Injuries between acceptance and OCS

[Aaron Lee]

When I finally signed the paperwork for OCS, I had to fill out a sheet asking if I had visited a physician since my medical exam. Luckily I hadn't but I noticed that there was a ton of paperwork necessary if I had checked yes. I'm sure I'll have to fill this same stuff out when I arrive at OCS.

If I suffer a minor injury requiring a doctor, such as stitches, sprains, etc...will this possibly keep me from OCS next year? Will I be required to undergo a follow up medical exam for any time I visit a doctor? Do they even care if I visit a doctor as long as it's not a broken bone or a blown knee? I guess I'm just trying to figure out if I should ease back on the some of the sports I'm involved with if there's a chance it could cost me my pilot slot.

Thanks for any info or experiences you may have had.

 

[dhafeman]

Since the last time I have seen my recruiter I injured my shoulder and have been going to physical therapy. I haven't even told the Navy about it and I report next month. I imagine it will just cause me to have to fill out more paper work. Now if you have to go see a doctor because of a heart problem, then you have problems.

 

[ScottHook]

Yeah, what about seeing a doctor about shin splints? I'm getting a bone scan on monday, and its probably going to be negative for stress fractures. So I don't think they should even care. Or am I off base here?

 

[dhafeman]

Even if you do have a stress fracture, why would they care as long as you heal and are healthy enough to survive OCS. Will having shin splints impede on your ability to push down the rudder? Now if you required surgery, that's something differnt.

 

[Meridiani]

Scott, your recruiter will care, and if you don't let her know about it, and you have a recurrence of the shin splints at OCS, you may care about it too. I emailed my recruiter to let him know that I was getting a bone scan for my shin splints, and he asked me to fax him all the supporting medical docs once the problem has been resolved. That way, if something comes up in OCS, you save yourself time, and your recruiter an a!@ chewing, if you have all the documents in hand.

 

[NuSnake]

I broke my foot about 2 months ago. When I told my recruiter he just told me to take it easy and make sure it gets COMPLETELY better. But we were told at our last DEP meeting that if we get hurt to make sure we tell him just so he knows. If youre still hurt at the time of your OCS date then it will probably get pushed back.

 

[bisouss69]

Why the military wants to know what medical issues you have before you enter.. 1) if you are medically fit to serve 2) anything while you are on active duty that occurs that didnt before... (that you didnt indicate before you came in) if you retire or possibly get a medical discharge and get medically compensated for the rest of your life.. ex. corple tunnle, deafness,bad back, knees,some kind of disease MS, etc. If you indicated before you came in that you had a bad back, or some kind of injury to that effect that cause you to have a bad back... they can say.. well this wasnt a cause of the navy (though the navy made it worse -probably) and they wont give you any money for it.

 

[bart27]

Keep in mind, unless you paid cash to see a doctor, if the Navy wishes to know something regarding your medical history, they will find what they need. Using medical insurance makes things really easy to track. Personally, I would prefer not to be discharged for falsifying my medical history. Be honest, but dont raise red flags if not needed. My 2 cents.

 

[aoconnor]

A couple months ago I bent over to pick up my cat and ruptured a disc in my lower back - at least according to the MRI. Anyhow, I still run, pushup, situps, etc.. Doesn't seem to bother me. I told my recruiter and he basically said be carefull and don't make it worse. The doctor said that it will go away, and that I should keep up the PT.

I am thinking on doing some yoga to make my back more flexible. I figure that just as long as it doesn't bother me, and I can still PT there was no reason to not let the Navy know about it. As of now its no big deal - and am going to make sure it stays that way.

 

[ScottHook]

Maybe get that cat to start doing some PT with you, just kidding. Thanks for the advice to all. I've got a bone scan tomorrow but won't know the results until next week.

 

[dolfinsafe]

I guess I didn't even think about it, but now that you mention it... I have to swear-in next week and do all that lovely paperwork.

I had hurt my heel and knee since my last PRT and had to go to phys. therapy. for like 2 months.
So now I guess I better get all the supporting med docs to have ready, as you said, because it seems I will need them to be OK'd at OCS even if its months from now and I am OK and PT'ing.
Thanks!

 

[msmith]

I had emergency surgery for appendicitis two weeks before my OCS class date in June. I called my recruiters right before I went into surgery. They were able to take care of everything quickly and now I class up 18 OCT. If you don't let them know you will have a lot of questions to answer later. By letting them know early someone else can take your OCS date and you can get quickly scheduled for a new one. Dont waste everyones time by going down and gettting disqualified.

 

[OCSNW]

I was scheduled for OCS 14 June and I sprained my ankle 28 May. I just happened to mention to my recruiter that I was taking a couple days off from running because of it. A week after I hurt my ankle a Warrant Officer had me go to a doctor, who sent me to physical therapy for a month. After all that I needed clearence from the dr and the pt to be "allowed" to run again, then get clearence to go to OCS.

All of this got me pushed back to 1 Nov (the next available class date.) Two weeks ago someone got around to reading the release from the pt and it said I needed an ankle brace for and physical training. I got a call saying that would disqualify me and if I didn't get a new release I would be put on a medical hold. I went to the pt today and did some running and mobility drills and I got a new note.

My advice is don't say a word about any small injuries unless you are going to the doctor anyways.

 

[wink]

Frankly this all sounds like alot of talk about whether to be honest or not. I shouldn't have to suggest to a bunch of officer selectees what the right thing to do is. The most important question in the orignal post hasn't been answered. If you are selected and in DEP you should reduce any chance for physical injury before OCS!! PT commensurate with that required for OCS, carefully. Avoid things like intramural football, snow sking, sky diving, motocross riding, rodeo, etc. If you can't refrain from out of bounds snow sking to help insure the opportunity of a life time then you better rethink your priorities.