senator who nominated me, the JROTC Instructor from school, and my high school alumni who are now in a service academy.
Well to start off... *BIG BREATH*
I received appointments to the Air Force, Naval, and Coast Guard Acadamies sometime around November and December. Then in January, I got DQd over my eyesight (not too worried about that) and for "Asthma/reactive airway disease/exercise induced bronchospasm after age 13".
My asthma history is pretty short. At age 11 and 12 (NOT 13, which is the cutoff) I had asthma symptoms and was treated. After taking up running at 12, my asthma was gone and never had to visit the doctor for it. In high school, I do cross country, swimming, and track. I lettered in all of them. There is one single isolated incident though. During the fall season last year, I had a cold which triggered seasonal allergies that I never had or at least never had to take medicine or visit a doctor for. Symptoms included wheezing and coughing. The doctor I visited was someone who never met me before, so after mentioning that I had asthma as a kid, she prescribed an inhaler along with allergy medicine. Symptoms disappeared in two days and I never used the inhaler. I continued the cross country season, then the swimming season, and now the track season without any other incidents.
After the DQ, I immediately decided to take action to prove that i don't have asthma. I collected doctors' statements, coaches' statements, medical test results, and my own statement as a rebuttal. The pulmonary function test and bronchodiltor tests came out very good and both coaches and doctors gave me positive statements. I mentioned in my statement that I was in good shape who participates in three Varsity sports in all three seasons this and previous years. I also take up weights as a class.
So I sent the rebuttal package in late January and received a DQ again as expected, but I hoped that my rebuttal could affect the waiver boards from the acadamies. Unfortunatly, USNA, and later USCGA, gave me a waiver denial. So I decided to take the methacholine challenge test. I called (and others on my behalf) the academies and DODMERB to tell them that I am planning to take the MCT. The message must have gone through, because I received a remedial for it. Good news is that I don't have to pay for it then, USNA changed my status back to "pending", and USCGA said they will do the same once they receive the remedial. Bad news is that it means MORE waiting.
I'm not too worried about the tests themselves, but the timing of all of this is a bit tight. Acceptance deadline is a little more than a month away, but I can't even schedual a doctor appointment yet since "Concorde is in the process of locating a Doctor to perform your Remedial". So I called CONCORD and asked how long it takes for them to locate a doctor. They said up to 30 DAYS!!!!! That seems incredible to me since it took just two days for me to find a pulmonary lab with my doctor's approval. So I decided to go to that lab and explain my situation. The doctor said that she would be more than happy to do it and said that she will call CONCORD soon to tell them that they are willing to do it in order to skip the step of locating them. Concorde is still "in the process of locating a Doctor", but it has only been two days since I talked to the doctor so I probably shouldn't expect anything right now.
I called up the acadamies to ask them about the whole deadline issue. USNA says that they can extend the deadline a few weeks based on a case-by-case basis, USCGA says that they automatically give you two weeks to accept once you receive a waiver regardless whether that is after the deadline, and I haven't heard back from USAFA but I left a message.
*BREATHE*
So now that you know my history, here are a few questions over it:
How good is my case, in your opinion?
Is receiving a remedial a good sign, and if I do good on it will they most likely give me the waiver?
Does anyone have any advice on taking the MCT?
Does it USUALLY take CONCORD 30 DAYS just to locate a doctor?
How long do you think this whole process will most likely last?
What should I do with acceptance offers from other colleges when the deadline of accepting the offer is close and the waiver process is still not done?
Is this the longest post you have ever seen, or what?
Sorry for the long post. I guess I'm just a bit anxious over the whole thing. I think in the long run though, this waiver process has done some good for me. With all the extra effort, it made me more and more sure that serving my country and attending an acadamy is what I really want out of myself. I am determined to do all that I can possibly do and I thank you again for being able to read all of this and give advice over it.
Uh oh!? Last fall, I had bronchitis and was prescribed an inhaler. I have never been diagnosed with asthma or any other respiratory problem. I never used the inhaler and I have never had any problem breathing since then, or before then. This won't disqualify me will it? (I am a Junior hopefully c/o '13)
