Snow. Please Help - Joint(ankle) Surgery

[CANNON]

How you doing Snow, i've herd in diffrent threads of mine that you can help me with this subject, so please help me if you can.

Im 18 years old right now and about a year and a half back i got into a football accident where the outcome was i needed surgery on my Right Ankle. I had the Surgery done at a Hospital Specialized in Joint surgery for athletes. Now i am at 100% but will this stop me from fufilling my dream of becoming a Navy SEAL. Physically im praying that i will be able to endure the stress BUD/s will put on my ankle. I know Mentally that i will pass BUD/s cause becoming a SEAL is the only thing in life i look foward to. Also will the Navy Medical Boards OK me to go threw BUD/s? and if not should i just lie and say i never had any surgery before? I do have a scar on my ankle from the surgery but im sure i could think of a good enough lie of why the Scar is there.

My real questions are should i tell the medical boards about my injury? and Do you think my ankle will be able to endure BUD/s? Either way im going to try my best when i get there so please be honest.
It is my dream and my goal in life to become a SEAL so thank you for your time.

-Matt

[snow85]

matt, i've read some of your posts and generally speaking, when you have a question, use the advanced search feature before you ask your question. you're duplicating a lot of things that are already on this site.

the answer to your ankle question is that it depends on the injury, the surgery you had, and where you're at now. if you tell me these things, i might be able to give you a better idea.

you 100% need to tell them about the surgery. i don't care what anyone else on this site says-- even if your scar is only an inch long and covered by leg hair, you still need to disclose it.

[Unc0nv3nti0na1]

Sorry, to bug in Snow

Never lie, first and foremost.

Next, if you are 100%, you are 100%.

The Doctors at MEPs will see your scar. Ask you how?When? and if it restricts you? If it doesn't restrict performance, you are good to go.

If you've been on it for a year and a half and had no problems when you've worked out, you should be fine. Make sure you are helping yourself to ankle/lower leg strengthening drills with therapybands or surgical tubing. Or practice writing the alphabet with your big toe if you are still worried about the ankle. Heck, this is good for anyone with/without surgery. You will appreciate the extra strength/endurance of your ankle/lower leg in the soft sand.

Only thing you should have problems with won't show up until a lot later in life. 'This' meaning arthritis in your ankle. Don't worry... that's A LOT later.
Don't let this get you down though.

[CANNON]

Hey Snow sorry it took me so long to get back to you, I have had some family problems which have prevented me from getting on here.

Well I know I had a Fractured Tibea and Fibea and a Fractured Ankle. The result of the fractures' was a plate and 10 screws put into my ankle. A year after that surgery i had another to take one of the bigger screws out, just so it dosent break and stay into my Bone. And a year after the removel of the big screw i had the last surgery which was to extract all the metal out of my ankle. So now i have a natural ankle again that is at 100%. Do you think this will prevent me in any way. Thank you Snow.

And Unc0nv3nti0na1 thank you for your responce its always good to hear that this surgery is not going to prevent me in anyway.

[snow85]

your tibia and fibula are your "ankle." the actual "ankle" itself is made up of some small bones that people rarely break. the plate and screws are normal, and it's good to hear that they're gone.

1. yes, absolutely tell the board.

2. assuming that you had ligament damage, were they repaired?

3. as of what you're written, i don't see any reason why you wouldn't be okay, but they might make you get a waiver. no biggie. again, though, depends on the litgaments. you'll probably have x-rays, outside consults, etc.

no biggie. but again, dependent on the condition of your ligaments.

[snow85]

ps. sorry to hear about your family troubles. hope things are better, are clearing up, or will get better soon. hope you're okay, too.

[CANNON]

Thank You Snow, Ya i think i had pulled or maybe torn some type of Ligaments in my ankle. I know where repaired. Im not sure of the exact ones. One could have been the Achielles tendent but im not 100% sure on that. All I know is I streched/tore ligaments, but as i said before my ankle moves and rotates as it is supposed to.
Thank You for the replies they helped alot.

[IT3IHateSand]

I'm no medical doctor nor do I know what type, if any, waivers your going to require. Everytime someone see's "have you had any surgery" on forms and they have to explain they get worried thinking it's going to disqualify them and it's not the case. When you join the navy they're going to do a complete physical and during that your going to perform a number of movements to make sure that the injury isn't effecting your normal range of movement and your strength is there. Then when you do your dive physical, which is a little more in depth, they will make sure your body can handle the type of training that SEAL, SWCC, EOD, DIVER, do. Then they'll do some more stuff with movement, balance, all kinds of stuff, if you can pass that then you should be fine. I'm sure their main worries would be, A. Re-injuring it, B. range of movement, and C. if it's holding you back in any way, if all those things are fine, then I wouldn't worry about it too much unless a Dive Doctor tells you otherwise.