abann991

Hello,

I dislocated my shoulder last week and today the doctor told me I had two choices. I could either do physical therapy for awhile with a 90% chance of it dislocating again. Or I could have surgery and have a 4-6 week recovery with a 5% chance of it happening again. I'm looking for an opinion on which method would be better and wouldn't disqualify me from admissions. Could someone please help me out? Thanks.

requiem

Are you entering with the class of 2013

abann991

No, I'm applying for the Class of 2014.

Luigi59

Sounds like a DQ either way - what you should be wondering about is which one will more likely be waivered.

Larry Mullen, Deputy Director of DODMERB is the guy to ask. He monitors the DODMERB section at Service Academy Forums.

Post your question in the DODMERB section at United States of America Service Academy Forums for an answer from the one guy who can answer it.

Fas033

I'm pretty sure that you'll be fine, as long as you pass the CFA.

Ann

Follow Luigi 59's advice and contact Larry Mullen before having any surgery.

Future Cadet

Without a doubt go for surgery. I can surely say that if you do not have surgery and attempt to correct the problem with physical therapy alone it WILL happen again. I first dislocated my shoulder sophomore year of high school and thought that physical therapy would correct it. WRONG. After a few dislocations and subluxations later I had rotator cuff surgery. I then went into physical therapy which solved the problem for about a year until I took a hard fall and dislocated it again. Then after a few more dislocations I went for round two of surgery. This time the surgery was more thorough, and I followed it up with a good physical therapy regimen. During my first attempt at applying to the military academy I was given a disqualification for my shoulder. I didn’t seek out a waiver or request one or something like that, so I basically gave up on applying to the academy and went to a real good university for my freshman year. Thinking that all hope was lost I reapplied to West Point and to my surprise despite having a shoulder dislocation disqualification I was given a waiver. Keep in mind this was after two surgeries and many dislocations and subluxations. However, I would recommend not following my path of waiting to get surgery. Most guys that I have talked to have had the greatest success with getting surgery after their first dislocation. Your shoulder will be the least damaged then, and you do not want to wait until you have 10+ dislocations like me to have your shoulder repaired. By then it will have become a lot weaker and MUCH more susceptible to dislocation. I hope this gives you some perspective on having shoulder dislocations while applying to the academy. I report in two weeks and I’ll maybe give you an update after beast on how my shoulder held up. I’m worried about it too even though I haven’t had any dislocations since my 2nd surgery two years ago, but trust me if you have your shoulder surgery now and don’t wait until it’s already too messed up you still have a great shot at applying to the academy.

momoftwins

abann,

You've received some good advice already. So, I'll add a little.

1) Ask your doctor what the prognosis is after surgery. Will this be likely to reoccur?
2) You may want to consider a 2nd opinion.
3) If you move forward with surgery summer will be the least disruptive to your academics.
4) Others are correct. Larry Mullen has a wealth of practical knowledge. He won't give you a medical opinion, but rather will provide info on the dq and waiver parts of this process.

Good luck!

D.Ranger

Well I have had experience handling DoDMERB stuff for ROTC. I was at first DQ'd for my torn shoulder. However, after over 6 months of waiting they finally waived the condition. It is very possible to get things waved. I even knew a girl who had what I thought was a serious heart condition but that was waved too. Good luck