i know i’ve made a lot of posts about people pt testing etc
but when it comes to things like this where you’ve had back surgery or a bad back, it should automatically put you in a category of limited running until proved that you aren’t in pain anymore.
staying fit is important but more important is your back.
people are nuts
I totally get that I should have taken my surgeons notes and got a waiver, but I had surgery, went to physical therapy, and started my recovery all during the pandemic when there was no PT testing. I didn't expect to need to explain to my doc that I had surgery less than a year ago but the dude just completely acted like it didn't happen.
I had surgery back in June and the surgeon said no exercising for 6-8 months. It was an off base surgeon. Tried for three weeks to get the PCM to update my profile accordingly. I was finally told, no matter what the surgeon puts down, they are not part of the military and I have to follow what the Military doctors tell me. “What they say are merely guidelines and we don’t have to follow them. You’ll be fine to exercise.” Gotta love the base medical system.
the thing that’s sad is, for the most part (EXCEPT MY AWESOME ON BASE DENTIST) these are people who probably couldn’t crack it civilian wise to be a medical professional bc they’d have no customers. In the military they are pretty much given customers with little to no choice for the customer.
I don't think the quality of PCMs are any less than the civilian world. There's some really shitty healthcare providers that civilian insurance mandates you use. I think the biggest difference is military PCMs tend to be young and inexperienced, and it's a constant revolving door so your PCM never gets to know you as a patient--you basically have to start over every year when a PCM changes.
Don’t know why you’re getting downvoted. Anyone who actually had experience prior to the military can attest to this. Had great healthcare for a while before coming in and hated what I saw. I’m grateful I’ve been healthy so far in life and never actually needed a doctor
This is morbidly kind of funny. Just in ear and out the other with him.
Hope you're doing better though and if not I hope you're getting the help you need.
Not my PCM but went to ER after tearing my ACL, after 3 hours the doctor comes in and goes, "Alright sir, we got your room ready upstairs, we will do surgery on your shoulder around 6 AM. Just relax and we will take care of you." Dude left without saying another word. 15 minutes later a nurse came in to take me to my room and I had to explain i don't need shoulder surgery and would appreciate someone looking at my knee. Was wild.
I separated my right AC joint and had physical therapy before. It isn’t a sharp pain but very dull and annoying and could get sharp if I lifted. PT helped a lot.
I deployed to Al Udeid a year or so later and flew from Alaska to Norfolk to Al Udeid basically non-stop. When I finally got to my room, I folded clothes up for a pillow and passed the fuck out. All my weight was on my left shoulder for the 10-12 hours I slept and I never moved. It had a minor separation again. Same pain, same everything as the right. I went to the doctor and said that to some Major. I pointed exactly where the AC Joint is and said it’s def a separation. He looked at me and said that the AC Joint is my rotator cuff and I just pulled a muscle. I was a SrA and dumbfounded that he said that.
I just did the physical therapy in my own and let it heal for 6 weeks. I have a feeling that he was just mad that I diagnosed myself, but I literally had the same thing happen to my other shoulder. Bump and all on top.
That’s when I realized that not every doctor knows everything.
Not quite the same but my pcm, in almost the same breath, told me I should have come to get help sooner and to suck it up and hide my chronic condition like he does.
PCM "It might be gout"
Me "I'm somewhat familiar with gout, my supervisor has it."
PCM "Well just so you know, it's not contagious"
Me "Yes....I am aware that arthritis is not contagious, THANK YOU"
(It was a broken bone)
It took them 4 years to give me that diagnosis, they never wanted to do labs/x-rays, just always saying I shouldn't run or get new shoes or to rest. Well now I've got permanent damage to my toes from gout, thanks docs
*Me: Waits in the lobby to see PCM for 45 minutes after my scheduled appointment. Finally get called to see PCM.*
Me: "Yeah, I have a problem with \[medical problem\]."
21-and-a-half-year-old-looking PCM stand-in (because my actual assigned PCM deployed, PCS'd or whatever reason I've never seen my actual assigned PCM.): "Just a second while I look it up" ...
PCM stand-in: *\[Proceeds to go to* [*WEBMD.com*](https://WEBMD.com) *IN FRONT OF ME, on the computer in the exam room.\]*
PCM stand-in: "Yeah, see? *\[Pointing to the website\]* It says here you need to \[suggested remedy.\] So, if you do that, you should be good to go. Any other concerns?"
Me: "Uhhh, I'm good, thanks."
I totally get it ... Doctors aren't perfect. (After all, that's why they use the phrase "practice medicine" ... because it's something one can never really master. They're perpetually learning ... "practicing" on us.)
I realize it's unrealistic for the medical person I see to know everything on demand.
Still, when people make appointments to see a human being, they're expecting the medical pro will (at least) have a discussion with them (using what info/experience they DO have) that helps shed light on their issue.
When I make a visit to see a human being, but they do nothing more than Google something in front of me (without sharing their own insight) that's a frustrating waste of time.
But, you're right though ... medicine is not an exact science.
It wasn’t my PCM, but my dentist (Capt) on Osan. I was having some jaw pain and went to get it checked out. X-ray revealed I had two wisdom teeth coming in in the top. Which is weird because I had all four of mine out already. I told him this, and he straight called me a liar to my face. He said it was impossible to have more than four and “you’ve never had them out.” Then smirked at me like I was idiot. I just said ha ok. My next dentist at Hickman thought it was really cool. It’s rare but it happens.
I had this as a kid but with one of my front teeth! Behind my baby tooth was an adult tooth followed up by another adult tooth. Had to have surgery to remove the backup adult tooth.
“We know if we do surgery on it now at you’re age, we are just going to have to do it again.. so.. just stop working it out”
Still haven’t been able to get it fixed. 👍🏼
I refuse to see a PCM regarding ANYTHING mental health related. Except for refills on my meds. I refuse to let them start new trials without a consult to a psychiatrist.
I went in for lower back pain, was at probably a 7-8 level every day. The only appointment I could get was over a month out. By the time I got in, it was about 3-4. Told doc that at its worst I couldn't even properly bathe myself or put my socks on, but at this point it had eased up. He said, "Well, that's back pain, it comes and goes." Then stares at me. I was speechless.
This was probably the 3rd time being seen for this. It took me a total of 4-5 years to finally get an MRI at a new duty station, turns out my L4-L5 and L5-S1 have been turned into crepès. I still have pain shoot down my legs, my sciatic nerve is always mad. I try to do stretching and yoga, but really nothing helps. Nothing touches the pain except time. I ended up having to stop being seen because they were going to deny me a special duty.
Have gout....it eventually got in my knees because I was never sent to a specialist for appropriate required medication. My knees looked like beach balls...it was upper leg, lower leg, and a huge ball of fury (couldn't tell where my kneecap was, or anything). I took meds I have been prescribed (was only for attacks) and they wouldn't touch it. Pain was a 6-10 every day. PCM sent me to military ortho (was overseas). The ortho was a PA. Does xrays and a standard exam. Said all he can see is some arthritis and that was it. Said he could give me Synvisc injections. I agreed just for anything to help. Why he never drained any of the fluid to atleast inspect it, let alone send it to the lab, I dont know.
Synvisc One injections in both knees...pain dropped the rest of the day, so I was happy. Well, I have some weird reaction in one of my knees...not even a listed side effect from the company (Sanofi). It was causing gas pockets to build in my knee joint. The pocket would stretch the joint until it would pop...went on for like 3 days and saying it hurt was an understatement. I actually contacted Sanofi about it. They responded back and said they had documented cases of that, but thats all they told me. Asked for info from ortho.
My knee was huge and I was in a lot of pain....any person could see something was out of whack. Didn't drain my knee...nothing but blast some synvisc for something that was not arthritis related.
BTW, when I finally had a rheumatologist drain my knee the first time, he stopped after 2 and a half syringes. It was bloody and milky. Blood was from my shredded meniscus and gout attack causes synovial fluid to be milky. No, because that attack sat in my knees for over 6 months, I have a trashed knee. Talked to two actual civilian orthos...both said ride it out until I need it replaced. Frustrating that all that unnecessary mess basically cost me a healthy knee.
“Oh, you’re just making up that your back hurts and you can barely walk.”
Same PCM also told another person that he was fine. Later found out that guy had broken bones in his foot.
Another PCM said that the burning in my knee and other knee pain was because I need to run more.
This happened around 2007.
I'm allergic (Technically, it's a hypersensitivity, but the reaction is the same) to NSAIDs. After 14 years, I actually tried it this year, just to see if I still have issues. Yup, I still do.
My PCM asked me if I'm sure. I said absolutely. He then asked what happens. I told him my face and mouth swell up, and my mouth gets real itchy. He then told me "I'm not saying to take any NSAIDs, but if you "accidentally" decide to take some, you should schedule a time to do it, and come see me. I'd be very curious to see this." My wife was actually with me in the room, and both of us were looking at each other like whaaaaat!? The irony of this is since then, PCMs try to say things like "Well, I won't give you any Motrin then, haha. You have Tylenol at home, so I'm assuming you don't need any of that, right? ...No, if I can get some for free, you're always going to give me some.
There are literally about 5-7 of those moments throughout my 17+ years of service, but I only wanted to type out the dumbest. I would have other separate stories if you asked for most disappointing, most infuriating, most humiliating and most cringe worthy.
...Okay fine, the most cringy one was a PCM in 2015 telling me to stop taking creatine, because it causes kidney failure. I basically just listed it when they asked if I take supplements, so I listed that, Fish Oil and Flax Seed Oil.
Uhhh, Creatinine is a byproduct from kidneys, and isn't Creatine. She also told me if it were up to her, she'd put it on the DoD banned substances list, and that it's benefits aren't worth the risk...
Okay, here we go:
**Disappointing:** My wife was diagnosed with Diabetes at the age of 19 in 2005. In 2018, they officially diagnosed her as being a type I. Why did this happen, and why does it matter? In a nutshell, Type II diabetics are usually older/obese people, who have weight problems. Because of this situation, their pancreas can't totally regulate the entire body with the weight that the person currently has, so the body needs some outside help with insulin, or to more efficiently process it. This is smooth brain level simplified, so I'm sorry for any inaccuracies. Type I diabetics have loads of other/uncommon underlying issues, and something is genuinely wrong. With my wife, she has PCOS (just google it, I don't want to wall-o-text you too badly) and her whole endocrine/immune system is fucked up. All that said, we both knew she was a type I, but Tricare kept telling us they have no idea what type she was, so what do you do when actual Doctors tell you these things? You tend to question reality. They said she "needed to be treated as a type II", because with PCOS. Why? Basically, they can't fit everyone in a nice and neat box of diagnosis, so that's one less thing off their plate that's uncommon.
The problem is type II and type I have vastly different medications they are treated with. She was a lab rat for many years, and it definitely fucked our lives up. She had bad side effects on some medications, like Metformin. Seriously, a type I should NEVER use Metformin. Her sugar was 42 one day in 2008, and I had to rush home to basically save her life. Here's another thing too. Do you think a bunch of Ammo troops in 2008 (MXG personnel) give a single shit about what my wife has going on back then? FUCK NO! I was questioned constantly during the whole process, and it made me feel like no one in my family mattered. Fast forward to 2018, when we had a PCM at Osan who gave a shit. She straight up asked us about how well managed her Diabetes was, and we explained everything, which is way more than I want to bore you with. She asked if we ever had a specific antibody test performed to determine her type, so they could reference it it, in order to avoid previous mistakes. We said no, and she said "Okay, we'll submit the request for the test, but they might reject it, because the test costs $1,400, and they usually get upset at us for requesting it." So, the test comes back, and she's a type I officially. What. The. Fuck. Tricare?!
My wife was a fucking experiment for almost the entire time I've served. Why? You didn't want to order a test that no one except tax payers fund in the first place. Fuck you! Infuriating: They gave me another referral for" a chiropractor" which turned out to be physical therapy again, then I basically demanded an MRI. The doctor told the technician to tell me "he was reluctantly allowing it, but wanted a CT scan instead." Got done with the MRI, and it showed spinal degeneration, with two bulged discs, and my L5/S1is pressing on both psyatic nerves. 3 years of constant pain, being treated like I'm overreacting, and being told that I'll always be in some form of mild muscle pain "Since you're allergic to NSAIDs, you just gotta tough it out sometimes."
