Yet Another Asthma Post

FightOnToVictory

10-Year Member
5-Year Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2008
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41
First, I wanted to say that I am truly sorry to any person who is looking at this post and thinking...'Its another asthma kid who didn't read the rules'

I did read the rules and I wanted to explain my situation so that I could get a feel for my chances of getting a waiver.

When I was 6 I started playing soccer, my parents observed that I mightbe having breathing problems (or it could have been the fact that I had never played sports before then) Anyways, they asked the pediatrician what he thought and he sugsted taking me to an asthma doctor which they did.

The asthma doctor we were refererd to was alright at first, but being in South Florida, the office was paranoid about being sued and they wanted you to be on as much medicine as you possibly could. Every appontment, which had to be scheduled every 3 months, was documented in no less than 7 sheets of paper, to make sure that nothing was missed.

I never had a problem with asthma after that. I continued to play sports off and on during elementary school and middle school and never had an issue. In high school I run triathlons, cycle, and am on the Varsity Swimming and Water Polo Teams, Varsity every year.

When I turned 12, the doctor suddenly realized that I had never been officially diagnosed with asthma and because of some of the criterias for the medicine that I was taking, there was a rush to get me diagnosed. they took me out into the hallway of the office and had me run back and forth for 15 miniutes straight (remember I was 12 and it was my offseason from soccer, and I was a little bit overweight) When they had me stop they started asking me questions like "Does your chest feel tight?" and "Would you feel better if you took your inhaler?" I answered yes to them and the diagnosed me with asthma.

When I was 14 or 15 i recieved my first USMA letter. I had known i wanted to go there since i was little bcause 2 of my uncles and a cousin had gone there already. There was a mention of the asthma rule and i read into it, realizing that I might be disqualified. The next time we went back to the allergist I asked if I could go off of my meds because didn't really feel like I needed them. At first they refused, ut eventually we convinced them, but they were not happy about it and things began to show up in my records like: Patient "claims" to be having no problems. On one page it even says: Patient wants to go to a military school? Demands to be taken off meds.

After I went off the meds I had a chest x-ray and a spirometer testthat showed without medicine that my lungs were functioning at normal levels.

I was disqualified for asthma and I'm tyring to figure out the next step. DoDMERB asked for all my medical records since age 10, which included over 200 pages of asthma stuff because of these doctors, What should I do now? There is nothing wrong with me, and I prove it through my sports and active lifestlye. What are the chances for me getting a waiver for any of the academies since I am applying to USMA USNA and USAFA?
 
There is no one out there but me that is qualified to respond from a point of knowledge on your post. Do provide you an accurate assessment, you should send me your posting to Larry.Mullen@dodmerb.tma.osd.mil with your full name and Last 4 of your SSN:thumb:
 
Bro been there done that...my son's story is similar to yours...without going into the gory details, he is about to take that walk up the stage next May in New London and high-five VP Joe Biden. Fight on. :thumb:
 
Our gory details took until 13 May 2008 to clear up, and many tests, but daughter is now a USNA Plebe.
 
For everyone's information --- I have been in this position for 17 years---and have seen thousands of cases----therefore, my qualifications to provide accurate respones from a factual standpoint, is unparalleled. That said, the individuals that resply to the Forum, can provided information from their particular viewpoint. Only they can state their positions accurately.

Each case is reviewed individually. Some waiver decisions are tougher to achieve than others. Many waivers are granted, some are not. There is NO trend or applicability across the board. :thumb:
 
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