<p>Just got a call from my son (HS Sophomore) who went in for a physical today in preparation for running Cross Country next year. Doc wants him looked at for what sounds like a possible inguinal hernia. No symptoms and the doc says he can continue to work out, run, go to BSA camp etc for now.</p>
<p>My son's obvious concern is what will this mean down the road when it's DoDMERB time. I found a copy of AR 40-501 Standards of Medical Fitness. It says, in part:</p>
<p>23. Abdominal organs and gastrointestinal system
The causes for rejection for appointment, enlistment, and induction are an authenticated history of: ....
h. Abdominal wall.
(1) Hernia, including inguinal (550), and other abdominal (553), except for small, asymptomatic umbilical or asymptomatic hiatal.</p>
<p>That doesn't sound good.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any experience with this? Does "history" mean "ever"? Not a problem if corrected before age X? Waiverable? </p>
<p>Son is going to to be all over me when I get home wanting to know what this means for his Army career and USMA dreams.</p>
<p>There are A LOT of first go-around DQs for medical issues. However, if things have been fixed and there is no longer a problem, there is usually a good chance (this is all in general, you'd have to talk to the DODMERB guys for specifics) for receiving a medical waiver. I had total ACL replacement surgery on my knee during my Sr. year of high school (a DQ med issue), but due to pursuing the waiver and passing all the medical tests to show that it had healed without problems, I received a medical waiver. My younger brother (soon to be new cadet 2010) had hives at the time of his DODMERB, but he too got a waiver. ALL HOPE IS ABSOLUTELY NOT LOST!! Get it fixed, document everything, insure that once he is completely healed that Dr.'s follow up with a specific documented "this kid is good to go and he's doing all these sports, etc. without issue." If you or he is really concerned, there will be people you can call once the DODMERB time comes around. Just keep excellent documentation. Good luck.</p>
<p>First of all, if a DOCTOR checked him out for a physical why cant he tell whether he has hernia? Its not something hard to figure out. Second, who's he going to get checked out by? If he gets checked out again and doesn't have hernia, then there's no problem. Just do not mention it at the DODMERB physical. They dont care if some doctor 3 years earlier thought someone might have blah blah blah but ended up not having it. another option would be to just not get it checked out. if its never been diagnosed, then he's never had it. Inguinal hernia is painful, if its happening to you then you'd know it. Just my opinion</p>
<p>Most likely when the time rolls around to deal with DODMERB, they will just ask for remedial evaluations. I had to do remedials because I had a run in with a flesh eating disease 10 years back, but as long as you can prove that your son is ok then it is fine. I had to get the hospital records and go back to the same doctor that took care of me when I had the disease. Basically the doctor just signed a form saying that I was perfectly fine and I sent everything into DODMERB and became medically qualified.</p>
<p>mrgreenapple, sorry my first post sounded a bit uncertain. I was going off what my son said on the phone and all he could remember was "something hernia" and a general description. So, when I said "might be", I meant that the hernia diagnosed might be of the inguinal type, might be something else.</p>
<p>I just got off the phone with the pediatrician/family doc that saw him today. He is referring my son to a surgeon for evaluation. He doesn't think it's a big deal but thinks it will need to be repaired "at some point". </p>
<p>Regarding the question of "if it's happening to you, you'd know it", that confused me too. The doc isn't saying he already has a strangulated small intestine or the like, just that the opening never closed as he grew up so the possibility of that exists.</p>
<p>From a person who has had inguinal hernia, I had it for several months and never knew it until I went to the doctors for a physical. About a week after football season my buddies and I were leg pressing and I felt like a pain in my side, but it wasn't anything unbearable so I didn't think anything of it. In February I went to my doctors for a regular check up and I asked him to check it out, thinking maybe it was just some pulled muscle that wasn't getting any better. When he looked at it he instantly sent me to the emergency room to meet a surgon on call to get it fixed. I got there and the surgon said that I was fine and I could get it fixed whenever and my doctor didn't know what he was talking about. (which could be the case for you). I went in got a shot in the back, they fixed it and I was down for about two days, after that I was fine, and a month later I was completly cleared and could do whatever. Hernia isn't that big of a deal and is easy to fix. They just take a mesh patch and put it over the hole and sew you back up.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the feedback. From what some of you have said and from what the family doc has said, it sounds like we'll have some options on when to get this fixed. It makes me wonder if there is a way to get official advise at this point. In others words, can WP or DodMERB tell me "don't get it fixed yet because we are more likely to waive a minor hernia than we are to waive hernia surgery" or "fix it now because that gives you a couple of years to prove that the surgery was successful".</p>