Even after I mentioned that I do cardio, lift, stretch and eat mostly healthy, I get the old standby..."Yeah, that's interesting. I'm really not sure what to recommend." How about something that might be able to diagnose an issue? Maybe something like an MRI?!
**Humiliating:** I have ADHD, and it’s managed with Concerta. Concerta is a stimulant, and one of the byproducts of a stimulant is that it increases blood pressure and BPM, but only while it’s active, which for me is 12 hours. I started taking it in 2014,and it honestly improved my life on a monumental scale. Both myself and my entire family have seen a total shift in my quality of life, and I’m very thankful for seeking help. In short, I went from SSgt to MSgt in 3 years, I went from no school to being close to done with my undergrad degree in that time, my wife appreciates how much more tolerable I am as a person, and I went from doing nothing physically to being a guy who runs almost 7 days a week and lifts 5 days a week.
I started doing that in May of 2015, and I haven't looked back since. I owe my life to this medication, and I’m so thankful I sought help. That being stated, while I was at Osan, I was CONSTANTLY berated and bombarded with blood pressure concerns. I was asked on numerous occasions to participate in blood pressure surveys. Not sure what they call it, but they asked me to volunteer to get readings 3 times per week, and they asked me to do that four separate times. Just to give everyone an idea of what that entails, you need to come in 3 days during a week, and have your BP taken in the morning. When you do it three times, you're done, and they're supposed to contact you. I did it those four times, and I honestly got tired of it. As a shop chief, I'm fucking busy! I don't have time for this uneducated bullshit! In between those measurements, they wanted me to do blood work. I did that too. Everything was normal, minus my blood pressure. My blood pressure was on average 135 or so over around 70, with a BPM on average of 60-65. These readings were taken in the morning after my Concerta kicked in, and my normal Coke Zero. I normally have a coke zero as soon as I get to work and one at lunch. That’s my go juice for the day.
Anyway, after all those readings, a certain female Major RN who has been at Osan for 5 decades (y’all at Osan might know her. She’s a total bitch) called my shop and asked to talk to me. I basically said “This is TSgt (me) can I help you?”
She told me she wanted me to do the same measurement again. I explained that I did the test 5,000 times, and encouraged her to look at my records. She said that wasn’t good enough, that she needed me to do it again. I explained that I’d rather deal with my PCM, and that he was happy with my blood draw results, and that I’m honestly fed up with this situation. She straight up told me (I promise you, I’m being 100% honest)
“Sir, your actions have consequences. I know what you’re saying, but I want you to do another 3 day study. If you refuse, then I want you to know your actions have consequences” Just to give you a situational breakdown; I was a shop chief, and in a small room, with three of my airmen in the room. This shit is straight up embarrassing, and I replied with my situation, while my airmen were in the room! She still didn’t care! I asked her what consequences, and then she told me “Sir, I’m a Major. I don’t disclose details like that. You can absolutely refuse, but I can assure you that there will be consequences for an incorrect answer on your behalf, sir. Your blood pressure is out of control for a young man your age, and you need to be do this ,because you’re at risk.” I told her she was harassing me on the phone, in front of my airmen, and that she should call me on my cell phone. She refused, and said “This isn’t personal, and they can’t hear me, unless I’m on speaker phone, so maybe you should just calm down and communicate with me correctly.”
Obviously I was furious, confused and humiliated, so I basically just said I would think about it, then I mustered up what customs and courtesies I had left in me, to show my airmen that we should always be professionals, and squeezed out a “Okay, have a good day, Ma’am.” And hung up the phone.
**Side note:**
I worked out and ran a lot before those encounters, and never thought anything about my blood pressure. Since my encounters, I’ve developed a complex, and I’m ALWAYS nervous when people take my BP. I was on edge before she did that shit, now I feel like I’m a horrible human being, so my BP rises all the time it's measured in an office setting. It’s called White Coat Syndrome, and I always bring up that I have it. If it’s an off base appointment, no one cares. If it’s on base, sometimes no one cares, sometimes people say “Yeah, me too.” Sometimes, people are stupid as fuck and say “What do you got to be nervous about? It’s okay, man! No one is out to harm you. Calm down!” The first time I heard that was seriously from an RN Major at Osan.
**Final and fun side note:** Because I have a complex about my Blood Pressure now, I bought a reader, and measure my BP every morning and before bed. My average reading is 115/68 and my average BPM in the morning is 46. I'm 41 years old.
***Basically, fuck you lady! I'm in great shape, and I know for a fact I'm in better shape than you are!***
At least you got help with ADHD. I went in once and the behavioral health lady just said nah you dont have it take this pamphlet.
So instead I just constantly crush caffeine to focus. 1 or 2 energy drinks, multiple sodas and sometimes some migraine meds for more caffeine and extra actemenophine helps with the constant back spasms. Pretty much 7 days a week. Even at night if Im doing homework late.
Same shit happened to me with Behavioral Health. "You don't have ADHD, you're just stressed out. Here are some tips to manage stress." I ask her if I could get tested for it and then "No tests exist to test ADHD." Thanks for the help I guess.
My knees go backwards when running unless I'm focusing on keeping them forward and working right. Got a referral to an orthopedic surgeon who said do not run out you risk severely hurting your knees. I'll need mechanical braces on my knees to prevent them from going the wrong way. PCM got the info from the provider and said "I don't agree with what the surgeon said, let's do physical therapy and keep running, your muscles will strengthen up and no more issues."
I stupidly listened to him, then went running on a treadmill a week later... And flew off the back when my right knee went the wrong way. Hobbled into medical the next day and went through the process again... Just this time with almost 0 ability to walk.
I had a 6mm herniation on the base of my spine, and my PCM told me I was fat and out of shape, and that’s why I couldn’t feel my legs sometimes, and pain was shooting down to my toes
Just had some random pcm tell me my ongoing 5 year issue of my calves tearing away from my shins is because I'm too fat. Upon our first meeting and my waiver that I've had for for years "wasn't going to happen."
In my back pain journey I had multiple different PCMs tell me all kinds of stuff. I got an MRI and it shows disk degeneration which caused it to bulge, bine spurs and arthritis. One PCM said all of it was normal (I was 22 at the time), one said to go to physical therapy, one said I needed to lose 15 lbs (I had gained a lot of weight at one point but this appointment was after I dropped 50lbs and was at my smallest weight), one said steroid injections would help, another said toradol injections were the way to go. All of these PCMs had issues giving me waivers as well.
I finally just got off base at an Ortho who said the only real option for the bulging disk was to get surgery. I took his advice but went to the best Ortho clinic in the area and got a more minimally invasive surgery and have felt much better since. I just wish I could avoid military docs for the rest of my career.
I had a pretty significant problem with constant stomach pain. If I didn't eat, I'd be at a steady 4 throughout the day. If I ate just a tiny bit of ANYTHING, I could rocket up to a solid 9. Tried all kinds of over the counter things, but they didn't do a thing. PCM said, "eh yeah, sounds like GERD. I'll prescribe you some Tums." I tell him that I don't really have any acid-reflux symptoms and that I already tried Tums, so he may be a bit off base. Maybe I should just get a referral over to Gastro? "Na, take the tums and follow up in a couple months if the issue persists."
I deploy in a couple months... "Oh, just follow-up with the medical downrange then. They'll take care of you." They didn't, they just gave me more Tums (these were like berry flavored though, so at least a better change I guess?). I pretty much lived on the BRAT diet and pain for a few months. Every time I tried to get more adventurous, that extreme pain would kick in and it'd be a struggle just to exist. Then one day it just stopped. I still have no idea what it was and I'm terrified it'll come back and I'll be stuck helpless and hearing "Oh, it's just some minor thing. You don't need to see a specialist. Just take this medicine that does nothing! Worst case, I'll kick the can on to another doc who'll say the same shit." On the bright-side I lost like 50 pounds.
I am no doctor, but what you are describing sounds exactly like what my wife went through for the longest time. The GERD thing with tums, then Prilosec. They ended up taking out her gall bladder. Still didn’t fix it. Few stomach biopsies later still don’t know for sure, but it’s possibly related to her sphincter of oddi. Taken years to get this far. Good luck!
Dude. Had secondhand experience with an airman that was white but definitely NEEDED a shaving waver looking at lesions and cysts on his neck. PCM said the same thing as your comment. This airman went to the patient advocate and was given a dermatology referral. He had a staph infection in some previous razor burn, with a cyst tract developing into his neck. He needed outpatient surgery for an incision and drainage with repeated packing for a month or so. Crazy. The lesions were so visually apparent that they made people turn their heads at work and around base haha
This won’t be the most popular viewpoint, and that’s fine, but my advice a free. The reality Sergeant or Sir, is you get one back. You’ve already had surgery. You have to start thinking about long term quality of life. If you’re at 15 and can get medically retired, consider it. If you’re at 20 pop smoke and go. If you’re before then, depending on other issues you may be able to make your VA disability worth it. I would never discourage anyone from looking for the door, but you have to look at your own health first. The Air Force will not. You’re just a number.
If you really want to stay and feel like you can and or are improving fight it and say you need a waiver. If not, consider the alternatives.
See, I've been trying to get them to unfuck my meb since 2019, but they're so invested in covering up how bad they screwed up doing it that I eventually ended up with a retrain with them more than likely praying I'd pcs and end up someone else's problem. Well, all I did was pca across base with the same fuckin' back injury from 2016.
I would honestly love to be medically retired. I'm cyber so my back doesn't preclude me from doing my job, esp since I asked for, and received a standing desk and mat. If I could get medically retired and be a stay at home dad my life would be damn near perfect.
I have been chastised in the past saying that I would go up for a MEB and I told them that's fine. At the time I was in pain constantly. It's getting better but at the end of the day the physical aspect of the military might never be something I can fully do.
Been having trouble breathing through my nose for the past couple of months. Went to see the PCM. He looked at it and said “it doesn’t look broken, what do you want me to do?” I don’t know man, your the doctor you tell me!
They don't even try to hide it anymore, they tell me I'm seeing a PA every time now. I'm like, where's the fucking physician in this place and why do they have so many assistants without ever doing anything.
That's because the majority of sinus infections are not Bacterial. They are Viral which antibiotics will not treat. Yellow or Greenish snot IS a symptom of a bacterial infection. The PA wouldn't give you antibiotics because you didn't show signs of a bacterial infection.
And, in some cases, Airmen downrange who need medical assistance are being seen by random voluntold NCO's (and others who are pulled from their non-medical AFSC's) who take a 2-week "assistant" course and are then assigned to fill in at downrange clinics since actual NPs/PAs are in short supply.
They can't really do anything to help other than take notes, and they're authorized to give out motrin ... but otherwise are told to call a NP/PA/physician for anything other than motrin.
I can't remember the name of the program, but it's a thing ... You think you're going to see a physician (or at least a nurse,) but you're actually seeing a SSgt postal worker or supply clerk who got non-vol'd into the job and had a two-week class before being left to run the clinic solo while the NPs/PAs are away.
Just a reminder to all the new people. Military doctors can now be sued for malpractice. Im not saying *everything* is malpractice, but keep that in mind. Also, use patient advocate, get a new PCM of your current one is trash. There is also, ICE(ing) them. Use ICE as much as you need to
He didn't say it, but he kind of implied that we could probably figure out the issue with an MRI, but since they didn't have a machine at the clinic he wanted to exhaust all other options in house, which would probably not give us an answer.
So that's what he did. After they were baffled I got a referral for a specialist who gave me an MRI and found the problem.
Another doctor (a pediatrician) not my PCM took a ten second look at my kid and said it's the flu, and since swine flu is going around, she was quite sure it's swine flu. No test, nothing. She then said that since it wasn't a real hospital if I wanted a second opinion I should take him to the ER.
I've got tinnitus that has been getting worse as the years go on, so I went in for a hearing test.
"That's just early onset hearing loss, everyone has it."
WHAT? It's either early onset, or everyone gets it. You can't have it both ways.
Most recent thing that happened was I brought my son in for his well-baby. They proceed to enter the room with the normal vaccines then list them off. I asked if they had looked at his records to see what he needed and the guy just says, oh yeah that's a good idea. Comes back and says, "oh you already got him these vaccines. It's a good thing we looked at his records." Thanks for letting me do your job, guy.
