I joined January 16th and just got to my unit. Before I left I had a colonoscopy and they found ulcerative colitis but said I should be fine bc it wasn't severe. I didn't tell anyone about it but during airborne school I started having some pretty bad pains in my abdomen. I pushed through it though bc I didn't want to get dropped. Well, now I'm at Fort Bragg and it's worse. I've had diarrhea, nausea, severe pain the more I do stuff and try to do PT and constant cramping almost with pretty bad stabbing pain that comes and goes. I have a sit down with the gastroenterologist in a couple weeks. Once they do the colonoscopy and see I have ulcerative colitis what will happen? I physically can't do my job with this rn. I had no idea it would get this bad or even could get this bad. I never thought I'd be incapacitated bc of it. I don't want to bring my team and my unit down with this disability. Will they recommend me for a MEB as soon as they see I have it? I am very overwhelmed right now with everything and don't know what's going to happen.
Just joined the Army and I have ulcerative colitis and it's pretty bad. What's going to happen?
- Thread starter Michael813
- Start date
I had my initial physical at MEPS before I had my colonoscopy. Then I had my colonoscopy and they saw it and I think 2 to 3 weeks later I shipped out to basic
As a former Recruiter, I can give you my opinion as well as the standards and policies that were in place during my Recruiting career which ended almost 4 years ago. First, I don't care what anyone tells you, you need to be proactive regarding anything relating to YOUR career. Even if you trust your Recruiter as much as you trust your best friend, remember that the Recruiter, his NCOIC, his 1SGT, and his/her command all have missions which are focused directly on numbers/enlistments. The missions and numbers change as do the MOS' that need to be Recruited, but I promise you they are all focused on enlistments. At the end of the day, month, and year they are rated and graded on their performance and how well they are rated and graded how a direct impact on their next promotion and career. I worked with about 100 Recruiters from the surrounding areas, and there are absolutely some great Recruiters out there who will do anything for their Soldiers. But, just like any job there are really lazy and dishonest people that do a certain job as well.
I'll tell you a quick personal story that may help you see things in a better or different way, and I hope it helps. During the early part of my Recruiting tenure, I was a SSG. My young step sister lived about 5 states away and wanted to join the Army National Guard in North Carolina where she lived. I was not as close to her then as I am now, but I would still try to do anything to help her. She did not talk to me initially about wanting to join as I was still deployed overseas, but she did not know that we were returning back to the U.S soon. She has had eczema her entire life, and her breakouts can be very severe and painful. Of course, being in the field training or just daily exercise or training in boots and A.C.U.s would irritate her condition. Long story short, she told her recruiter everything including her eczema. The SFC who was working with her told her not to mention anything about any current or previous medical issues. When she was worried about lying, he reassured by telling her that once she got through the physical at MEPS and enlisted, no one would care about her medical history. He did this repeatedly as she is not the type of person that ever really broke any rules or was dishonest. 3 weeks into Basic, a Drill saw her skin and the rashes and forced her to go directly to Medical. She was told that she could no longer continue basic and would be sent home. They also addressed the issue of her basically lying on her medical pre-screen and physical. She was told that she could get a dishonorable discharge, which in certain situations could happen. Also, eczema is a disqualifying condition for enlistment, so she have never made it through her physical at MEPS. 7 weeks later her class graduated and moved on, while she stayed at the base. She did a variety of duties and tasks while she waited, none of which are enjoyable or really necessary. When a Soldier that has an issue like she did is waiting for the paperwork to be completed for discharge, they are still paid therefor the Army finds them some type of work to do. She waited a total of 14 weeks after she first went to Medical before her discharge was completed and she was able to leave. Luckily, she received an OTH (other than honorable) discharge. She could have found guilty of a fraudulent enlistment and could have received a dishonorable discharge. The entire situation took a lot out of her and obviously she was very upset. Her Recruiter did not answer any of her calls and her requests for him to call her company were also ignored. He still received credit for enlisting her, and left her high and dry alone with no one to help her out with the legal aspects of her situation. Luckily, she contacted me around the second week she was at the base waiting for her discharge and I was able to get involved. Her recruiter outranked me, and was a jerk when I spoke to him. He tried to lock me up (parade rest and silence lol) over the phone 500 miles away. A SFC shouldn't ever really have a reason to do that to a SSG. After I could not get any results from talking with him, I had my superior call his. His superior did not care anymore than he did. It was completely irresponsible and unethical behavior that they both demonstrated, but not every Recruiter cares remember. I was able to speak with JAG in their state with the help of my superiors, but obviously her career was over before it ever really started. As you can see, bad things can happen to good people and you may be left on your own to handle it.
