Originally Posted by
ChuckECheese
I was a military instructor pilot for 9 years and I can promise you, they are asking that question because they want to know if you have asthma. I was on a trip once passing through Germany on a layover heading down range. I slept with my billeting room window open that night. Unbeknownst to me, there was a Russian Thistle tree outside and I woke up in the middle of the night wheezing and having a hard time breathing. They rushed me to Landstuhl medical center for a breathing treatment and gave me an inhaler. They never even grounded me. The flight surgeon said, "Oh well, you must be allergic to something by billeting. Don't sleep with your window open." My point is anyone can have a wheezing episode if you breath too much of the wrong thing. They want to make sure you don't have chronic asthma and COPD. The military does not prosecute people or give dishonorable discharges for things like that. You just tell the that you thought they were asking if you have asthma?
That is reassuring to hear. I absolutely do NOT have asthma or COPD.
The results came back from my appointment to an allergist that I have a "slight allergy" to wheat. I am a little perplexed by that since I eat lots of wheat products every day. I have another appointment with my allergist today to go over the results. My recruiter told me to get him to write something to submit with my MEPS paperwork saying the allergy will not be a hindrance to military training.
The very last Yes/No on the MEPS pre-screen says "Any illnesses, surgery, or hospitalization not listed above". Would an ER visit constitute as hospitalization? I was there for a coupe of hours to get some kind of shot (steroid?) and for them to monitor my breathing afterwards. This happened a few times in high school and twice in college due to the aforementioned food allergy. I am scared that even though my doctor will (hopefully) say it's not a problem anymore (which is truthful...last reaction was 2009 and I now apparently eat daily what my allergist says I have an allergy to), the MEPS doc will want to see my medical records from those hospital visits and see that wheezing was an issue. If the ER visit doesn't count as hospitalization, then there is nowhere to disclose my food allergy and I should be good to go. Thoughts?
I'll be devastated if I am kept from my dream job because of something that seems to be a non-issue now.