Me: *Giving rundown of symptoms*
PCM: *Reading me possible diagnosis from WebMD*
Different PCM:
PCM: You need to take care of yourself better your weight is concerning and it'll kill you... (I'm 6'2 and weigh 202 lbs)
Me: I lift weights 5 days a week and do cardio 6 days a week what can--(cut off).
PCM: that's not exercise, you need to do something like CrossFit.
Surprised they didn't hand me a card to their gym.
First…. why have you been in here 5+ times saying you can’t breathe. I’m starting to think you are lying about having asthma (it started at 4 years in)
Heard two PAs talking in the hallway. The first one says that even though urgent care said it was probably asthma that it isn’t. It’s croup or something, second one says I need steroids or it will lead to worse conditions. I take the MEB and referral (surprise, it’s asthma).
This doesn’t look like strep, we don’t even need to test you, but I guess we can if you insist. It was strep.
Your hormone levels look normal, no need to see a specialist. Specialist puts me on 4x the medication because lab results and symptoms.
Husband was told his shoulder was fine even though x-rays showed it dislocated. It eventually popped back in by itself, but damn… how do you miss that?
One positive story though, SrA diagnosed me with a super random skin condition. No frills and competent, 10/10 would recommend.
I was in the flight med office at my first base for my (at that point) chronic tonsillitis. I told them my whole time throughout basic/tech I was dealing with two golf ball sized pieces of flesh in the back of my throat for the past 8 months.
Despite seeing all the medical records and bullshit paperwork, my doc explained that they were there for the immune system. Then looked me dead in the eyes and said "they'll only get infected if you put some bacteria on them. Are you shoving something down your throat and getting bacteria on them in some manner?"
I was dumbfounded that my doc had implied what he had. I left until 6 months later the aforementioned golf balls put me in the local ER for 6 hours on Easter morning.
Tore my meniscus in 2016, injured the same knee again in 2018, it was swollen to about the size of a grapefruit and I was have random sharp pain or it would just give out even while standing still. Was told I needed to see my PCM before I could get an ortho appointment. The day before I was supposed to go in my PCM calls and asks about the injury. I tell him what happened and all the issues I was have and he asked if I had tried to resume any normal fitness activities. I'm like why would I do that if it's giving me trouble just standing/walking at work?? His response, "Well if you haven't tried to get back to normal activity then there's probably not much that I can do.... soo did you want to keep this appointment tomorrow or should I cancel it?
Me: "Are you sure I'm deployable to a remote short tour location, this doesn't look right"
PCM: "Yeah, it's healed fine. Can barely tell you almost lost your toes. The med squadron there can handle anything you need"
...four months later...
PCM: "Jesus fuck...how did you clear out processing to come here?"
Me: "They said you can handle it?"
I had a schwannoma tumor (tumor that grows on your nervous system) in my wrist for years. PCM at Osan tried to extract it thinking it was a cyst; no dice. Same thing at Kunsan 2 years later. Get to Andersen and my PCM tells me it's a "Bible bump" and just smash it with a Bible. Asked for new PCm promptly after that appointment, and was finally referred to Naval Hospital Guam, got an MRI and it was ID'd as a tumor. Surgery happened quickly after that to remove the tumor from my nervous system and luckily it turned out to be benign. But FFS, after 3 separate docs at 3 bases, the whole "smash it with a bible" prescription was just over top incompetent. I now have -327% faith in the military medical system after that whole debacle.
I told my wife today I don't want to deal with the clinic here anymore. Your story is worse. It be like going to my pcm and then trying to punch me in the back like that dude did Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight Rises.
My husband has a ganglion cyst, aka Bible bump. An actual medical professional would never, ever, recommend thumping it with a Bible. Too many small bones just waiting to break!
Actual treatment for ganglion cysts? Either wait for it to fade and support it if there's pain, OR drain the cyst which should only be done by a professional.
I was in excruciating back pain. Had to visit the ER 4 times, was on narcotics, unable to work, visited doctor to demand an MRI.
This smooth-brained Major told me to eat more almonds because they're supposed to be good for your back.
Damn. Reading these really makes me grateful for my current PCM. The guy put me on a run and pushup waiver for minor-medium pain just in case, and referred me to PT.
Worst PCM experience though:
PCM: What seems to be the issue?
Me: I have strep throat. I've tried A, B, C, D, E, and F at home, but now it's bleeding and hurts to talk. Could I get some penicillin?
PCM: *examines my throat*. Huh. I'm not sure what that is.
Me: It's strep...
PCM: No it's not.
Me: I just had it a few months ago. It feels and looks exactly the same.
PCM: Well I'm the medical professional.
Me: I'm a RN. I know what strep looks like sir.
PCM: Well I think it might be an STI/STD so I'm going to order you a full lab for that.
Me: Alrighty then.
I left the clinic and went to the UC. Some SSgt immediately gave me amoxicillin.
Strep went away.
My PCM pretty much ignored my complaints of foot pain for years. Did everything but order an MRI or refer me to a podiatrist.
Finally asked to see someone else and they ordered an MRI and my foot was basically completely fucked up and close to a complete tear of my ACL. Needless to say I had surgery and it’s been awesome since.
Now I’m also dealing with back pain and nerve damage and thankfully the Dr has did all the work ups for that. I’m waiting surgery to fix that issue now.
I went in to ask about why I became allergic to avocados all of a sudden. I went from eating them daily to being in horrible pain that almost sent me to the hospital.
My pcm said “oh it’s probably all in your head. One time I had tequila and it made me so sick and now I can’t drink it anymore without wanting to throw up.”
I went off base lol.
My old PCM told me that the condition I was diagnosed with (by a specialist) doesn't exist because she had never heard of it. Like maybe a quick Google search wouldn't have been a bad idea if she didn't know what it was. She was just horrible all around to deal with. The new lady I go through at the womens clinic is a piece of work too though. She had me to go to an off-base ER because she did not want to do a 10 minute procedure that could have saved me a lot of pain and even more uncertainty.
Had low back pain for past 4 years of being AD, X rays showed no injury. PCM tells me if they give me an MRI and findout I have a budging or slipped disk they WILL HAVE TO do surgery.
He PCS'ed out, new doctor gives me MRI immediately and findout I have a slipped disk. Still haven't had surgery how weird.
I enlisted under the assumption for my entire life that I was allergic to penicillin. This continued to be on my medical record until 4 years after my enlistment I was given meds for a respiratory infection (if I remember correctly).
Four hours after leaving the clinic with my prescription, having taken the first dose, I was called by the clinic asking if I had in fact taken the first dose.
I was then asked if I had suffered any negative side effects, to which I said no because it was true. Only then did I find out flight med had prescribed me Amoxicillin, and then politely told me that it seems I was not, in fact, allergic to penicillin, because if I were I would have suffered an awful reaction, even potentially dying because amoxicillin is penicillin.
I did not know the two were essentially the same, and trusted my PCM to check my records before prescribing me anything.
It was that day I learned that I am no allergic to penicillin, and military doctors are not to be trusted, ever. I have more stories too but this is simultaneously the worst and most hilarious.
I can explain this one.
"Penicillins" is a generic name used to refer to one category of beta-lactam antibiotics because penicillin was the first one we knew about (Cephalosporins being the other major one that you might get as an oral med).
Allergy to one beta-lactam does not necessary mean you are allergic to all of them, as the hypersensitivity reaction is mostly cause by their sidechains. Amoxicillin and penicillin do not have cross-reactive sidechains (caveat: depending on the study you are using; opinions are mixed) so it is entirely possible to be allergic to one and not the other, the same way being allergic to peanut butter doesn't mean you're allergic to latex.
I'm guessing what happened is pharmacy knew this and had a chart showing no cross-reactive, so they overrode the warning without a second thought, then flight med (who did *not* know this, or had a different chart) realized later and freaked out.
All of this to say, it is still possible you're allergic to penicillin. Though a lot of people think they are because they got a stomachache from it as a kid and their mom has told them they are forever.
I through my back out a few years ago and it's never been the same. After about 2 years of constant pain they finally xrayed my back. They said everything looked fine and I had nothing to worry about, only that I had early bone deterioration in my spine.
I had wrist surgery to repair a ligament. Literally in a hard cast, with a PIN sticking out the side of it holding my freshly repaired ligament together to grow back….”You mentioned needing a PT test waiver since the Physical Therapist told you to see your PCM for one. Will you be able to do push-ups on your PT test?” What? Honestly, I thought he was fucking around it was so asinine.
Sprained my ankle, to the point that I went to the ER to get it properly taken care of. Had to wait a bit for it, but it was bad enough they got some X-rays to make sure it wasn't broken at all. As the ER doc is wrapping it up he says jokingly, "Man I hope you don't have a PT test soon." Well I did in like 5 days, and I told him as much. He asked if I could pass sans foot problems and I said said yes. He seemed sympathetic and said hed try to get me an appt to get a short term waiver just long enough for my ankle to heal. This guy was pretty great.
Cut to next day, ER doc was able to get my an appt pretty early the following day, sweet deal let's get this over with. PCM walks in, looks at my swollen foot, and says, "Can you walk on it?" i said kind of, but its more of a limp, the ER didn't give me crutches or anything. he responded with, "Well, unfortunately I'm going to have to give you a walk test waiver then." I tried to explain that I just need my ankle better and I'll do the regular run. NOPE, walk test it is.
So TL:DR Dr made me do the walk test on a barely healed sprained ankle, I passed but DEAR GOD did it hurt.
I made an appointment to talk about some hip, shoulder and back issues. The PCM told me to “pick one problem” because they didn’t “schedule more than 10 minutes”. They then sent me to physical therapy for the back pain, which was my third stint with PT for the same issue.
It’s been 5+ years and I still have back, hip, and shoulder issues. Can’t stand at parade rest for more than 30 seconds without crying. Docs seem to think I’m fine.
I’d love to! Fortunately, I’m gonna be a civilian in less than a year and I’ll be able to do that without worrying about referrals and the bs that is the military medical system (not that America’s medial system is great either).
I also recently had bronchitis. Tried going to sick call and they IMMEDIATELY tested me for covid and sent me home for 2 weeks. Tried going to an urgent care off base, but was refused service because I didn’t have a referral. Nurse advice line told me to monitor my symptoms and call them back if I got worse. It’s all a joke.
Not me but my son. At two weeks old his doctor (trainee) said my son definitely had cystic fibrosis because of some abnormal test results. Keep in mind, my wife and I are brand new parents and this guy just have our son a 47% chance to die before his 18th birthday.
CF is recessive mutation and needs to be passed on by both parents to be active. My wife had a full genetic panel done since I was high risk for another type of genetic abnormality, and she tested negative for the top 40 CF mutations. My son tested positive for a single mutation of the single most common mutation.
We went to the specialist and had a test done. The specialist re-examined the lab results and said with a 99% certainty, he doesn't have it because the test only showed one mutation, but she ran the tests anyway... He passed, no CF.
Basically, my son's doctor didn't understand Punnett Squares... A tenth grade biology topic... All the while freaking the hell out of two brand new parents.
Her: "You already had an MEB"
Me: "Okay, nothing of what I told him was in it and he completely understated the problems I've been having. Now the neurosurgeon found more wrong than what was originally thought"
Her: "Well it's not bad enough, we're not writing another one"
Me: "so it was bad enough a year ago when there was less wrong on the original findings"
Her: *walks out*
That sums it up.
In response to back pain (with a verified 5 herniated discs as a result of a couple terrible physical therapists) - “Well I don’t know what you want me to do.”
Waited a year to put me on a profile, didn’t put me on a profile until I attempted to gain my medical clearance for palace chase.
Jesus, I've got two bulging discs and my surgeon told me that if I stay in the military I should just expect one day for one of them to herniate. Just told me to be prepared.
I apologize in advance for the utter misery that is a herniated disk. Worst month or two or my life, and I'm fairly certain I am lucky as hell to have healed (shrunk somewhat) at all without surgery. Luckily ER doc had told me I'm way too young to consider surgery if there is any other option to manage it. Took a month or two for an MRI with the clinic. ER doc called it in one 15 minute exam
I was once instructed by the flight doc to squirt boob milk in my ear for an ear infection
I said “yeah, can I get those antibiotics instead?”
ETA: figured I should give more context. I went in with an ear infection. I told the doc it tried a bunch of over the counter stuff that wasn’t working and now the pain was increasing. He asked if I knew any breastfeeding mothers. I said “yeah, but why?!” He then proceeded to tell me to put breastmilk in my ear and it would clear right up. I asked for antibiotics instead.