Here is what I recommend. I am assuming that you either did not inform MEPS of your condition during your physical or you were not aware of it. Sometimes, it really doesn't matter. If you have an NCO that you trust and that you trust with your career, talk with them offline for advice. They know a lot more about the unit, the command, and the medical staff at your post than you do. But, speak with them carefully if you do. If a Soldier comes to any NCO who is squared away and cares about Soldiers, he may have to report you regardless due to the immediate danger that your symptoms are telling me are present. You need to figure out how important your career is for you, and how serious you think your condition is. If you are in that much pain, as a former NCO that cares I want you to seek medical treatment. But, you are probably a young Soldier and your not a doctor. I say this because you can't correctly diagnose yourself, and you also have probably never gone through a serious injury, condition, or a surgery before this issue. Your fear of your first medical scare along with your fears about your career may be making your symptoms appear to you worse than they actually are. The central nervous system controls the body and you would be amazed at how much of an effect your mind and thoughts can have on your physical body. Reach out to your support system at home if that is option. Talking about it and getting your families opinion will help you. If you have civilian insurance or the ability to seek treatment in the civilian world, I would definitely do that immediately. Your career is not worth your medical future or your life when it can be prevented. Also, RESEARCH is your best friend. You can find specific regulations regarding your medical condition as well as other information which can help you. Research your illness and become as educated as you can about it. Preparation about this situation could save your career or your life if it is that serious. Just google AR-15 and you will come across every regulation for every possible scenario and situation you could imagine. There is a reasons why they are regulations, one reason is that your situation has happened to someone else before and will again. There are also regulations regarding your medical rights as a Soldier and your ability to seek civilian care if you chose to, or not to seek any care. But, if it becomes command directed that you see Medical at your post you will have to do that and do that immediately.
If you do decide to get the tests done with the base you are at and through Military care, you leave your fate in their hands in a way. So if you do have Military medical care and they find this condition, here is what I advise. Oh, one more thing. What tests they run and your medical treatment and based on what symptoms you tell them you have as well. This is another reason research is key. My advice if the Military treats you, I am 99% sure that you did not mention this at MEPS. It could have disqualified you medically depending on the exact medical issue. But, it would have at least required a waiver or delayed your enlistment. If MEPS knew and it didn't disqualify you, you would at least be required to seek civilian medical treatment and fully recover from your illness. The Military is not going to ship a Soldier who has any current medical issues to basic training under any circumstances. I have seen shippers who have stayed in the hotel the night before ready to ship for basic, and then the doctor finds something that day which prevents them from shipping. It could be a favor, a black eye, an open wound, or even too much wax in your ears. And I am not joking about too much wax in your ears, it happens more often than you would think.
