Temporary NPQ and looking for advice

[Turkleton]

On the day my recruiter guessed that I'd be getting my final select, he instead called me with the news that I am "temporarily NPQ". I went through MEPS earlier in February and I thought that the doctors had signed off on me and I was in the clear.

Here's the situation: I got a partial MCL tear in July 2005. No surgery or physical therapy was required for the injury, just rest. The injury was still nagging in April 2006. I had another MRI done. They decided I had meniscus damage as well, and that I should have surgery for that. The surgery found that there was no meniscus damage (great news, but unneccessary surgery, grr:icon_rage). Afterwards, the doctor recommended physical therapy which was the best thing that ever happened to me. I recovered over time, and I continue to do lots of stretching and strength training to this day.

The MEPS doctor wanted all the medical documentation from the injury, which I supplied. At MEPS, the doctor seemed to sign off on my chart and wished me luck. A couple weeks passed and now I've been notified of this temporary NPQ. According to my recruiter, all I need to do is fax a letter to the processor. The letter is supposed to describe my daily exercise routines, and attest to the fact that I am fully recovered with full range of motion, no complications, etc. I have no problem doing this. I just wanted to run my situation by you wonderful AirWarriors in case any of you have been through this or have any advice otherwise for what to put in the letter, etc.

I'm on the verge of getting accepted to OCS after a long and arduous process, and I just want to tread carefully. It would be tragic to somehow mess it up at this stage in the game. Thanks.

 

[DSL1990]

On the day my recruiter guessed that I'd be getting my final select, he instead called me with the news that I am "temporarily NPQ". I went through MEPS earlier in February and I thought that the doctors had signed off on me and I was in the clear.

Here's the situation: I got a partial MCL tear in July 2005. No surgery or physical therapy was required for the injury, just rest. The injury was still nagging in April 2006. I had another MRI done. They decided I had meniscus damage as well, and that I should have surgery for that. The surgery found that there was no meniscus damage (great news, but unneccessary surgery, grr:icon_rage). Afterwards, the doctor recommended physical therapy which was the best thing that ever happened to me. I recovered over time, and I continue to do lots of stretching and strength training to this day.

The MEPS doctor wanted all the medical documentation from the injury, which I supplied. At MEPS, the doctor seemed to sign off on my chart and wished me luck. A couple weeks passed and now I've been notified of this temporary NPQ. According to my recruiter, all I need to do is fax a letter to the processor. The letter is supposed to describe my daily exercise routines, and attest to the fact that I am fully recovered with full range of motion, no complications, etc. I have no problem doing this. I just wanted to run my situation by you wonderful AirWarriors in case any of you have been through this or have any advice otherwise for what to put in the letter, etc.

I'm on the verge of getting accepted to OCS after a long and arduous process, and I just want to tread carefully. It would be tragic to somehow mess it up at this stage in the game. Thanks.

if this is so important to you, maybe you should have your own doctor/specialist write a letter also saying you are completely recovered and that he sees no reason you shouldn't able to to perform physically in hard PT.

 

[Turkleton]

Done. A letter from my doctor was required before I even went to MEPS. Now they just want one from me.

 

[phrogpilot73]

Done. A letter from my doctor was required before I even went to MEPS. Now they just want one from me.

Then it seems pretty simple to me. Write them a letter.

 

[Turkleton]

Yeah I'm definitely going to write the letter. And, yes, it is fairly simple. The advice that I'm looking for is more like, from those who have had experience with this, what should I make sure to put in the letter? What are they looking for exactly?

If I can make sure to stress certain aspects of the letter, then I can rest a little easier knowing that they have everything they need... I don't know maybe you have a point and this isn't such a big deal. Can someone who has been through this confirm that its no big deal?

 

[DSL1990]

Yeah I'm definitely going to write the letter. And, yes, it is fairly simple. The advice that I'm looking for is more like, from those who have had experience with this, what should I make sure to put in the letter? What are they looking for exactly?

If I can make sure to stress certain aspects of the letter, then I can rest a little easier knowing that they have everything they need... I don't know maybe you have a point and this isn't such a big deal. Can someone who has been through this confirm that its no big deal?

although yours is for MEPS, there is advice on the content of letters for medical review boards on the DODMERD forum on serviceacademyforums.com. that might help you.

 

[BACONATOR]

I was temporarily NPQ. I then got another blood test (what was needed by them) submitted it and Final Select soon after. This isn't the end. Do what your recruiter told you to, and you should be good to go. No worries.