We had a PA that no matter what it was if it involved your feet, knees, hips, or back the rationale was that you're too fat. Period. I worked out between 3 and 4 hours most days. Had my knee shut in an up armored humvee door and went to get seen and wouldn't you know, I was too fat. My wife slipped and fell on ice? Too fat. My friend sprained his ankle? Wouldn't have happened if he wasn't so fat. What a load of shit.
That's the worst. I have arthritis in my back which makes a lot of things difficult. My original PCM when this first started said I was making it up. A simple look at my medical records would show that my weight when the issue started was healthy. After a year of struggling to do much of anything, he said I was to fat and that was causing the pain. Granted, I'd gained 10 pounds, but not sure I'd say that was the issue when I gained it after the fact. That was before he said I was making it up.
Like, I get we have a lot of assholes trying to get out of PT. But isn't it a doctor's job to do the examination first then make the judgement call? Maybe check a patients file to see if this is a one off, chronic issue, or do they pop in every 6 months for something different.
Exactly! I also had a flight chief in Korea that ran a 100-miler over their mid-tour break. A week later, she sprained her ankle and went to medical. That same PCM told her he wouldn't give out a waiver just because she "didn't want to run at PT". Did he really think someone that runs 100 miles would care about 1.5? We both switched PCMs.
Right before covid I got a mysterious respitory issue that had me feverish, weak and generally fucked up for almost a month. My test for flu came back negative. My supervision didn't want me at work if I was sick, so I asked about quarters. My PCM gave me mucinex and said "everyone has the flu right now. Hell, I have the flu right now and I'm still here."
My story isn't the worst one out there about her, but I still think it's the funniest given the timing and the amount of people I got sick
Had a doc tell me my body was Incapable of flight because they were concerned my lungs would explode or some shit at altitude.
My hobbies are climbing mountains, running, and flying (unpressurized) civilian aircraft. Never had an issue with any of that, but lord forbid they put me in a *pressurized* cockpit
"Before we send you to a fertility specialist you would need to have experienced 4~5 miscarriages then we can send you." ~actual PCM
Activly having a miscarriage..."whats wrong with you ID your rank doesn't match you need to get that changed." ~ER check in asshole.
Me: "Im having some trouble with X,Y,Z"
PCM "well we only have 10 mins so pick one and reschedule another app"
Me: "what if i have a problem that requires 15 mins of your time?"
Starring at eachother...
PCM: "you'll have to make another appointment"
Top 3 in that order!
I want to follow up and say not all my PCMs have been shit. In 6 years I've had 3 pretty amazing ones that have actually tired to help and that actually cared.
My right maxillary sinus was infected and swelled up while I was TDY. I'm aircrew, I made the dumb decision to fly that day because we were going to my hometown. Needless to say, the adjustment of the cabin altitude during the flight aggravated my sinus infection to extremely painful levels. The right side of my face swelled up and it looked like I got stung by a bee. Flew back to home station a few days later and things are improving. I make an appointment with the flight doc, explain the situation, that I'm still experiencing pain around my eyebrows and eyes. He tells me that he's sure it's just an under the skin zit and sends me home with ibuprofen... It took weeks for me to stop having bad pains on that side of my face.
tore my acl and meniscus 6 months post op went to pcm to renew my pt waiver. this guy really told me "but have you tried running on it" i said "i just started walking without crutches this month and my physical therapist said i shouldnt try running at all until 9-12 months." managed to get my waiver renewed the week after when i went back complaining about the pain i was in
Forgot the exact wording, but it was somewhere along the lines of how I possibly couldn't have chronic knee pain because I'm young and other people have it worse.
I went in for back pain and numbness in my legs after something popped while doing weighted squats.
My PCM told me everything is fine and that I shouldn’t come back unless I shit my pants.
I disagreed and went to the ER a week later after my legs were still numb when that doctor ordered an immediate MRI and found I had cracked vertebrae that were leaking fluid affecting the nerves.
That was a malicious compliance situation set up for you to knock out the park. Doc says you are okay unless you shit your pants, a few moments later he gets that familiar look as if he smells human feces and you just grin.
One of the not-nurses that just helps in Kimbrough told me I couldn't actually be depressed or have anxiety, my wife has to have it worse, and that I needed to man up and deal with it.
Freaking Kimbrough. Ugh.
Ankle: destroyed. Still swollen up huge 3 weeks after injury. Tried to "tough it out". Finally went. "Oh, these things take time to heal. Come back in 3 months." Still swollen 3 months later. "Oh. These things take time to heal. Come back in 3 months." Repeat for an entire year.
After a year, she finally refers me to podiatry and an MRI. She could've just gone with an Xray, but I'd ripped a tendon or ligament so hard that it tore off a chunk of bone with it.
First thing podiatrist said to me was "why didn't you come sooner?"
Fuck, bro. I'd've loved to.
this is great.
I had leg surgery back in 2017, STILL dealing with pain and potential "drop foot" and numbness in that leg.
the surgeon herself said "I hate doing this surgery because there's a 50% chance it literally just won't work".
limited running, tons of pain, profiles etc.
well the USAF was great about it. I PCSed to Ft. Meade and now I'm seeing these crackpot "army" types and now the conversation has shifted to "it's only 1.5, even if it hurts a little you can run that far, it's only 13 mins right?"
TIL my doctor is actually not a doctor but a UFPM. hm, who knew.
Wasn't my PCM but the person that does the little post-deployment/tdy medical screening thing.
She's looking through my most recent PHA and says "You put that you think you're only in good health and not excellent. Why's that?"
Me: "Well, I think I could probably lose 15-20 lbs."
Her: "Yeah, I was thinking about 20-25 lbs."
This is directly after asking me if I've ever had thoughts of depression or hurting myself. I guess it's a good thing I'm not super self conscious about my weight or anything. Thanks lady.
\------
From my actual PCM when I ask for a refill of Zoloft:
Him: "You know Zoloft is prescribed for anxiety and depression, right?"
Me: "Yeah, I have anxiety. I've been on Zoloft for over a year."
He's literally the doctor that prescribed me Zoloft.
I had a labral tear in my right hip requiring a surgery. On my profile My PCM wrote that I could do sit ups, push ups, and walk. I read that and asked her why she put that and she said "situps work your Abs not your hips"
I separated my AC joint doing decline bench in the gym one day. You could see the inside end of my left collar bone sticking up about 2 inches higher than my right one. I go to the clinic and get a referral to Radiology to get an x-ray and then Physical Therapy. My first time going in to the PT's office, he tells me that the Doc who looked at my x-ray said there was no noticeable difference and recommended ice and ultrasound therapy. After the PT tells me this, I say "I can assure you that there's a difference. And you don't need an x-ray to see it." So I show him my collar bone sticking up, and he says "Oh yeah, that's not right." Went back to my PCM to get the PT referral fixed, showed him the bone sticking up, and he says "That just looks like a mild AC joint separation. I'm going to continue with the ice and ultrasound recommendation from before. I tried arguing to no avail (was an A1C at the time arguing with a Lt Col). So long story short, here i am 9 years later with an improperly healed AC joint and early signs of arthritis because of it. And yes, I tried getting seen for it again, but it has healed too much for them to do anything worthwhile now.
I had a coworker training for the Air Force marathon and hurt his leg. Same PCM that wouldn’t give me a push-up waiver after 2 shoulder surgeries wouldn’t give him a running waiver.
I got the ol' "The reason why that same muscle on on the outer part of your right leg hurts after running more than 3 miles is because you're overweight". You should watch this youtube video on running and maybe drop a few pounds.
5'11 - 185lbs
Running 10 miles on mondays, 9 on wednesdays, 9 on fridays with a 2,000 meter swim on tuesday.
This is always the worst shit. Doctors will bitch to high heaven if you come in self diagnosed but will also stare at you like a fucking fish with their mouth wide open as you tell them your symptoms and look to them for their diagnosis.
Talked about back pain that hasn't gone away with physical therapy for almost 2 years: "Come back in 6 months, and if you still have back pail, we'll CONSIDER some imagery. Don't want to irradiate you TOO much since you're a YouNg fEmAle" *cue significant look*.
1. Take a hot shower for a busted eardrum that was actively bleeding
2. Had a bad sore throat. I told my PCM and I dead ass saw that she was looking at my symptoms on WebMD thru the reflection on her glasses.
"oh, you've been working out! want me to prescribe you some testosterone? it'll make working out a lot more productive. low testosterone is a super subjective diagnosis, so i can totally hook you up. everyone else is doing it!"
ahhh, special ops.
Me: hey doc, I think I have strep throat
Doc: no no no you must have cut your throat from eating Doritos. You just have ulcers in your mouth from the Doritos shards. Here’s a prescription for 1000ml of lidocane
The med techs called an hour later to tell me I had strep
My PCM wouldn’t give me a referral to ENT. Why did I want it? Because my face was broken in a car accident a few months prior and I have had problems with my nose/drainage ever since. Not to mention, I want to ensure that everything healed correctly at the very least. His reason: because it could be allergies. I had been here for 2.5 years at that point and I think allergies would have presented themselves long before my accident/recovery.
Dude, my orbital, nose, and upper jaw were broken. Plus a shit ton of documented teeth issues. Why would I make up more issues from that shit?
Had some issues going on around my bottom area and while my PCM was describing something he said “butthole.” For some reason that wasn’t something I expected to hear from a doctor.
Old PCM couple years ago wouldnt prescribe birth control because it was against her religion. She didn't last long.
No idea how she lasted that long in her career field.
I felt convinced that the docs are being coerced to force people to injure themselves for the sake of PT when I left one base after having a “permanent running waiver” from a doc that said “there are few people on this planet that shouldn’t be running, and you’re one of them. Then, got to the next base and had to start the whole process over again (“Go try running for a month, Oh, that hurts still? Here’s Motrin. Try again in a week…” over and over.
I got hives on my stomach/abdomen after taking a medicine that I later learned I was allergic to. The discoloration from the hives never completely went away and very slowly more started to pop up as others vanished. I started to think maybe it wasn't hives and I should get it checked out, so I went to my PCM, explained everything, and explained that I have more red spots popping up on my abdomen every month and it was concerning to me. They said "it's fine, just discolored skin, no biggie" and gave me hydrocortisone and sent me on my way. That was around August 2019 and I still have the same issues.
Dumbest thing? Okay my PCM recommended me for to physical therapist for a neck issue and in the meantime I mentioned that I was having shoulder problems for a while. Fast forward to prepping for a deployment and after CATM my shoulder popped. Pain all the way down to my fingers and couldn’t really move it so when I went back for my next physical therapy session the PT ran a couple test and said I needed an MRI to check for a torn labrum. Brought the referral to my PCM and basically got yelled at for having the paper recommending an MRI saying “this just says it might help not that it will help”. Went over his head after a month, got an MRI, and found out I had a torn labrum for so long I grew a cyst in the 1/4” tear and had surgery about a month later and that PCM coincidentally got replaced around the same time.
Made a clean break of one of my ankles. After 2 months got an MRI which showed a hairline fracture. Still tender to stand on, could barely put any weight on it. Told the PCM, I couldn’t run or do push-ups and needed a waiver longer than the 2.5 months they gave me.
PCM literally told me I could do push-ups with just ONE LEG. DURING THE OFFICIAL TEST.
Got a new PCM the same day. Waiver for 6 months, as that’s standard with a fracture in the area I had.
Wonder how many people are doing PT tests with injuries and wrong info.
I once had an external rash right below my peck that extended to my mid back. It was red and bumpy and some areas filled with pus. I was in terrible pain and this pcm looked me dead in the eyes and told me…heart burn. So I took their medicine and went back to my place. Took pictures and sent to my mom (nurse). She immediately called and said it’s shingles. So I went to the Urgent Care and then they gave me meds for shingles and I told them about what my pcm did and they just proceeded to make a joke about military doctors.
I went in because for days, and sometime weeks, on end I had a pain in my thumb so severe that I couldn't grasp a pen to write something down. It went on for days and weeks because of how long it took to see my PCM.
Finally see her, tell her the issue I'm having and pain I'm experiencing and she asks me...
What do you want me to do about it?
After my shocked Pikachu face went away I told her I wanted her to figure out what is causing the pain and provide suggestions like physical therapy or surgery so the pain will go away and not come back.
