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MEPS Issues

BusyBee604

St. Francis/Hugh Hefner Combo!
pilot
Super Moderator
Contributor
A little short notice, I know, but my blood tests are tomorrow. Any special directions that anyone knows about, ie, are you not supposed to eat the morning of? anyone have any experience with their blood tests?
Not really a test you can prepare for...
In my experience... many, many blood tests the last several years, my instructions were ALWAYS: No food or liquids (except H2O), after 6pm previous evening. These were all non-military labs, so YMMV. They made a special point of NO ALC8HOL!
BzB
 

picklesuit

Dirty Hinge
pilot
Contributor
Call your recruiter, but I don't think I had to fast until I did long form flight physical. Just don't have any alcohol in your system, they do a breathalyzer at MEPS too.
Pickle
 

Kyler Boeck

Pro-rec SWO waiting for FS
Fasting is usually just for checking to see if you have diabetes or if you are having a surgery. MEPS does not do anything that requires fasting, I had a huge breakfast right before I went to MEPS. Don't worry about the food part and you should keep hydrated(helps with the blood and urine test).
 

Renegade One

Well-Known Member
None
Any special directions that anyone knows about, ie, are you not supposed to eat the morning of? anyone have any experience with their blood tests?
Good answers above…anytime you are going to take a "Fasting Blood Test"…they'll tell you in advance. Same with alcohol…there was a time when Annual Physicals were "no alcohol for 72 hours"…again, you'd be told.

No worries…your red stuff is probably good. I certainly wouldn't get hammered the night before. Mostly, I think, they want a peek at your cholesterol, blood glucose, yadda yadda yadda.
 

elliottm2

Member
oh jeez, thanks renegade one, I was about to do a power hour ......... just kidding, thanks for the advice, all.
 

Duke19

New Member
My situation seems to be unique based off the lurking I have done on this site. In 2009 I had a a skin cancer(melanoma) spot removed from my upper back. Thankfully the borders were clear and it did not spread elsewhere, no chemo or any further treatment was needed. I now have my eyes set on becoming a naval flight officer and am in the process of putting my package together. My question is whether or not this is something that can receive a waiver? What can I do to help my recruiter obtain the waiver?
 

ltedge46

Lost in the machine
None
Not sure how it will affect your ability to pass your initial medical exam but it is waiverable. I had one removed in 2005 from my back, borders and lymph nodes were clear. Flight doc said that it required an annual waiver which he submitted during my annual flight physical as long as I got an all clear from the dermatologist. I think the waiver was required for 10 years at which point I would be considered cured if there was nothing new. It may be tougher to get an initial waiver, your best bet is to ask a flight doc or talk to an officer recruiter.

On another opersonal note, melanoma is a nasty disease that will return when you least expect it in a spot where you least expect it. I would recommend you get yearly CT scans in addition to skin checks from a dermatologist. Sometimes the next place it shows up is inside where you won't see it until it's too late and a chest X-Ray may not see it either. Again I speak from experience. Wear your sunblock daily and stay out of the sun as much as you can.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
It is something that according to the medical manual can be waiverable, whether it will or not is up to the doc at N3M but that is out of your hands, what you can do though is get all the documents pertaining to this medical condition and give them to your OR, this is the first thing you should do.
 

Duke19

New Member
Thank you I appreciate everyone's insight. I have all the documentation for my OR and my oncologist said she will to write me a letter stating her opinion(favorable) on the matter.
 

DavidVega

New Member
Hi All,

I'm just about ready to set-up my medical evaluation. I filled out on my medical paperwork (given by my recruiter) that I broke my arm (11 years old) and received corrective eye surgery (4 years old). My recruiter says I should provide x-rays, doctor's notes, and the like to show the board that those injuries have been cleared and are no longer issues.

I'm now 22 years old. My problem is since those injuries happened so long ago, I have no idea on how to get that medical info, nor do my parents. We can't remember the hospitals or the doctors I visited because we've moved around a lot.

Has anyone experienced something similar to this before? I would greatly appreciate any advice. I also apologize in advance if someone already posted something on this topic. A nudge to a previous thread would also be appreciated.

Thanks in advance and take care,

David
 

UW14

Member
I was in a bit of a similar situation. I had Lyme meningitis, Lyme carditis, and developed a penicillin allergy when I was about 7 years old. I did't have any documentation at all so I had to get an EKG done on my own dime and fill out a few handwritten statements about what happened. I went through MEPS back in October after a bit of hassle but it worked out alright. It probably all depends on the severity of what happened to you (and if there are lasting effects ect) but I would expect you'd have to do something similar to what I did. Of course, I could be wrong so talking to your recruiter or one on here is probably your best bet. Good luck.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
I am guessing your recruiter is new, if not you are in for an interesting journey.

MEPS and N3M will not take x-rays from a non contracted facility, so those don't matter, did you require pins/plates/screws? if not just a description of what happened should suffice as MEPS is easy on simple fractures, and given the time that has passed those records are probably gone, records are only required to be kept for 7 years, and if you aren't an active patient they will go away, if MEPS needs more they will have a consult done.

your eyes are a different story and that is going to be difficult if the records weren't transferred, people are DQ for eye issues more than you think, what was the surgery for?
 

DavidVega

New Member
Broken arm just required a cast. It healed fine. Eye surgery was for lazy eye. Now, I wear glasses and have a stigmatism in my left eye.

Thanks for replying so fast!
 
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