Hey there, I'm posting to discuss my current situation with DoDMERB as I am an applicant to USMA, USNA, USAFA, and AROTC. I am most interested in attending Clemson University on my 4-year Army Scholarship. I will start from the very beginning; it will take a moment to get to my points, but all information is relevant. Please bear with me.
Back in September, I took a physical as part of my DoDMERB application. All went well, except for one thing: for the first time in my life, the physician reported hearing a heart murmur when he put the stethoscope up to my chest. He shrugged it off like it was no big deal, but I suppose he wrote it down because a while later, I'm prompted to take an echocardiogram as part of the remedial process.
I was also prompted to provide more information regarding some childhood asthma that I had. More on that later.
I took my echocardiogram on January 3rd. Unfortunately, there were some issues with the cardiology company sending their results to Concord, and then some issues with Concord sending the results to DoDMERB, so only two days ago (March 7th) did I receive the notification that I have been medically disqualified on the grounds of "current or history of congenital anomalies of the heart and great vessels" and "Airway hyper responsiveness including asthma, reactive airway disease, exercise-induced bronchospasm or asthmatic bronchitis, reliably diagnosed and symptomatic after the 13th birthday."
I expected to be disqualified because of the asthma. Yes, I had received medication after my thirteenth birthday, and I knew that was an automatic disqualifier. However, I have been off any medication for it for roughly 15 months now and have not had one issue.
I am surprised by the results of the echocardiogram. I am a varsity long-distance and cross country runner for my school and I have never had any complications with my lungs or heart. Because of this, could it be reasonable to say I have a chance at getting a waiver for these things? I've done some reading online about a condition called Athlete's Heart Syndrome, which is essentially the body's natural response to frequent endurance/aerobic exercise, thus thickening the walls of the heart, more or less (from what I understand). Perhaps this is my condition? I do run 40+ miles a week, and if this is the case, it is supposedly healthy in young athletes.
I know I've begun to ramble. I am concerned I won't receive a waiver for these conditions despite my physical fitness, which would suggest neither condition is existent, or at least of consequence. I am also concerned that I've received my results too late, and thus, am starting the waiver process too late. Is it going to take me until July to know where I'm going to school?
Thank you so much for reading. Your input is appreciated.
Back in September, I took a physical as part of my DoDMERB application. All went well, except for one thing: for the first time in my life, the physician reported hearing a heart murmur when he put the stethoscope up to my chest. He shrugged it off like it was no big deal, but I suppose he wrote it down because a while later, I'm prompted to take an echocardiogram as part of the remedial process.
I was also prompted to provide more information regarding some childhood asthma that I had. More on that later.
I took my echocardiogram on January 3rd. Unfortunately, there were some issues with the cardiology company sending their results to Concord, and then some issues with Concord sending the results to DoDMERB, so only two days ago (March 7th) did I receive the notification that I have been medically disqualified on the grounds of "current or history of congenital anomalies of the heart and great vessels" and "Airway hyper responsiveness including asthma, reactive airway disease, exercise-induced bronchospasm or asthmatic bronchitis, reliably diagnosed and symptomatic after the 13th birthday."
I expected to be disqualified because of the asthma. Yes, I had received medication after my thirteenth birthday, and I knew that was an automatic disqualifier. However, I have been off any medication for it for roughly 15 months now and have not had one issue.
I am surprised by the results of the echocardiogram. I am a varsity long-distance and cross country runner for my school and I have never had any complications with my lungs or heart. Because of this, could it be reasonable to say I have a chance at getting a waiver for these things? I've done some reading online about a condition called Athlete's Heart Syndrome, which is essentially the body's natural response to frequent endurance/aerobic exercise, thus thickening the walls of the heart, more or less (from what I understand). Perhaps this is my condition? I do run 40+ miles a week, and if this is the case, it is supposedly healthy in young athletes.
I know I've begun to ramble. I am concerned I won't receive a waiver for these conditions despite my physical fitness, which would suggest neither condition is existent, or at least of consequence. I am also concerned that I've received my results too late, and thus, am starting the waiver process too late. Is it going to take me until July to know where I'm going to school?
Thank you so much for reading. Your input is appreciated.