Remedial Question...

future_cadet?

10-Year Member
5-Year Member
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Mar 29, 2008
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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.
 
The reason you received a waiver denial is that the prescription for the inhaler was not that long ago. If your MCCT is withing normal limits, then I can't see why the waiver wouldn't be approved.

Short answer to a long post.. :shake:
 
finding a doctor

My daughter had the same problem. We called Concorde directly and they were VERY helpful. We live in a smaller town and they were having a problem finding someone nearby qualified to give the test. We told them we were willing to drive and that distance was not really a concern. They were quite cordial, and called back with an appointment for us later that day. We had the test done within a week.

I suggest you call, and let them know the situation, and let them know that you are quite flexible and hopefully it will work out.

Mike
 
:eek: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):biggrin:
 
It's a good thing that you never used the inhaler, molloy09. Thats definitley a plus. If I can get through this, then YOU can definitlely get through this. I can't even imagine how harder this whole thing would be if I wrapped my lips around the inhaler last year. *shivers*

Wow a week? Yeah, I'll definitley call Concord and my pulmonary doctor soon. What was the MCCT for your daughter like, mnolan? Was it easier to do then the pre/post bronchodiltor tests?

Anyone know more about the deadline issue? Is there a thread more appropriate for this kind of question?
 
MCT test

This is second hand...from my daughter to me so keep that in mind.

She had to take the MCT test since she had had a breathing problem playing soccer during a very cold day a couple of years ago. I took her to her doctor at that time who did NOT diagnose her with exercise induced asthma, but prescribed an inhaler just in case. She used it once or twice, but it made no difference and she didn't use it again. We reported the usage on the medical form at her physical, and she was scheduled for the MCT as part of a remedial.

The test took about an hour and a half. They gave her some computerized breathing test for a baseline, then about every 10 minutes or so, hit her with a aerosol shot of methacholine, increasing the dosage each time. Then the breathing test was run again. They did this 5 times (which is the max number I think). The results showed a slight decrease in lung capacity with the 5th shot, but not enough to be considered asthmatic. So this cleared up her remedial.

She didn't report any particular discomfort with the test. But it did tire her out a little...she had to blow very hard a number of times. But other than that, the test was fine.

Someone on this forum gave us a great suggestion....when you take the test, ask at the desk whether they can send you a copy of the results, or if they can't do that, if they will send them to your regular physician. It is worth a try. It was nice for us to see the results early and not have to wait for them to be posted on the DoDMERB site.

Good luck.........we are still fighting a DQ for shoulder dislocations.

Mike
 
Hey thanks for all the help

Good luck to you too.

Well, my connections must have done something for me since I finally got appointments schedualed for next week.

Some advice for future applicants: ALWAYS BE PERSISTANT! If you're confused over anything, try to go to where you're appointment is before the appointment itself to clear things out. Actually going somewhere and explaining yourself with documents is alot better than trying to describe your case over the phone. Thats what I did, and the nurses there were the most helpful bunch of people I met during this whole process. They called Concord itself right in front of me and cleared up on what exactly was needed.

Now all I have to do is wait for next week. Wish me luck!
 
normal limits

results are considered normal if your breathing does not fall below 20% your baseline.

And my tests went great!:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

I was given not 5, not 6, but TEN dosages of methacholine. It was pretty tiring at the end but alot easier then I thought. My first 8 were pretty close to 100% (some even higher) and then it dropped 14% at the 9th but I got it a little back up on my final one. Pretty good results anyways:cool:

So anyways the hard part is over for me. All I have to do now is meet the doctor in a few days to consult over the results and wait for that waiver.
 
Hey I Got In

My waiver was finally approved! WOOT!


I do have a question though for in-processing, but I'm not sure which trend is appropriate for it. One of the papers I have to fill out is my Immunizaion Record. An email is provided for any questions or requested confirmations of receivied faxes. Unfortunatley, the email doesn't work; I always get a delivery failure in reply. Does anyone have the same problem?

10MDG.SGOMAAllergy_Immunization@usafa.af.mil
 
Congrats on the waiver!!! As for the e-mail not working, I would contact the admissions office concerning this.
 
R U the guy that asked this question?

I do have a question though for in-processing, but I'm not sure which trend is appropriate for it. One of the papers I have to fill out is my Immunizaion Record. An email is provided for any questions or requested confirmations of receivied faxes. Unfortunatley, the email doesn't work; I always get a delivery failure in reply. Does anyone have the same problem?
10MDG.SGOMAAllergy_Immunization@usafa.af.mil

If so, I've asked the Hosp Commander this morning and Admissions for the answer. I suspect they'll provide to me within the next 6 hours
 
An interim response:

Mr Mullen,
Maj MS (left name out) is my POC working this issue...he already has his folks on it and should have it resolved by Monday.

Maj S: pls close the loop with Mr Mullen/cc-me.

Thx
Lt Col B.
 
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