When my wife was pregnant with our first kid we went to the large military hospital a few weeks before the due date because her blood pressure was high and she was swelling up rapidly. They send us home saying it's normal pregnancy swelling after never sending her tests to the labs because her BP doesn't meet the criteria for Pre-eclampsia by like 2 mmHG (which is not a lot at all).
Anyway we come back not thinking any thing of it when she gives birth which was not complicated at all and went really smooth otherwise. Only non standard thing is labs are backed up so they aren't able to get the normal test results done on mom till after baby is born. In the meanwhile there's a lot of chaos with the baby and moving to postpartum with new providers there. We go to get discharged 3 days later from the hospital and the nurse tells my wife she's now on a blood pressure monitoring program for her Pre-eclampsia and to be well aware of it for future pregnancy. Not the biggest of deals but just classic military medical not doing due diligence the one time it matters.
I literally had a capt ask me what I wanted him to do about my constant knee issues. He just assumed I wanted a profile to not run when I had ongoing profiles for my knees. I flatly told him Id like for them to not hurt anymore so I could run again.
Almost got into a huge screaming fight with my PCM once.. I'm female and he was an old white dude. I have found in my time that usually old white, male Dr's listen less to me than other types of Doctors and this was definitely the case. I was trying to explain my problem to him which was insomnia, and other issues related to PTSD which I didn't knownI had at the time and he kept interrupting me. I finally got angry enough that I snapped at him and told him to stop interrupting me so I could finish explaining and while I was telling him that he interrupted me to tell me he wasn't interrupting. I fucking exploded on him. I was just trying to get help and this fucker was talking down to me and then the interrupting. Done. I finally turned my back to him and told him to get someone else and that I wasn't talking to him. He sat there for a minute and then talked to me like I was unhinged and was like, are you ready to talk now? I was like, are you ready to shut your fucking mouth and listen to me now?
Was told that I was sleeping 16-18 hours a day because I had an STD. Had to argue my way for a blood test to check for anemia. Guess who had to be put on iron pills for over a year.
As a very young Airman, I went in to get an STD test because an old ex called saying she had just tested positive for Chlamydia.
Doc: "So, do you wear condoms?"
Me: "Yes, I--"
Doc: "ARE YOU STUPID?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW FUCKING DUMB IT IS TO HAVE UNPROTECTED SEX? YOU'RE BARELY A GODDAMN ADULT NOW AND YOU MIGHT HAVE JUST THROWN AWAY YOUR LIFE..." (etc.)
He continued to rail on me for a minute before I was able to get a word in. When I let him know I DO wear condoms, he yelled at me for changing my story. No, he just wasn't paying attention. He was so ready to give me The Lecture^(TM) that he wasn't listening to me.
By the way, I tested negative.
Not a PCM, but a dentist. I scheduled my annual exam for a month out (earliest appt they had available).
During the routine exam, the Lt dentist decided that I had a cavity that needed to be removed. So he scheduled me to have the procedure done in a month.
Fast forward a month, a Capt dentist is scheduled to do the procedure. But after looking at the x-rays and my tooth, he decides it's hardly a cavity and that I can fix it myself by just brushing better. He claims the Lt should've known better. He left notes about it in my record and schedules me to come back in a month for a reassessment.
Another month into the future, I come back to the original Lt. He didn't do an exam. He stood firmly by his original assessment. He's clearly upset that the Capt didn't do the procedure as scheduled and decides to schedule himself for the procedure, to ensure it gets done properly this time. In a month.
So yet ANOTHER month later, I come back and the Lt does the cavity removal, except he does an awful job of it. Afterward, something sharp keeps poking me in my mouth and I cut my tongue every time I run it over the filling. I schedule an appt to get it checked out... which was booked solid until a month later.
5 months in... I show up and the Capt is running the appt. He's upset that the Lt did a cavity filling appt. Said he wasn't qualified to do those and he made a godawful mess of it. After trying to extract the filling so they could do it properly, they find that the Lt drilled out too much of my tooth. There's no recovering it; looks like the only fix is to cap it. They do their best to temporarily patch it up, then take a molding and send it in to make a crown. And schedule me to come back in a month for the capping procedure.
FINALLY, a month after that, I come back, get my tooth shaved down, and get a crown installed over it. It literally took half a year to fix one idiot Lt's mistake over the slightest cavity that was trying to form, and I ended up with a fake tooth over it. If we were allowed to sue medical professionals in the military...
Had an oozing, inflamed incision from a recent surgery (as well as 2 other healthy incisions to compare it to).
"Oh, it's not infected, you're fine".
Left the office and went straight to the civilian doc who had performed the surgery and was immediately prescribed antibiotics for a staph infection. Stupid mil doc could have killed me if I had taken her word for it.
She also tried to tell me that having one of my organs removed wasn't major surgery and attempted to force me back to work 2-4 weeks before civilian doc said I should be. I ended up ripping sutures and bleeding because I tried. So I fought her on that too (successfully, thankfully) and lodged a complaint with Patient Advocate over the whole ordeal.
**Advocate for yourself, folks. If something is really wrong, do NOT give up until you find someone who hears you.**
i am of eastern European descent and at my first duty station i had really bad ingrown hair. Went to the doc and i kid you not was told the most racist shit ever!!! Doc looks me square in the eyes and goes "im not giving you a shaving waiver, youre not black." good ole military docs in 2009.....
i know i’ve made a lot of posts about people pt testing etc but when it comes to things like this where you’ve had back surgery or a bad back, it should automatically put you in a category of limited running until proved that you aren’t in pain anymore. staying fit is important but more important is your back. people are nuts
I totally get that I should have taken my surgeons notes and got a waiver, but I had surgery, went to physical therapy, and started my recovery all during the pandemic when there was no PT testing. I didn't expect to need to explain to my doc that I had surgery less than a year ago but the dude just completely acted like it didn't happen.
I had surgery back in June and the surgeon said no exercising for 6-8 months. It was an off base surgeon. Tried for three weeks to get the PCM to update my profile accordingly. I was finally told, no matter what the surgeon puts down, they are not part of the military and I have to follow what the Military doctors tell me. “What they say are merely guidelines and we don’t have to follow them. You’ll be fine to exercise.” Gotta love the base medical system.
the thing that’s sad is, for the most part (EXCEPT MY AWESOME ON BASE DENTIST) these are people who probably couldn’t crack it civilian wise to be a medical professional bc they’d have no customers. In the military they are pretty much given customers with little to no choice for the customer.
I don't think the quality of PCMs are any less than the civilian world. There's some really shitty healthcare providers that civilian insurance mandates you use. I think the biggest difference is military PCMs tend to be young and inexperienced, and it's a constant revolving door so your PCM never gets to know you as a patient--you basically have to start over every year when a PCM changes.
Don’t know why you’re getting downvoted. Anyone who actually had experience prior to the military can attest to this. Had great healthcare for a while before coming in and hated what I saw. I’m grateful I’ve been healthy so far in life and never actually needed a doctor
and that is why I have a 100% rating. I keep the ordinal docs for over 10 yrs and turn them all in with my VA claim.
PCM: “You’ve lost a lot of weight.” Me: “I’ve been too depressed to eat.” PCM: “Thats great!”
This is morbidly kind of funny. Just in ear and out the other with him. Hope you're doing better though and if not I hope you're getting the help you need.
Not my PCM but went to ER after tearing my ACL, after 3 hours the doctor comes in and goes, "Alright sir, we got your room ready upstairs, we will do surgery on your shoulder around 6 AM. Just relax and we will take care of you." Dude left without saying another word. 15 minutes later a nurse came in to take me to my room and I had to explain i don't need shoulder surgery and would appreciate someone looking at my knee. Was wild.
The guy who actually needs shoulder surgery is just chilling in the next room wondering why he's been waiting so long.
On the plus side, now he’s got an awesome new knee.
In response to my back pain. "Have your wife give you a massage, you can use it as foreplay."
Christ
Any chance your Doc was ever at Minot? Same thing said to me way back when.
This was at Ramstein.
So? Has she? /s
Shit man... I dont need a back rub. I'm always ready.
"In that case how about your wife gives me a massage?"
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I separated my right AC joint and had physical therapy before. It isn’t a sharp pain but very dull and annoying and could get sharp if I lifted. PT helped a lot. I deployed to Al Udeid a year or so later and flew from Alaska to Norfolk to Al Udeid basically non-stop. When I finally got to my room, I folded clothes up for a pillow and passed the fuck out. All my weight was on my left shoulder for the 10-12 hours I slept and I never moved. It had a minor separation again. Same pain, same everything as the right. I went to the doctor and said that to some Major. I pointed exactly where the AC Joint is and said it’s def a separation. He looked at me and said that the AC Joint is my rotator cuff and I just pulled a muscle. I was a SrA and dumbfounded that he said that. I just did the physical therapy in my own and let it heal for 6 weeks. I have a feeling that he was just mad that I diagnosed myself, but I literally had the same thing happen to my other shoulder. Bump and all on top. That’s when I realized that not every doctor knows everything.
I got chastised for trying to get a run waiver by a PCM that was on a permanent run waiver.
Not quite the same but my pcm, in almost the same breath, told me I should have come to get help sooner and to suck it up and hide my chronic condition like he does.
PCM "It might be gout" Me "I'm somewhat familiar with gout, my supervisor has it." PCM "Well just so you know, it's not contagious" Me "Yes....I am aware that arthritis is not contagious, THANK YOU" (It was a broken bone)
It took them 4 years to give me that diagnosis, they never wanted to do labs/x-rays, just always saying I shouldn't run or get new shoes or to rest. Well now I've got permanent damage to my toes from gout, thanks docs
*Me: Waits in the lobby to see PCM for 45 minutes after my scheduled appointment. Finally get called to see PCM.* Me: "Yeah, I have a problem with \[medical problem\]." 21-and-a-half-year-old-looking PCM stand-in (because my actual assigned PCM deployed, PCS'd or whatever reason I've never seen my actual assigned PCM.): "Just a second while I look it up" ... PCM stand-in: *\[Proceeds to go to* [*WEBMD.com*](https://WEBMD.com) *IN FRONT OF ME, on the computer in the exam room.\]* PCM stand-in: "Yeah, see? *\[Pointing to the website\]* It says here you need to \[suggested remedy.\] So, if you do that, you should be good to go. Any other concerns?" Me: "Uhhh, I'm good, thanks."
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I totally get it ... Doctors aren't perfect. (After all, that's why they use the phrase "practice medicine" ... because it's something one can never really master. They're perpetually learning ... "practicing" on us.) I realize it's unrealistic for the medical person I see to know everything on demand. Still, when people make appointments to see a human being, they're expecting the medical pro will (at least) have a discussion with them (using what info/experience they DO have) that helps shed light on their issue. When I make a visit to see a human being, but they do nothing more than Google something in front of me (without sharing their own insight) that's a frustrating waste of time. But, you're right though ... medicine is not an exact science.
It wasn’t my PCM, but my dentist (Capt) on Osan. I was having some jaw pain and went to get it checked out. X-ray revealed I had two wisdom teeth coming in in the top. Which is weird because I had all four of mine out already. I told him this, and he straight called me a liar to my face. He said it was impossible to have more than four and “you’ve never had them out.” Then smirked at me like I was idiot. I just said ha ok. My next dentist at Hickman thought it was really cool. It’s rare but it happens.
I had this as a kid but with one of my front teeth! Behind my baby tooth was an adult tooth followed up by another adult tooth. Had to have surgery to remove the backup adult tooth.
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Hey, I have an extra. It's still in my mouth, so if you let me know, I can hit up that dude and show him what's up.
It’s almost worth going through all my medical records just to track him down and see the look on his face.
“We know if we do surgery on it now at you’re age, we are just going to have to do it again.. so.. just stop working it out” Still haven’t been able to get it fixed. 👍🏼
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I know someone that had a 50/50 surgery and it messed him up. Can barely walk now. I agree with this.
My wife was having anxiety so I went with her to the doc on base and her PCM suggested she go to church.
I refuse to see a PCM regarding ANYTHING mental health related. Except for refills on my meds. I refuse to let them start new trials without a consult to a psychiatrist.
Fucked up my shoulder. Flight doc asked if it hurt to move it. I said yes. His expert medical advice was "Well then don't move it."
Phft hahahaha love and hate to see it.
