<p>Hello everybody, I am 15 so I have a couple of years before I can apply for the AFA but just recently out of nowhere I have been having breathing problems. I went to the doctor today and did a bunch of tests and I am having to take some medications fo broncho-spasms I think it it. I saw on the AFA website that history of exercise-induced broncho-spasms after the 13th birthday is disqualifying but I am not sure if what I have is exercise induced. If this thing blows away in just a couple of weeks or something then would it affect my chances of getting into the academy or what? My family has absolutely no history of asthma or anything and I am 15 so I don’t think this breathing problem will last long. I kinda want to know because I am a c/1st Lt. in CAP and run varsity cross country with a homeschool team and I think I am set up for atleast getting a chance at getting a spot in the Academy but I am afraid this broncho-spasm thing may have disqualified me from ever getting into the Academy. If anyone can give me advice it would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>Hi turk3y! Sorry, this may not be very helpful at all because I'm not exactly sure about broncho-spasms, but my brother ended up getting denied an appointment to the Naval Academy because of asthma. He got an LOA and two different nominations but when they found out that he used to have asthma, it was a no-go. He was a varsity wrestler and didn't have any problems in high school with it; got a letter from his coach and doctor, too. I don't think they like to take chances with breathing problems. But that's asthma, I don't know about the spasms. Sorry. I hope it all works out for you. :) (And there is a medical waiver process, too, if it does become a problem.)</p>
<p>Here's the thing. I don't know if your condition is disqualifying or not, but I have a couple people in my squadron who got in with waivers for breathing/heart/back issues, but now they're getting complicated because of basic and all the training, and they're looking at getting sent home after going through all of this.</p>
<p>Keep trying by all means, but don't push the envelope if your condition gets bad...you'll likely end up back home after getting through everything, which can be very horrible.</p>
<p>I have a long history of bronchitis, sinisitus, and pneumonia. No bronchospasms, but it concerned them. I went and did a pulmonary test for my lungs and my results were well above the 100% range for volumes, and velocities for my size and age. They will probably ask for that. MAYBE a methacholine test if the other is marginal. Once I had the lung test, that cleared all potential disqualifications. Don't worry too much, concentrate on getting better and solving the problem, that's more important now.</p>
<p>I can say ditto to hornetguys post. My son had the same history. He ended up taking the methycholine challenge test and it cleared him.</p>
<p>Well the way the doctor told me my condition seemed like she thought it may just be an allergic reaction since there was a a ton of rain around the time my symptons started up (last Sunday.) I have been getting increasingly better over the week anyways without any medical help (just went to the doctor today.) She thought it also may be my brain playing tricks on me too making me think I need to take bigger breathes since my oxygen level in my blood is 99%. Also whenever I don't think about it at all and I am doing things that distract my mind like video games I feel totally normal. I am pretty sure this is just a temporary one time thing.</p>
<p>they'll look at your record first, so ask that your doctor doesn't put anything down that he/she isn't completely sure about. I was DQd because of eczema, which I don't actually have at all, but since a doctor once wrote that they thought I could have it and I wrote that I thought I had it thinking it wouldn't be an issue, it was an issue. I went to the doctor and saw it turns out I never had it, they mixed it up with something else which is completely harmless, but they assumed history of it. I lost my ROTC scholarship because of this, they have a zero-waiver policy with eczema, but for some reason the Academy gave me the go-ahead and I'm here as a sophomore and love it. Risky business though. I had asthma as a kid, but since I was never reliably diagnosed (aka they gave me inhalers for it, but I was never tested for asthma and officially diagnosed, just "asthma?" with the ? was written in my record once, it was not an issue...). Keep trying if you get DQd. My mother and I worked really hard to get the waiver and eventually did. Lots of calling. And keep up your hope. I wasn't accepted until late April early May because of this stuff. Never too late until basic begins! haha good luck!!</p>
<p>Sometimes doctors seem to prescribe medications just to see how they might affect you. Be really careful about that. A lot of the medical discussion around here seems to involve past prescriptions for inhalers and that sort of thing. Once it's prescribed DODMERB seems to accept that as a condition. If your doctor gives or wants to give you a prescription, you might ask if he/she thinks it's really needed or not. If the condition clears up without medication that may well make a waiver easier or unnecessary. Many medical DQ's seem to result from a paper trail that is hard to explain in a way that is favorable to the candidate.</p>