Now, if you do go through Military medical appointments or tests, I'll tell you what I would advise my former Recruits and Soldiers to do. First, man if you are seriously hurt please go to the ER asap. If not, when you speak with the doctors do not tell them that you have ever had this issue before. On you 2802 (medical pre-screen), you pretty much have to be the healthiest person in America to make it through MEPS medical your first time. No history of flu, fevers, headaches, on and on. With that being said, I believe that you did not report any medical issues when enlisting and shipping. So that is the story you stick with, plain and simple. You have no idea what's going on with your body. You just started to feel this way when it was reported and you have never felt this way before or had any medical issues before. Since you made it to your unit, you are MOS Q'D. Therefore you are a Soldier, in layman's terms. The military can not discharge you for conditions which are first discovered after your MOS Q'D or even that you graduated A.I.T. with. They actually have to treat you and ensure that your are healthy and recover fully. As long as you stick with your story, healthy kid your whole life, no idea what's going on, yada yada, you will be fine. The only thing that could possibly happen would be that your current condition, which is brand new to you remember, doesn't allow you to perform your original MOS duties. If that happens, you could be reclassed into a different MOS, or you could go through the Medical Board process. Med Board process is not quick and would probably take at least 18 months to 24 months to be completed. Remember, they have to fix your issue as well. If you are recommended for the Medical Board and the paperwork has been completed (it's a lot of paperwork) and has been officially submitted, the Military (and sorry I am assuming the Army with Airborne) can not recommend you for any negative or adverse actions, and you will be able to get fixed, heal, and recovery without worrying about possible negative treatment from your unit or command. Man, I laid it out there for you as best I can. Please let me know asap if it helps. Also, I will check this again and we can talk further about your options. Even though I am retired, helping Soldiers is in my blood and I will help you. Best of luck Soldier and please keep me informed.
I'll tell you a quick personal story that may help you see things in a better or different way, and I hope it helps. During the early part of my Recruiting tenure, I was a SSG. My young step sister lived about 5 states away and wanted to join the Army National Guard in North Carolina where she lived. I was not as close to her then as I am now, but I would still try to do anything to help her. She did not talk to me initially about wanting to join as I was still deployed overseas, but she did not know that we were returning back to the U.S soon. She has had eczema her entire life, and her breakouts can be very severe and painful. Of course, being in the field training or just daily exercise or training in boots and A.C.U.s would irritate her condition. Long story short, she told her recruiter everything including her eczema. The SFC who was working with her told her not to mention anything about any current or previous medical issues. When she was worried about lying, he reassured by telling her that once she got through the physical at MEPS and enlisted, no one would care about her medical history. He did this repeatedly as she is not the type of person that ever really broke any rules or was dishonest. 3 weeks into Basic, a Drill saw her skin and the rashes and forced her to go directly to Medical. She was told that she could no longer continue basic and would be sent home. They also addressed the issue of her basically lying on her medical pre-screen and physical. She was told that she could get a dishonorable discharge, which in certain situations could happen. Also, eczema is a disqualifying condition for enlistment, so she have never made it through her physical at MEPS. 7 weeks later her class graduated and moved on, while she stayed at the base. She did a variety of duties and tasks while she waited, none of which are enjoyable or really necessary. When a Soldier that has an issue like she did is waiting for the paperwork to be completed for discharge, they are still paid therefor the Army finds them some type of work to do. She waited a total of 14 weeks after she first went to Medical before her discharge was completed and she was able to leave. Luckily, she received an OTH (other than honorable) discharge. She could have found guilty of a fraudulent enlistment and could have received a dishonorable discharge. The entire situation took a lot out of her and obviously she was very upset. Her Recruiter did not answer any of her calls and her requests for him to call her company were also ignored. He still received credit for enlisting her, and left her high and dry alone with no one to help her out with the legal aspects of her situation. Luckily, she contacted me around the second week she was at the base waiting for her discharge and I was able to get involved. Her recruiter outranked me, and was a jerk when I spoke to him. He tried to lock me up (parade rest and silence lol) over the phone 500 miles away. A SFC shouldn't ever really have a reason to do that to a SSG. After I could not get any results from talking with him, I had my superior call his. His superior did not care anymore than he did. It was completely irresponsible and unethical behavior that they both demonstrated, but not every Recruiter cares remember. I was able to speak with JAG in their state with the help of my superiors, but obviously her career was over before it ever really started. As you can see, bad things can happen to good people and you may be left on your own to handle it.