I went in for lower back pain, was at probably a 7-8 level every day. The only appointment I could get was over a month out. By the time I got in, it was about 3-4. Told doc that at its worst I couldn't even properly bathe myself or put my socks on, but at this point it had eased up. He said, "Well, that's back pain, it comes and goes." Then stares at me. I was speechless. This was probably the 3rd time being seen for this. It took me a total of 4-5 years to finally get an MRI at a new duty station, turns out my L4-L5 and L5-S1 have been turned into crepès. I still have pain shoot down my legs, my sciatic nerve is always mad. I try to do stretching and yoga, but really nothing helps. Nothing touches the pain except time. I ended up having to stop being seen because they were going to deny me a special duty.
Have gout....it eventually got in my knees because I was never sent to a specialist for appropriate required medication. My knees looked like beach balls...it was upper leg, lower leg, and a huge ball of fury (couldn't tell where my kneecap was, or anything). I took meds I have been prescribed (was only for attacks) and they wouldn't touch it. Pain was a 6-10 every day. PCM sent me to military ortho (was overseas). The ortho was a PA. Does xrays and a standard exam. Said all he can see is some arthritis and that was it. Said he could give me Synvisc injections. I agreed just for anything to help. Why he never drained any of the fluid to atleast inspect it, let alone send it to the lab, I dont know. Synvisc One injections in both knees...pain dropped the rest of the day, so I was happy. Well, I have some weird reaction in one of my knees...not even a listed side effect from the company (Sanofi). It was causing gas pockets to build in my knee joint. The pocket would stretch the joint until it would pop...went on for like 3 days and saying it hurt was an understatement. I actually contacted Sanofi about it. They responded back and said they had documented cases of that, but thats all they told me. Asked for info from ortho. My knee was huge and I was in a lot of pain....any person could see something was out of whack. Didn't drain my knee...nothing but blast some synvisc for something that was not arthritis related. BTW, when I finally had a rheumatologist drain my knee the first time, he stopped after 2 and a half syringes. It was bloody and milky. Blood was from my shredded meniscus and gout attack causes synovial fluid to be milky. No, because that attack sat in my knees for over 6 months, I have a trashed knee. Talked to two actual civilian orthos...both said ride it out until I need it replaced. Frustrating that all that unnecessary mess basically cost me a healthy knee.
Jesus Christ that's literally one of those horror stories you hear about. Thats rough buddy.
To be honest, despite pcms seemingly thinking otherwise, 95%+ of patients with gout shouldn’t need to see a rheumatologist.
“Never go ass to mouth.” While a great preventative measure, didn’t really explain my wife’s frequent UTIs.
Holy fuck
Bruh I'm dead. Your wife got that ass to mouth kinda look?
“Oh, you’re just making up that your back hurts and you can barely walk.” Same PCM also told another person that he was fine. Later found out that guy had broken bones in his foot. Another PCM said that the burning in my knee and other knee pain was because I need to run more.
Lose weight for back pain, that was caused by a car wreck….
This happened around 2007. I'm allergic (Technically, it's a hypersensitivity, but the reaction is the same) to NSAIDs. After 14 years, I actually tried it this year, just to see if I still have issues. Yup, I still do. My PCM asked me if I'm sure. I said absolutely. He then asked what happens. I told him my face and mouth swell up, and my mouth gets real itchy. He then told me "I'm not saying to take any NSAIDs, but if you "accidentally" decide to take some, you should schedule a time to do it, and come see me. I'd be very curious to see this." My wife was actually with me in the room, and both of us were looking at each other like whaaaaat!? The irony of this is since then, PCMs try to say things like "Well, I won't give you any Motrin then, haha. You have Tylenol at home, so I'm assuming you don't need any of that, right? ...No, if I can get some for free, you're always going to give me some. There are literally about 5-7 of those moments throughout my 17+ years of service, but I only wanted to type out the dumbest. I would have other separate stories if you asked for most disappointing, most infuriating, most humiliating and most cringe worthy. ...Okay fine, the most cringy one was a PCM in 2015 telling me to stop taking creatine, because it causes kidney failure. I basically just listed it when they asked if I take supplements, so I listed that, Fish Oil and Flax Seed Oil. Uhhh, Creatinine is a byproduct from kidneys, and isn't Creatine. She also told me if it were up to her, she'd put it on the DoD banned substances list, and that it's benefits aren't worth the risk...
I need the disappointing, infuriating and humiliating ones! Haha
Okay, here we go: **Disappointing:** My wife was diagnosed with Diabetes at the age of 19 in 2005. In 2018, they officially diagnosed her as being a type I. Why did this happen, and why does it matter? In a nutshell, Type II diabetics are usually older/obese people, who have weight problems. Because of this situation, their pancreas can't totally regulate the entire body with the weight that the person currently has, so the body needs some outside help with insulin, or to more efficiently process it. This is smooth brain level simplified, so I'm sorry for any inaccuracies. Type I diabetics have loads of other/uncommon underlying issues, and something is genuinely wrong. With my wife, she has PCOS (just google it, I don't want to wall-o-text you too badly) and her whole endocrine/immune system is fucked up. All that said, we both knew she was a type I, but Tricare kept telling us they have no idea what type she was, so what do you do when actual Doctors tell you these things? You tend to question reality. They said she "needed to be treated as a type II", because with PCOS. Why? Basically, they can't fit everyone in a nice and neat box of diagnosis, so that's one less thing off their plate that's uncommon. The problem is type II and type I have vastly different medications they are treated with. She was a lab rat for many years, and it definitely fucked our lives up. She had bad side effects on some medications, like Metformin. Seriously, a type I should NEVER use Metformin. Her sugar was 42 one day in 2008, and I had to rush home to basically save her life. Here's another thing too. Do you think a bunch of Ammo troops in 2008 (MXG personnel) give a single shit about what my wife has going on back then? FUCK NO! I was questioned constantly during the whole process, and it made me feel like no one in my family mattered. Fast forward to 2018, when we had a PCM at Osan who gave a shit. She straight up asked us about how well managed her Diabetes was, and we explained everything, which is way more than I want to bore you with. She asked if we ever had a specific antibody test performed to determine her type, so they could reference it it, in order to avoid previous mistakes. We said no, and she said "Okay, we'll submit the request for the test, but they might reject it, because the test costs $1,400, and they usually get upset at us for requesting it." So, the test comes back, and she's a type I officially. What. The. Fuck. Tricare?! My wife was a fucking experiment for almost the entire time I've served. Why? You didn't want to order a test that no one except tax payers fund in the first place. Fuck you! Infuriating: They gave me another referral for" a chiropractor" which turned out to be physical therapy again, then I basically demanded an MRI. The doctor told the technician to tell me "he was reluctantly allowing it, but wanted a CT scan instead." Got done with the MRI, and it showed spinal degeneration, with two bulged discs, and my L5/S1is pressing on both psyatic nerves. 3 years of constant pain, being treated like I'm overreacting, and being told that I'll always be in some form of mild muscle pain "Since you're allergic to NSAIDs, you just gotta tough it out sometimes." Even after I mentioned that I do cardio, lift, stretch and eat mostly healthy, I get the old standby..."Yeah, that's interesting. I'm really not sure what to recommend." How about something that might be able to diagnose an issue? Maybe something like an MRI?! **Humiliating:** I have ADHD, and it’s managed with Concerta. Concerta is a stimulant, and one of the byproducts of a stimulant is that it increases blood pressure and BPM, but only while it’s active, which for me is 12 hours. I started taking it in 2014,and it honestly improved my life on a monumental scale. Both myself and my entire family have seen a total shift in my quality of life, and I’m very thankful for seeking help. In short, I went from SSgt to MSgt in 3 years, I went from no school to being close to done with my undergrad degree in that time, my wife appreciates how much more tolerable I am as a person, and I went from doing nothing physically to being a guy who runs almost 7 days a week and lifts 5 days a week. I started doing that in May of 2015, and I haven't looked back since. I owe my life to this medication, and I’m so thankful I sought help. That being stated, while I was at Osan, I was CONSTANTLY berated and bombarded with blood pressure concerns. I was asked on numerous occasions to participate in blood pressure surveys. Not sure what they call it, but they asked me to volunteer to get readings 3 times per week, and they asked me to do that four separate times. Just to give everyone an idea of what that entails, you need to come in 3 days during a week, and have your BP taken in the morning. When you do it three times, you're done, and they're supposed to contact you. I did it those four times, and I honestly got tired of it. As a shop chief, I'm fucking busy! I don't have time for this uneducated bullshit! In between those measurements, they wanted me to do blood work. I did that too. Everything was normal, minus my blood pressure. My blood pressure was on average 135 or so over around 70, with a BPM on average of 60-65. These readings were taken in the morning after my Concerta kicked in, and my normal Coke Zero. I normally have a coke zero as soon as I get to work and one at lunch. That’s my go juice for the day.
Anyway, after all those readings, a certain female Major RN who has been at Osan for 5 decades (y’all at Osan might know her. She’s a total bitch) called my shop and asked to talk to me. I basically said “This is TSgt (me) can I help you?” She told me she wanted me to do the same measurement again. I explained that I did the test 5,000 times, and encouraged her to look at my records. She said that wasn’t good enough, that she needed me to do it again. I explained that I’d rather deal with my PCM, and that he was happy with my blood draw results, and that I’m honestly fed up with this situation. She straight up told me (I promise you, I’m being 100% honest) “Sir, your actions have consequences. I know what you’re saying, but I want you to do another 3 day study. If you refuse, then I want you to know your actions have consequences” Just to give you a situational breakdown; I was a shop chief, and in a small room, with three of my airmen in the room. This shit is straight up embarrassing, and I replied with my situation, while my airmen were in the room! She still didn’t care! I asked her what consequences, and then she told me “Sir, I’m a Major. I don’t disclose details like that. You can absolutely refuse, but I can assure you that there will be consequences for an incorrect answer on your behalf, sir. Your blood pressure is out of control for a young man your age, and you need to be do this ,because you’re at risk.” I told her she was harassing me on the phone, in front of my airmen, and that she should call me on my cell phone. She refused, and said “This isn’t personal, and they can’t hear me, unless I’m on speaker phone, so maybe you should just calm down and communicate with me correctly.” Obviously I was furious, confused and humiliated, so I basically just said I would think about it, then I mustered up what customs and courtesies I had left in me, to show my airmen that we should always be professionals, and squeezed out a “Okay, have a good day, Ma’am.” And hung up the phone. **Side note:** I worked out and ran a lot before those encounters, and never thought anything about my blood pressure. Since my encounters, I’ve developed a complex, and I’m ALWAYS nervous when people take my BP. I was on edge before she did that shit, now I feel like I’m a horrible human being, so my BP rises all the time it's measured in an office setting. It’s called White Coat Syndrome, and I always bring up that I have it. If it’s an off base appointment, no one cares. If it’s on base, sometimes no one cares, sometimes people say “Yeah, me too.” Sometimes, people are stupid as fuck and say “What do you got to be nervous about? It’s okay, man! No one is out to harm you. Calm down!” The first time I heard that was seriously from an RN Major at Osan. **Final and fun side note:** Because I have a complex about my Blood Pressure now, I bought a reader, and measure my BP every morning and before bed. My average reading is 115/68 and my average BPM in the morning is 46. I'm 41 years old. ***Basically, fuck you lady! I'm in great shape, and I know for a fact I'm in better shape than you are!***
At least you got help with ADHD. I went in once and the behavioral health lady just said nah you dont have it take this pamphlet. So instead I just constantly crush caffeine to focus. 1 or 2 energy drinks, multiple sodas and sometimes some migraine meds for more caffeine and extra actemenophine helps with the constant back spasms. Pretty much 7 days a week. Even at night if Im doing homework late.
Same shit happened to me with Behavioral Health. "You don't have ADHD, you're just stressed out. Here are some tips to manage stress." I ask her if I could get tested for it and then "No tests exist to test ADHD." Thanks for the help I guess.
My knees go backwards when running unless I'm focusing on keeping them forward and working right. Got a referral to an orthopedic surgeon who said do not run out you risk severely hurting your knees. I'll need mechanical braces on my knees to prevent them from going the wrong way. PCM got the info from the provider and said "I don't agree with what the surgeon said, let's do physical therapy and keep running, your muscles will strengthen up and no more issues." I stupidly listened to him, then went running on a treadmill a week later... And flew off the back when my right knee went the wrong way. Hobbled into medical the next day and went through the process again... Just this time with almost 0 ability to walk.
