patella femoral syndrome BUMED

[rwilliams]

Situation:
DEPed in to the navy under the job aircrew. Took the PST and passed no problem. Got all the paper work for the switch to SEAL contract in order and sent it off to CNRC in Tennessee. After being reviewed there it came back denied. Reason for the denial was my knee and it was a BUMED denial. Had patella femoral syndrome, http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/633/main.html when I was 16 (19 now), with rest and cross training went away in about a month. No pain at all since then, running about 6 miles a day. Got a waiver for it after being BUMED at MEPS. Basically I was wondering if there is anything I can do, any kind of loophole, etc. to get the SEAL contract approved. The only things I could think would be: Send a letter to CNRC or the Naval Special Warfare Command. Or, get a test to show that this ailment has gone away. Have an Orthopedic appointment on april 28th, if he clears me hopefully this will all disappear. If anybody has any other suggestions they would be greatly appreciated. Either post em on hear or email me ryan89012345@yahoo.com

Thanks Ryan Williams

[knock28]

Just wondering how the visit went and what your status is? I too at one point had PFS (or at least that's what they diagnosed me with).

Good luck with everything,

TIM

[rwilliams]

yeah, the visit went fine. Doc did some basic tests and told me there was no longer a problem. From what he told me PFS is a real temporary thing kinda like shin splints, a lot of people have it and it goes away fairly quickly. after talking with my SEAL mentor we decided that two ortho consults would be best so I have another ortho on thursday, then a chiropractor on friday. not sure what exactly the chiro can do but it's a doctor that can write a letter saying my knee is fine so I figuired it couldn't hurt. also have some letters of recommendation/proof of physical fitness coming from some places I did PT and from a Capt that my family knows. so hopefully around the second week in May I'll have all the letters and reports and can send the DAR to change to SEAL contract again. I'll put a post up once we see how it turns out.

[knock28]

Good luck with all paperwork and whatnot.

It's a good thing you didn't go to my ortho. He told me I would have to give up running because I would never fully recover and it would just continue getting worse. I can't believe he would feed people crap like that.

I'll be waiting to see how it all goes.

TIM

[tyco1983]

First off, mildly curious-why was the Navy aware that you had some knee pain 3 years ago? Patella Femoral Syndrome is a common overuse injury that most runners have experienced at one time or another in their running career. That's like reporting a rolled ankle that happened several years back-if you aren't still suffering from it and never underwent surgery, why would you mention it? Had it been surgery or something serious, I could understand. Not being guaranteed a SEAL contract shouldn't prevent you from joining up to go to BUD/S. It simply means that once you arrive in Great Lakes, you had better be prepared to work hard and post a competitive PFT score in order to secure a spot at BUD/S for yourself. I wasn't given a Challenge contract back when I enlisted because of my terrible eyesight. I enlisted, competitively finished the PFT just like any motivated wannabe should-and wound up at BUD/S after A school in Pensacola.

[rwilliams]

yeah, I didn't tell them, I actually didn't know that I had ever even been diagnosed with it. I went to the doctor just to make sure that it was not something that I needed to stop playing football and get treatment for, but never knew he actually diagnosed me with something. I thought it was kinda like a shin splint type injury that hurts a little bit, but will just go away on it's own. The reason MEPS found out was that I did voluntarily report having a broken foot. Figured if I ever did something to my foot or ankle region and they did X-rays, they would see the calcified bone and look at my Med docs and see that I never reported it and that could cause some problems. On the med docs about my foot were the med docs for my knee injury. looking back on it, I should have made those reports disappear at the hotel the night before. I've got 6 letters coming that I'm going to send up to get the contract reviewed again. 3 from docs and 3 from places I did PT or other strenuous activity at. so hopefully I can get that contract, but like you said, if that doesn't do it I am definitively going to volunteer after boot. I think there's some other ways also, my mentor has said he has some different angles I can take if I cant get one. I'll post up once I hear back from CNRC and BUMED.

[jmason]

Shipmate of mine has PFS or something like it! Strong mentally and physically... just has a damn knee problem! Through knee strengthening appointments and exercises it just will not subside... he will be needing surgery to correct the problem with a 85% chance it will fix it... if he doesnt get his knee fixed he is out of the Navy... MED SEP! No BUD/s for him...

Its a big deal one little problem with your knee in the past then BAM it comes back because your knee didnt fully heal or something to that nature... try your best with those letters of recommendation but its ultimately up to the NAVY if they want to GAMBLE placing someone into the most physically demanding program with history of a knee problem! Good luck to you man!

[montstar]

If it was the federal doctors at MEPS that refused to sign the waiver then thats not uncommon. You'd have a tough time getting those guys to sign something saying they had a mother. The NSW/NSO program coordinator or supervisor in your NRD should be most knowledgeable in regards to waivers. I'd talk to them and pressure them to do everything in their power to help you out.

[rwilliams]

jmason- yeah it dosen't seem like my case was nearly as severe as your buddies. I just stayed away from bleacher runs and squats, and did more biking instead of running and it went away and never came back. after talking with some guys at the Y that do sports med. they said that Olympic athletes get it and then go on to compete in the Olympics, so if people can get this and then go on to the Olympics, then I would think that it shouldn't keep me outta BUD/s. but regardless it's up to the Docs at BUMED in DC, so well see.

monstar- it was the Doc at MEPS that made me get the waiver for it to enlist, then when the DAR to SEAL went off to CNRC it got denied by the Docs at BUMED in DC. Wish I would have known that I even had this injury before hand so I could have prepared a defense to try to not get a waiver, but it's too late now, so I'm just praying that these letters convince BUMED that I am G2G.

I'll post up when I hear back, should be getting the last 2 letters around WED so thursday I should be able to send it out.

[montstar]

Well in that case you will definitely need to be cleared for full duty by a civilian doctor before any type of waiver is approved. When you say "but never knew he actually diagnosed me with something", I would try to get a full release from the guy who diagnosed you with PFS, if possible.

[rwilliams]

Well in that case you will definitely need to be cleared for full duty by a civilian doctor before any type of waiver is approved. When you say "but never knew he actually diagnosed me with something", I would try to get a full release from the guy who diagnosed you with PFS, if possible.

yup that's what I did, went back to him last week, he did some tests and said that my knee is fine. just waiting on his letter and meddocs. he couldn't believe that I was denied because of that injury.

[rwilliams]

Just got word today, SEAL contract approved! took 3 doc letters, 3 personal letters of recommendation and 1 "Why SEALS" handwritten statement. Haven't seen the exact ship date yet, but it should be somewhere near Aug 15 which was my ship date under AIRC/RS. Thanks for everyone's help!

[bigv123]

Congrats! Well done and GL :)

V

[knock28]

Congrats man! I haven't had internet lately but have been wondering what your status was. Good luck, and keep us posted on how your knee holds up and everything else.

Any recommendations for someone who had PFS and is planning on enlisting soon?

TIM