 

[Turkleton]

Alright, thanks guys

 

[shotcalla10]

thread jack.hello everyone... I just got done with my week 2 here in Newport. man, you guys weren't kidding when you said OCS sucks haha. I also passed my flight physical and the flight surgeon said he'll make a note that I'm PQed for both Pilot and NFO and told me to speak to an administrative person to see if I can switch to Pilot since I was NPQed pre-OCS. anyway, just wanted to say hello. I'm just taking it a day at a time. next big evolution... RLP... sucks. Met skim here too. cool guy.

 

[MasterBates]

How are these OCSers getting on AW this early? We had ZERO computer access until much later, and even then it was just for email home, banking, etc.

 

[BACONATOR]

How are these OCSers getting on AW this early? We had ZERO computer access until much later, and even then it was just for email home, banking, etc.

This is a VERY new change because in Pcola, we didn't even SEE the computer room until right before RLP (discrepancy list typed up for inspection)
and we didn't get to use them for even personal use until like week 4 or 5. Even then, we were warned to use it for banking/personal issues and only got to use it for "fun" on liberty (if you were dumb enough to stay in batt). As for email....well... NETC interweb didn't allow email..:icon_rage

 

[cbduke]

Back to the original post - I was in a very similar situation to yours going into ROTC. I "partially" tore my ACL during my junior year in high school (an unfortunate skiing accident), and after a round of physical therapy, my orthopedic surgeon decided I didn't need surgery. Basically, even without an ACL in my right knee, I had full stability, full range of motion, and checked out fine on all those knee tests they have.

After submitting my DODMERB physical, I was caught up in an ACL waiver mess for about 6 months. At the end of the day, the waiver request package that went to BUMED had a comprehensive letter from my orthopedic surgeon (who was actually a navy doc), a letter from the head orthopedic surgeon at USNA (who determined it was actually a complete ACL tear but I had full range of motion etc), every document on my knee starting with the day I went to the emergency room, a letter from my high school ski team coach stating that I was back to competitive skiing, and a letter that I wrote respectfully requesting the waiver. That was all pretty easy to dig up - the long and painful part was waiting for it to get through BUMED. Thankfully, I found out the day I started ROTC Orientation that I was PQ'd with an ACL waiver and I haven't had a single issue since then (5.5 years later, still going strong).

As for your waiver package - just write the letter, respectfully request the waiver, and tell them the truth - your knee is fine, you have no instability, you are able to fully participate in all of your daily activities, PT, etc, whatever the case may be. I actually got to the point post-physical therapy where I couldn't remember which knee I had screwed up - so I told them that too.

Good luck! Dealing with the Docs isn't always fun, but at the end of the day, its worth it!

 

[scottwith1t]

Yeah I'm definitely going to write the letter. And, yes, it is fairly simple. The advice that I'm looking for is more like, from those who have had experience with this, what should I make sure to put in the letter? What are they looking for exactly?

If I can make sure to stress certain aspects of the letter, then I can rest a little easier knowing that they have everything they need... I don't know maybe you have a point and this isn't such a big deal. Can someone who has been through this confirm that its no big deal?

I had to write a letter because of something a surgeon had written in my patient notes for some work I had done in my mouth. Basically he said he recommended that I not only have the procedure done that I originally had done but I should also have another procedure done for something else.

Well I had never been told I needed this second procedure by my normal dentist and even when I went back in for post-op exams the surgeon didn't bring up the second procedure until I mentioned it. I asked my normal dentist if he recommended this second procedure should be done and he said no not if it wasn't bothering me, which it wasn't, so I didn't get it done.

Well the surgeon had written that I needed this second procedure in my patient notes which got sent off to whoever does medical and somehow they managed to read the chicken scratch handwriting. They called me up and wanted the same basic thing, a letter from me putting on record exactly what had happened above and that I was not having any issues which would require the second procedure. Wrote up that quick letter that I think was maybe two paragraphs long, signed my name and faxed it off and that was it.

So yea, its no big deal, you'll get your PQ soon after submitting the letter

 

[shotcalla10]

in that case, i'm editting this =)

 

[nugget81]

You mean you get away with using it after taps. Double check the OCR. Remember, if you screw up and get caught there is more at stake than just your personal well-being....

Imagine the following:
Your DI: "Say 'thank you candidate shotcalla!'"
Your Class (while pushing in the sand): "THANK YOU CANDIDATE SHOTCALLA!"
You: stand at attention facing your class while they RPT for your screw-up.

Have fun at OCS!