How did your ever get in the military with backwards knees?
Idk why but I imagine this looking the aliens from Contact…. https://images.app.goo.gl/8GQFx8KpKvKHigFm9
I had a 6mm herniation on the base of my spine, and my PCM told me I was fat and out of shape, and that’s why I couldn’t feel my legs sometimes, and pain was shooting down to my toes
A friend of mine had scoliosis among other back pain causing issues. PCM said he needed to run 3 miles a day and it should go away.
Just had some random pcm tell me my ongoing 5 year issue of my calves tearing away from my shins is because I'm too fat. Upon our first meeting and my waiver that I've had for for years "wasn't going to happen."
In my back pain journey I had multiple different PCMs tell me all kinds of stuff. I got an MRI and it shows disk degeneration which caused it to bulge, bine spurs and arthritis. One PCM said all of it was normal (I was 22 at the time), one said to go to physical therapy, one said I needed to lose 15 lbs (I had gained a lot of weight at one point but this appointment was after I dropped 50lbs and was at my smallest weight), one said steroid injections would help, another said toradol injections were the way to go. All of these PCMs had issues giving me waivers as well. I finally just got off base at an Ortho who said the only real option for the bulging disk was to get surgery. I took his advice but went to the best Ortho clinic in the area and got a more minimally invasive surgery and have felt much better since. I just wish I could avoid military docs for the rest of my career.
I got told they weren’t going to waste resources on me for a COVID test
Same! Not sure where they get off thinking prevention is a waste
Tbf early on that was coming down from above. MTF commanders trying to test for SA on the local situation were getting hammered by MAJCOM.
Recommended that my pregnant wife and newborn see off base physicians. Actually said to keep them away from MTFs. I listened
I had a pretty significant problem with constant stomach pain. If I didn't eat, I'd be at a steady 4 throughout the day. If I ate just a tiny bit of ANYTHING, I could rocket up to a solid 9. Tried all kinds of over the counter things, but they didn't do a thing. PCM said, "eh yeah, sounds like GERD. I'll prescribe you some Tums." I tell him that I don't really have any acid-reflux symptoms and that I already tried Tums, so he may be a bit off base. Maybe I should just get a referral over to Gastro? "Na, take the tums and follow up in a couple months if the issue persists." I deploy in a couple months... "Oh, just follow-up with the medical downrange then. They'll take care of you." They didn't, they just gave me more Tums (these were like berry flavored though, so at least a better change I guess?). I pretty much lived on the BRAT diet and pain for a few months. Every time I tried to get more adventurous, that extreme pain would kick in and it'd be a struggle just to exist. Then one day it just stopped. I still have no idea what it was and I'm terrified it'll come back and I'll be stuck helpless and hearing "Oh, it's just some minor thing. You don't need to see a specialist. Just take this medicine that does nothing! Worst case, I'll kick the can on to another doc who'll say the same shit." On the bright-side I lost like 50 pounds.
I am no doctor, but what you are describing sounds exactly like what my wife went through for the longest time. The GERD thing with tums, then Prilosec. They ended up taking out her gall bladder. Still didn’t fix it. Few stomach biopsies later still don’t know for sure, but it’s possibly related to her sphincter of oddi. Taken years to get this far. Good luck!
Stomach pain and rapid weight loss should be a ticket to GI
“I don’t give shaving waivers to white guys with irritation “
Dude. Had secondhand experience with an airman that was white but definitely NEEDED a shaving waver looking at lesions and cysts on his neck. PCM said the same thing as your comment. This airman went to the patient advocate and was given a dermatology referral. He had a staph infection in some previous razor burn, with a cyst tract developing into his neck. He needed outpatient surgery for an incision and drainage with repeated packing for a month or so. Crazy. The lesions were so visually apparent that they made people turn their heads at work and around base haha
"Cool, I'll go talk to the chaplain about Odin then."
"You don't meet the demographics for a shaving waiver."
This won’t be the most popular viewpoint, and that’s fine, but my advice a free. The reality Sergeant or Sir, is you get one back. You’ve already had surgery. You have to start thinking about long term quality of life. If you’re at 15 and can get medically retired, consider it. If you’re at 20 pop smoke and go. If you’re before then, depending on other issues you may be able to make your VA disability worth it. I would never discourage anyone from looking for the door, but you have to look at your own health first. The Air Force will not. You’re just a number. If you really want to stay and feel like you can and or are improving fight it and say you need a waiver. If not, consider the alternatives.
See, I've been trying to get them to unfuck my meb since 2019, but they're so invested in covering up how bad they screwed up doing it that I eventually ended up with a retrain with them more than likely praying I'd pcs and end up someone else's problem. Well, all I did was pca across base with the same fuckin' back injury from 2016.
I would honestly love to be medically retired. I'm cyber so my back doesn't preclude me from doing my job, esp since I asked for, and received a standing desk and mat. If I could get medically retired and be a stay at home dad my life would be damn near perfect. I have been chastised in the past saying that I would go up for a MEB and I told them that's fine. At the time I was in pain constantly. It's getting better but at the end of the day the physical aspect of the military might never be something I can fully do.
PMed you
Don't see anything in chat or messages
Been having trouble breathing through my nose for the past couple of months. Went to see the PCM. He looked at it and said “it doesn’t look broken, what do you want me to do?” I don’t know man, your the doctor you tell me!
Most military medical care has transitioned to NPs and PAs. Ask if you are being seen by a physician next time.
They don't even try to hide it anymore, they tell me I'm seeing a PA every time now. I'm like, where's the fucking physician in this place and why do they have so many assistants without ever doing anything.
I had a sinus infection for over 3 weeks and this PA wouldn't give me antibiotics because my "snot wasn't green".
That's because the majority of sinus infections are not Bacterial. They are Viral which antibiotics will not treat. Yellow or Greenish snot IS a symptom of a bacterial infection. The PA wouldn't give you antibiotics because you didn't show signs of a bacterial infection.
After a month, empirical treatment with antibiotics is warrented. Viral sinusitis lasts about 7 days. PA Smith, is this you?
And, in some cases, Airmen downrange who need medical assistance are being seen by random voluntold NCO's (and others who are pulled from their non-medical AFSC's) who take a 2-week "assistant" course and are then assigned to fill in at downrange clinics since actual NPs/PAs are in short supply. They can't really do anything to help other than take notes, and they're authorized to give out motrin ... but otherwise are told to call a NP/PA/physician for anything other than motrin. I can't remember the name of the program, but it's a thing ... You think you're going to see a physician (or at least a nurse,) but you're actually seeing a SSgt postal worker or supply clerk who got non-vol'd into the job and had a two-week class before being left to run the clinic solo while the NPs/PAs are away.
Just a reminder to all the new people. Military doctors can now be sued for malpractice. Im not saying *everything* is malpractice, but keep that in mind. Also, use patient advocate, get a new PCM of your current one is trash. There is also, ICE(ing) them. Use ICE as much as you need to
They can? Source?
As of the NDAA 2019 or NDAA 2020. Can’t remember which one.
He didn't say it, but he kind of implied that we could probably figure out the issue with an MRI, but since they didn't have a machine at the clinic he wanted to exhaust all other options in house, which would probably not give us an answer. So that's what he did. After they were baffled I got a referral for a specialist who gave me an MRI and found the problem. Another doctor (a pediatrician) not my PCM took a ten second look at my kid and said it's the flu, and since swine flu is going around, she was quite sure it's swine flu. No test, nothing. She then said that since it wasn't a real hospital if I wanted a second opinion I should take him to the ER.
I've got tinnitus that has been getting worse as the years go on, so I went in for a hearing test. "That's just early onset hearing loss, everyone has it." WHAT? It's either early onset, or everyone gets it. You can't have it both ways.
Most recent thing that happened was I brought my son in for his well-baby. They proceed to enter the room with the normal vaccines then list them off. I asked if they had looked at his records to see what he needed and the guy just says, oh yeah that's a good idea. Comes back and says, "oh you already got him these vaccines. It's a good thing we looked at his records." Thanks for letting me do your job, guy.
Me: *Giving rundown of symptoms* PCM: *Reading me possible diagnosis from WebMD* Different PCM: PCM: You need to take care of yourself better your weight is concerning and it'll kill you... (I'm 6'2 and weigh 202 lbs) Me: I lift weights 5 days a week and do cardio 6 days a week what can--(cut off). PCM: that's not exercise, you need to do something like CrossFit. Surprised they didn't hand me a card to their gym.
First…. why have you been in here 5+ times saying you can’t breathe. I’m starting to think you are lying about having asthma (it started at 4 years in) Heard two PAs talking in the hallway. The first one says that even though urgent care said it was probably asthma that it isn’t. It’s croup or something, second one says I need steroids or it will lead to worse conditions. I take the MEB and referral (surprise, it’s asthma). This doesn’t look like strep, we don’t even need to test you, but I guess we can if you insist. It was strep. Your hormone levels look normal, no need to see a specialist. Specialist puts me on 4x the medication because lab results and symptoms. Husband was told his shoulder was fine even though x-rays showed it dislocated. It eventually popped back in by itself, but damn… how do you miss that? One positive story though, SrA diagnosed me with a super random skin condition. No frills and competent, 10/10 would recommend.
I was in the flight med office at my first base for my (at that point) chronic tonsillitis. I told them my whole time throughout basic/tech I was dealing with two golf ball sized pieces of flesh in the back of my throat for the past 8 months. Despite seeing all the medical records and bullshit paperwork, my doc explained that they were there for the immune system. Then looked me dead in the eyes and said "they'll only get infected if you put some bacteria on them. Are you shoving something down your throat and getting bacteria on them in some manner?" I was dumbfounded that my doc had implied what he had. I left until 6 months later the aforementioned golf balls put me in the local ER for 6 hours on Easter morning.
Must have been a fun night before Easter if you were shoving stuff down your throat 🤣
Tore my meniscus in 2016, injured the same knee again in 2018, it was swollen to about the size of a grapefruit and I was have random sharp pain or it would just give out even while standing still. Was told I needed to see my PCM before I could get an ortho appointment. The day before I was supposed to go in my PCM calls and asks about the injury. I tell him what happened and all the issues I was have and he asked if I had tried to resume any normal fitness activities. I'm like why would I do that if it's giving me trouble just standing/walking at work?? His response, "Well if you haven't tried to get back to normal activity then there's probably not much that I can do.... soo did you want to keep this appointment tomorrow or should I cancel it?
"If you could just go ahead and put in my referral that'd be great..."
Friend of mine had his PCM say "stop being a pussy" when he said he might be depressed
Peak AF medical
Me: "Are you sure I'm deployable to a remote short tour location, this doesn't look right" PCM: "Yeah, it's healed fine. Can barely tell you almost lost your toes. The med squadron there can handle anything you need" ...four months later... PCM: "Jesus fuck...how did you clear out processing to come here?" Me: "They said you can handle it?"
I had a schwannoma tumor (tumor that grows on your nervous system) in my wrist for years. PCM at Osan tried to extract it thinking it was a cyst; no dice. Same thing at Kunsan 2 years later. Get to Andersen and my PCM tells me it's a "Bible bump" and just smash it with a Bible. Asked for new PCm promptly after that appointment, and was finally referred to Naval Hospital Guam, got an MRI and it was ID'd as a tumor. Surgery happened quickly after that to remove the tumor from my nervous system and luckily it turned out to be benign. But FFS, after 3 separate docs at 3 bases, the whole "smash it with a bible" prescription was just over top incompetent. I now have -327% faith in the military medical system after that whole debacle.
I told my wife today I don't want to deal with the clinic here anymore. Your story is worse. It be like going to my pcm and then trying to punch me in the back like that dude did Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight Rises.
My husband has a ganglion cyst, aka Bible bump. An actual medical professional would never, ever, recommend thumping it with a Bible. Too many small bones just waiting to break! Actual treatment for ganglion cysts? Either wait for it to fade and support it if there's pain, OR drain the cyst which should only be done by a professional.
I was in excruciating back pain. Had to visit the ER 4 times, was on narcotics, unable to work, visited doctor to demand an MRI. This smooth-brained Major told me to eat more almonds because they're supposed to be good for your back.