Here is what I recommend. I am assuming that you either did not inform MEPS of your condition during your physical or you were not aware of it. Sometimes, it really doesn't matter. If you have an NCO that you trust and that you trust with your career, talk with them offline for advice. They know a lot more about the unit, the command, and the medical staff at your post than you do. But, speak with them carefully if you do. If a Soldier comes to any NCO who is squared away and cares about Soldiers, he may have to report you regardless due to the immediate danger that your symptoms are telling me are present. You need to figure out how important your career is for you, and how serious you think your condition is. If you are in that much pain, as a former NCO that cares I want you to seek medical treatment. But, you are probably a young Soldier and your not a doctor. I say this because you can't correctly diagnose yourself, and you also have probably never gone through a serious injury, condition, or a surgery before this issue. Your fear of your first medical scare along with your fears about your career may be making your symptoms appear to you worse than they actually are. The central nervous system controls the body and you would be amazed at how much of an effect your mind and thoughts can have on your physical body. Reach out to your support system at home if that is option. Talking about it and getting your families opinion will help you. If you have civilian insurance or the ability to seek treatment in the civilian world, I would definitely do that immediately. Your career is not worth your medical future or your life when it can be prevented. Also, RESEARCH is your best friend. You can find specific regulations regarding your medical condition as well as other information which can help you. Research your illness and become as educated as you can about it. Preparation about this situation could save your career or your life if it is that serious. Just google AR-15 and you will come across every regulation for every possible scenario and situation you could imagine. There is a reasons why they are regulations, one reason is that your situation has happened to someone else before and will again. There are also regulations regarding your medical rights as a Soldier and your ability to seek civilian care if you chose to, or not to seek any care. But, if it becomes command directed that you see Medical at your post you will have to do that and do that immediately.
If you do decide to get the tests done with the base you are at and through Military care, you leave your fate in their hands in a way. So if you do have Military medical care and they find this condition, here is what I advise. Oh, one more thing. What tests they run and your medical treatment and based on what symptoms you tell them you have as well. This is another reason research is key. My advice if the Military treats you, I am 99% sure that you did not mention this at MEPS. It could have disqualified you medically depending on the exact medical issue. But, it would have at least required a waiver or delayed your enlistment. If MEPS knew and it didn't disqualify you, you would at least be required to seek civilian medical treatment and fully recover from your illness. The Military is not going to ship a Soldier who has any current medical issues to basic training under any circumstances. I have seen shippers who have stayed in the hotel the night before ready to ship for basic, and then the doctor finds something that day which prevents them from shipping. It could be a favor, a black eye, an open wound, or even too much wax in your ears. And I am not joking about too much wax in your ears, it happens more often than you would think.
Now, if you do go through Military medical appointments or tests, I'll tell you what I would advise my former Recruits and Soldiers to do. First, man if you are seriously hurt please go to the ER asap. If not, when you speak with the doctors do not tell them that you have ever had this issue before. On you 2802 (medical pre-screen), you pretty much have to be the healthiest person in America to make it through MEPS medical your first time. No history of flu, fevers, headaches, on and on. With that being said, I believe that you did not report any medical issues when enlisting and shipping. So that is the story you stick with, plain and simple. You have no idea what's going on with your body. You just started to feel this way when it was reported and you have never felt this way before or had any medical issues before. Since you made it to your unit, you are MOS Q'D. Therefore you are a Soldier, in layman's terms. The military can not discharge you for conditions which are first discovered after your MOS Q'D or even that you graduated A.I.T. with. They actually have to treat you and ensure that your are healthy and recover fully. As long as you stick with your story, healthy kid your whole life, no idea what's going on, yada yada, you will be fine. The only thing that could possibly happen would be that your current condition, which is brand new to you remember, doesn't allow you to perform your original MOS duties. If that happens, you could be reclassed into a different MOS, or you could go through the Medical Board process. Med Board process is not quick and would probably take at least 18 months to 24 months to be completed. Remember, they have to fix your issue as well. If you are recommended for the Medical Board and the paperwork has been completed (it's a lot of paperwork) and has been officially submitted, the Military (and sorry I am assuming the Army with Airborne) can not recommend you for any negative or adverse actions, and you will be able to get fixed, heal, and recovery without worrying about possible negative treatment from your unit or command. Man, I laid it out there for you as best I can. Please let me know asap if it helps. Also, I will check this again and we can talk further about your options. Even though I am retired, helping Soldiers is in my blood and I will help you. Best of luck Soldier and please keep me informed.
