Out of Tracks
New Member
Greetings all,
I’m a recent NROTC graduate assigned SNFO working through medical hell that just became a lot more hellish.
I have a history of childhood asthma, always mild and as far I can remember it was completely gone after I was about 10 or 11. Given that I’ve spent the last 4 years of NROTC PTing and running just as hard as anyone else without any symptoms I had figured when the time came I would be able to get a waiver easily enough. Additionally, I had another medical issue I feared might disqualify me (which has ended up being a nonissue) that I devoted most of my NAMI worrying time to.
Come time to get the PFT and Methacholine challenge test and all I’m thinking about is how to get the tests and results as soon as possible. I graduated in December after being service assigned in October, can’t commission without being assigned a designator, and SNFO can’t be my designator until medical is out of the way. So waiting for these tests means sitting around, doing nothing and burning cash. After a long wait (COVID delays galore), I went and did the Pulmonary Function Test. Results are normal, now I just need the Methacholine challenge test out of the way. I show up for the Methacholine challenge test. Apparently I have to inhale 5 vials of the stuff and then blow into the mouthpiece after each vial. I feel like it’s going well enough at vial #3, but after vial #4 the nurse informs me that I’ve dropped below 80% of my base value and the procedures say the test has to stop. Obviously this makes me nervous but I figure maybe the point of the test is to keep upping the dosage until some reaction occurs and then measure that.
I’ll spare the sob story but this has been my dream forever and military aviation has pretty much been my primary interest and hobby long as I can remember so getting back home, reading up on the specifics of the Methacholine test and realizing it had very much not gone OK was needless to say not a fun night. It especially hurts that after worrying so much about another medical issue and getting cleared for it I’m potentially getting DQ’d long after I thought I was in the clear.
I've looked around this forum and others but most of what I find is essentially: PFT goes off without a hitch -> Methacholine challenge test goes off without a hitch -> happy ending. I haven’t been able to find any instance of someone else who passed the PFT but not the Methacholine challenge. I’m sorry this is such a wordy post but hopefully the apparent uniqueness of my situation justifies it. One thing I’m hoping is that the fact I’ve been assigned SNFO and not SNA might help my case but as far I can tell the only differences between NAMI’s Class I and Class II standards are related to eyesight.
Any input is appreciated as I really have no idea what happens next, at the very least I’m hoping I can retake the test again instead of just getting the big red X from NAMI with no further discussion.
I’m a recent NROTC graduate assigned SNFO working through medical hell that just became a lot more hellish.
I have a history of childhood asthma, always mild and as far I can remember it was completely gone after I was about 10 or 11. Given that I’ve spent the last 4 years of NROTC PTing and running just as hard as anyone else without any symptoms I had figured when the time came I would be able to get a waiver easily enough. Additionally, I had another medical issue I feared might disqualify me (which has ended up being a nonissue) that I devoted most of my NAMI worrying time to.
Come time to get the PFT and Methacholine challenge test and all I’m thinking about is how to get the tests and results as soon as possible. I graduated in December after being service assigned in October, can’t commission without being assigned a designator, and SNFO can’t be my designator until medical is out of the way. So waiting for these tests means sitting around, doing nothing and burning cash. After a long wait (COVID delays galore), I went and did the Pulmonary Function Test. Results are normal, now I just need the Methacholine challenge test out of the way. I show up for the Methacholine challenge test. Apparently I have to inhale 5 vials of the stuff and then blow into the mouthpiece after each vial. I feel like it’s going well enough at vial #3, but after vial #4 the nurse informs me that I’ve dropped below 80% of my base value and the procedures say the test has to stop. Obviously this makes me nervous but I figure maybe the point of the test is to keep upping the dosage until some reaction occurs and then measure that.
I’ll spare the sob story but this has been my dream forever and military aviation has pretty much been my primary interest and hobby long as I can remember so getting back home, reading up on the specifics of the Methacholine test and realizing it had very much not gone OK was needless to say not a fun night. It especially hurts that after worrying so much about another medical issue and getting cleared for it I’m potentially getting DQ’d long after I thought I was in the clear.
I've looked around this forum and others but most of what I find is essentially: PFT goes off without a hitch -> Methacholine challenge test goes off without a hitch -> happy ending. I haven’t been able to find any instance of someone else who passed the PFT but not the Methacholine challenge. I’m sorry this is such a wordy post but hopefully the apparent uniqueness of my situation justifies it. One thing I’m hoping is that the fact I’ve been assigned SNFO and not SNA might help my case but as far I can tell the only differences between NAMI’s Class I and Class II standards are related to eyesight.
Any input is appreciated as I really have no idea what happens next, at the very least I’m hoping I can retake the test again instead of just getting the big red X from NAMI with no further discussion.