<p>Is there a way to seek such advise before the DoDMERB physical has taken place or a candidate file has even been opened? I'm sure the safe advice is to get good current medical care/advice now then let the application/physical/waiver process take care of itself when the time comes. I just don't want to make a decision for my son that has us playing woulda/coulda/shoulda later.</p>
<p>A quick word about possible disqualifying conditions and DoDMERB. If you have even the slightest belief that your son has a disqualifying condition, he needs to get his DoDMERB physical the first chance he gets. Dealing with DoDMERB and your local DoDMERB physician can be trying and EXTREMELY time consuming. My son's local DoDMERB contracted physician was two inches off on my son's height and listed my son as having a disease he did not have, nor had he ever had. We spent months disproving the allegation that he had the disease by going to private doctors and getting the necessary proof. As soon as we cleared one mystery illness, another medical issue surfaced and we had to get a waiver. In talking to other parents at West Point you need to send everything to DoDMERB by certified mail or Federal Express. They are nice people to deal with, but I am not the only parent that would tell you that they are slow and it seems like they try to find a way to preclude a kid getting into a service academy, rather than helping to find a way to get it to all work out.</p>
<p>My DoDMERB wasn't fun. The people were uncooperative. Had me where my shoes (hiking boots) when I got weighed (I was on the line at the time as far a height-weight) and thus I weighed over about 2.5 lbs and had to go through that body-fat percentage thing...I told them I knew how much my boots weigh (I did, I wrestle so I know how much my clothes weigh, and I knew if I took them off, I could weigh in at 179) I mean had I come in flip-flops I would have passed?? Then when the woman is writing down the information she writes down 192 instead of 181.5. I told her she was wrong and she accused me of trying to cheat on my physical and I could go to jail for that! I made her weigh me again to prove it. Of course this time I was magically 183.5 which rounded up to 184. Later when I was getting the hearing test, she never told me it started. She was talking to me while it was going on and I hear little beeps half way through the test. I finished it and asked to take it again, but she refused. I still passed even missing the first part of the first ear. DoDMERB is no fun at all!!</p>
<p>Note: I am pretty sure the official rules are to have you weighed in your underware or a hospital gown, not full clothing and shoes.</p>
<p>I did my DODMERB at an Army hospital and had none of the problems y'all are talking about...I'm so sorry it was so aggravating and difficult! That being said, start early because they did take a while with processing paperwork.</p>
<p>I also am slightly worried about how flat feet and osgood schlatters will go down the road. Do people with those "conditions" usually get waivers? I just don't want to get through w/ admissions and everything else only to have it taken away because of something i developed a while ago.</p>
<p>Flat feet used to be nonwaiverable; however, it is my understanding that it no longer even requires a waiver. I know I saw plenty of them in active duty members during my sports medicine rotation at a military hospital.</p>
<p>As for osgood schlatter's disease I would probably guess that you would need a waiver for that. It's a not so rare condition that is usually diagnosed in the pediatric population. It appears as though it is waiverable if there are "no residual symptoms." One thing I did with DODMERB (went through it twice, one waiver needed was for knee surgery) was I went back to my Orthopaedist and got a checkup several years later so that he could write in my patient chart that I was fully released and had no limitations or 'residual' symptoms. That way I could submit that to DODMERB. They actually seemed to like that as I never got a nastygram back from them.</p>
<p>almost forgot, make sure you get a good pair of running shoes, you will most likely require a pair that is considered "motion-control" or "stability". I'm not sure if WP issues you running shoes but if they don't go spend some money on a good pair (ie go to a running store). As a member of the military your feet become part of your 'tools of the trade' so spend the money to take care of them.</p>
<p>With flat feet you will be prone to developing various problems including patellar-femoral syndrome (PFS) which make running quite painful and require an extended recovery period, most of these problems can be avoided by proper shoes and proper running technique.</p>