To reply to this, if they saw anything serious or wrong with you during your colonoscopy, you would not have shipped. No chance. The Army doesn't want "broken" Soldiers shipped to them for training. It is a huge wasted expense. I think it costs the Army a little over 100k per soldier, for completion of basic training. The Army doesn't like wasting money.
Sorry man, one more thing. If this does go bad for you or you feel like you are fighting a losing battle, there are amazing attorneys who frequent this website. Especially, the one who created and runs it. Jason Perry. Reach out for legal help. It won't be free, but could pay off huge in the long run. A lot of Soldiers have lost their career or been mistreated because they don't know the regulations and their rights.
There are a couple of elements here at play. The first one is your fitness evaluation at the time of entering the military. I am going to assume that the colonoscopy that your are speaking about (before you shipped) was performed by a civilian provider and you did not share the results with the MEPs physician, is that correct?
AR 40-501 standards for medical fitness, lists Ulcerative Colitis as unfitting to join the Army (chapter 2-3 c (1). With that being said, you have made it for 6 months with the condition and have been able to perform the tasks of basic training, AIT and airborne school.
The next element is going to be your referral to gastroenterology. Typically they will begin with conservative treatment and see how well you respond to it. The causes for referral to MEB for abdominal and gastrointestinal defects and diseases are listed in AR 40-501 Chapter 3-5 (m), which states that Ulcerative Colitis is unfitting unless you are responding well to treatment.
I wish you the best in your treatment.
I'm surprised we are entertaining this question you withheld an unfitting condition from the service and now are fishing for a MEB?
Not fishing for an MEB but ok lol. I didn't know it was an disqualifying condition. Doc said it was very mild and that I'm fine and don't have to worry about any type of physical limitation. Just asked what would happen. If it's an MEB ok, if not, ok. I can't do anything physical or deploy. That's literally why I joined. My apologies for just asking for information lmao
How would a recruit know what conditions are unfitting? Heck, most members don't know until they get notified of an MEB or possible MEB.
I do agree this condition appears to EPTS. The question is was it aggravated by service?
IMO not EPTS, unless they can find some sort of genetic pre-disposition.
He was examined by MEPS and found fit to serve.
He made it 180 days so ELS is out of the question.
Probably looking at a year or more of conservative treatment by gastroenterology before a MEB is even considered. Now is the time to focus on healing.
I had it before I joined. MEPS just didn't know. My gastroenterologist said it was very mild and I never had pain before serving not now I have a lot that started in airborne school. I just never said anything and tried to fight through it until it got too bad to do so
What will happen while I'm on meds? Will they deploy me? Will I just be on profile until I heal? My 180 day mark is in one week exactly so by the time they do all my stuff or will be way after that so ELS is definitely not an option lol.
I suspect you will get treatment for long period of time. Likely the medis will put you on a temporary profile. Treatment would be my number one concern.
I was initially diagnosed with ulcerative procitis in FEB 2017. I was put on suppositories. After another colonoscopy they told my I had UC. Next they put me on enemas, Lialda, budesonide, prednisone, and now finally humira. As soon as I was out on the Humira, a couple weeks ago they initiated my MEB. They will not initiate a MEB right away. it all depends on how you respond to treatment. Some people take lialda and they are fine. Best advice I have for you is to let your COC know what’s going on, and educate them on what UC is and what it all entails. Good luck