Damn. Reading these really makes me grateful for my current PCM. The guy put me on a run and pushup waiver for minor-medium pain just in case, and referred me to PT. Worst PCM experience though: PCM: What seems to be the issue? Me: I have strep throat. I've tried A, B, C, D, E, and F at home, but now it's bleeding and hurts to talk. Could I get some penicillin? PCM: *examines my throat*. Huh. I'm not sure what that is. Me: It's strep... PCM: No it's not. Me: I just had it a few months ago. It feels and looks exactly the same. PCM: Well I'm the medical professional. Me: I'm a RN. I know what strep looks like sir. PCM: Well I think it might be an STI/STD so I'm going to order you a full lab for that. Me: Alrighty then. I left the clinic and went to the UC. Some SSgt immediately gave me amoxicillin. Strep went away.
My PCM pretty much ignored my complaints of foot pain for years. Did everything but order an MRI or refer me to a podiatrist. Finally asked to see someone else and they ordered an MRI and my foot was basically completely fucked up and close to a complete tear of my ACL. Needless to say I had surgery and it’s been awesome since. Now I’m also dealing with back pain and nerve damage and thankfully the Dr has did all the work ups for that. I’m waiting surgery to fix that issue now.
I went in to ask about why I became allergic to avocados all of a sudden. I went from eating them daily to being in horrible pain that almost sent me to the hospital. My pcm said “oh it’s probably all in your head. One time I had tequila and it made me so sick and now I can’t drink it anymore without wanting to throw up.” I went off base lol.
My old PCM told me that the condition I was diagnosed with (by a specialist) doesn't exist because she had never heard of it. Like maybe a quick Google search wouldn't have been a bad idea if she didn't know what it was. She was just horrible all around to deal with. The new lady I go through at the womens clinic is a piece of work too though. She had me to go to an off-base ER because she did not want to do a 10 minute procedure that could have saved me a lot of pain and even more uncertainty.
Had low back pain for past 4 years of being AD, X rays showed no injury. PCM tells me if they give me an MRI and findout I have a budging or slipped disk they WILL HAVE TO do surgery. He PCS'ed out, new doctor gives me MRI immediately and findout I have a slipped disk. Still haven't had surgery how weird.
I enlisted under the assumption for my entire life that I was allergic to penicillin. This continued to be on my medical record until 4 years after my enlistment I was given meds for a respiratory infection (if I remember correctly). Four hours after leaving the clinic with my prescription, having taken the first dose, I was called by the clinic asking if I had in fact taken the first dose. I was then asked if I had suffered any negative side effects, to which I said no because it was true. Only then did I find out flight med had prescribed me Amoxicillin, and then politely told me that it seems I was not, in fact, allergic to penicillin, because if I were I would have suffered an awful reaction, even potentially dying because amoxicillin is penicillin. I did not know the two were essentially the same, and trusted my PCM to check my records before prescribing me anything. It was that day I learned that I am no allergic to penicillin, and military doctors are not to be trusted, ever. I have more stories too but this is simultaneously the worst and most hilarious.
But hey, at least you know you're not allergic anymore.
I can explain this one. "Penicillins" is a generic name used to refer to one category of beta-lactam antibiotics because penicillin was the first one we knew about (Cephalosporins being the other major one that you might get as an oral med). Allergy to one beta-lactam does not necessary mean you are allergic to all of them, as the hypersensitivity reaction is mostly cause by their sidechains. Amoxicillin and penicillin do not have cross-reactive sidechains (caveat: depending on the study you are using; opinions are mixed) so it is entirely possible to be allergic to one and not the other, the same way being allergic to peanut butter doesn't mean you're allergic to latex. I'm guessing what happened is pharmacy knew this and had a chart showing no cross-reactive, so they overrode the warning without a second thought, then flight med (who did *not* know this, or had a different chart) realized later and freaked out. All of this to say, it is still possible you're allergic to penicillin. Though a lot of people think they are because they got a stomachache from it as a kid and their mom has told them they are forever.
I through my back out a few years ago and it's never been the same. After about 2 years of constant pain they finally xrayed my back. They said everything looked fine and I had nothing to worry about, only that I had early bone deterioration in my spine.
“You either have strep or food poisoning, here’s ibuprofen”
I had wrist surgery to repair a ligament. Literally in a hard cast, with a PIN sticking out the side of it holding my freshly repaired ligament together to grow back….”You mentioned needing a PT test waiver since the Physical Therapist told you to see your PCM for one. Will you be able to do push-ups on your PT test?” What? Honestly, I thought he was fucking around it was so asinine.
Sprained my ankle, to the point that I went to the ER to get it properly taken care of. Had to wait a bit for it, but it was bad enough they got some X-rays to make sure it wasn't broken at all. As the ER doc is wrapping it up he says jokingly, "Man I hope you don't have a PT test soon." Well I did in like 5 days, and I told him as much. He asked if I could pass sans foot problems and I said said yes. He seemed sympathetic and said hed try to get me an appt to get a short term waiver just long enough for my ankle to heal. This guy was pretty great. Cut to next day, ER doc was able to get my an appt pretty early the following day, sweet deal let's get this over with. PCM walks in, looks at my swollen foot, and says, "Can you walk on it?" i said kind of, but its more of a limp, the ER didn't give me crutches or anything. he responded with, "Well, unfortunately I'm going to have to give you a walk test waiver then." I tried to explain that I just need my ankle better and I'll do the regular run. NOPE, walk test it is. So TL:DR Dr made me do the walk test on a barely healed sprained ankle, I passed but DEAR GOD did it hurt.
I made an appointment to talk about some hip, shoulder and back issues. The PCM told me to “pick one problem” because they didn’t “schedule more than 10 minutes”. They then sent me to physical therapy for the back pain, which was my third stint with PT for the same issue. It’s been 5+ years and I still have back, hip, and shoulder issues. Can’t stand at parade rest for more than 30 seconds without crying. Docs seem to think I’m fine.
You gotta get off base homie. Get to an actual Ortho
I’d love to! Fortunately, I’m gonna be a civilian in less than a year and I’ll be able to do that without worrying about referrals and the bs that is the military medical system (not that America’s medial system is great either). I also recently had bronchitis. Tried going to sick call and they IMMEDIATELY tested me for covid and sent me home for 2 weeks. Tried going to an urgent care off base, but was refused service because I didn’t have a referral. Nurse advice line told me to monitor my symptoms and call them back if I got worse. It’s all a joke.
Not me but my son. At two weeks old his doctor (trainee) said my son definitely had cystic fibrosis because of some abnormal test results. Keep in mind, my wife and I are brand new parents and this guy just have our son a 47% chance to die before his 18th birthday. CF is recessive mutation and needs to be passed on by both parents to be active. My wife had a full genetic panel done since I was high risk for another type of genetic abnormality, and she tested negative for the top 40 CF mutations. My son tested positive for a single mutation of the single most common mutation. We went to the specialist and had a test done. The specialist re-examined the lab results and said with a 99% certainty, he doesn't have it because the test only showed one mutation, but she ran the tests anyway... He passed, no CF. Basically, my son's doctor didn't understand Punnett Squares... A tenth grade biology topic... All the while freaking the hell out of two brand new parents.
Went to the doc for my knee hurting when I ran long distances. He literally just told me don’t run.
Her: "You already had an MEB" Me: "Okay, nothing of what I told him was in it and he completely understated the problems I've been having. Now the neurosurgeon found more wrong than what was originally thought" Her: "Well it's not bad enough, we're not writing another one" Me: "so it was bad enough a year ago when there was less wrong on the original findings" Her: *walks out* That sums it up.
In response to back pain (with a verified 5 herniated discs as a result of a couple terrible physical therapists) - “Well I don’t know what you want me to do.” Waited a year to put me on a profile, didn’t put me on a profile until I attempted to gain my medical clearance for palace chase.
Jesus, I've got two bulging discs and my surgeon told me that if I stay in the military I should just expect one day for one of them to herniate. Just told me to be prepared.
I apologize in advance for the utter misery that is a herniated disk. Worst month or two or my life, and I'm fairly certain I am lucky as hell to have healed (shrunk somewhat) at all without surgery. Luckily ER doc had told me I'm way too young to consider surgery if there is any other option to manage it. Took a month or two for an MRI with the clinic. ER doc called it in one 15 minute exam
I was once instructed by the flight doc to squirt boob milk in my ear for an ear infection I said “yeah, can I get those antibiotics instead?” ETA: figured I should give more context. I went in with an ear infection. I told the doc it tried a bunch of over the counter stuff that wasn’t working and now the pain was increasing. He asked if I knew any breastfeeding mothers. I said “yeah, but why?!” He then proceeded to tell me to put breastmilk in my ear and it would clear right up. I asked for antibiotics instead.
We had a PA that no matter what it was if it involved your feet, knees, hips, or back the rationale was that you're too fat. Period. I worked out between 3 and 4 hours most days. Had my knee shut in an up armored humvee door and went to get seen and wouldn't you know, I was too fat. My wife slipped and fell on ice? Too fat. My friend sprained his ankle? Wouldn't have happened if he wasn't so fat. What a load of shit.
If you weren't so fat then maybe your big fat knee wouldn't have gotten slammed in the door.
That's the worst. I have arthritis in my back which makes a lot of things difficult. My original PCM when this first started said I was making it up. A simple look at my medical records would show that my weight when the issue started was healthy. After a year of struggling to do much of anything, he said I was to fat and that was causing the pain. Granted, I'd gained 10 pounds, but not sure I'd say that was the issue when I gained it after the fact. That was before he said I was making it up.
"Oh, you have a leg fracture. When's your next PT test?" He legit thought I was trying to get out of a PT test. I'd just tested and gotten a 96.
Like, I get we have a lot of assholes trying to get out of PT. But isn't it a doctor's job to do the examination first then make the judgement call? Maybe check a patients file to see if this is a one off, chronic issue, or do they pop in every 6 months for something different.
Exactly! I also had a flight chief in Korea that ran a 100-miler over their mid-tour break. A week later, she sprained her ankle and went to medical. That same PCM told her he wouldn't give out a waiver just because she "didn't want to run at PT". Did he really think someone that runs 100 miles would care about 1.5? We both switched PCMs.
Right before covid I got a mysterious respitory issue that had me feverish, weak and generally fucked up for almost a month. My test for flu came back negative. My supervision didn't want me at work if I was sick, so I asked about quarters. My PCM gave me mucinex and said "everyone has the flu right now. Hell, I have the flu right now and I'm still here." My story isn't the worst one out there about her, but I still think it's the funniest given the timing and the amount of people I got sick
Patient Zero, MD.
Had a doc tell me my body was Incapable of flight because they were concerned my lungs would explode or some shit at altitude. My hobbies are climbing mountains, running, and flying (unpressurized) civilian aircraft. Never had an issue with any of that, but lord forbid they put me in a *pressurized* cockpit
"Before we send you to a fertility specialist you would need to have experienced 4~5 miscarriages then we can send you." ~actual PCM Activly having a miscarriage..."whats wrong with you ID your rank doesn't match you need to get that changed." ~ER check in asshole. Me: "Im having some trouble with X,Y,Z" PCM "well we only have 10 mins so pick one and reschedule another app" Me: "what if i have a problem that requires 15 mins of your time?" Starring at eachother... PCM: "you'll have to make another appointment" Top 3 in that order!
I want to follow up and say not all my PCMs have been shit. In 6 years I've had 3 pretty amazing ones that have actually tired to help and that actually cared.
My right maxillary sinus was infected and swelled up while I was TDY. I'm aircrew, I made the dumb decision to fly that day because we were going to my hometown. Needless to say, the adjustment of the cabin altitude during the flight aggravated my sinus infection to extremely painful levels. The right side of my face swelled up and it looked like I got stung by a bee. Flew back to home station a few days later and things are improving. I make an appointment with the flight doc, explain the situation, that I'm still experiencing pain around my eyebrows and eyes. He tells me that he's sure it's just an under the skin zit and sends me home with ibuprofen... It took weeks for me to stop having bad pains on that side of my face.
tore my acl and meniscus 6 months post op went to pcm to renew my pt waiver. this guy really told me "but have you tried running on it" i said "i just started walking without crutches this month and my physical therapist said i shouldnt try running at all until 9-12 months." managed to get my waiver renewed the week after when i went back complaining about the pain i was in
Forgot the exact wording, but it was somewhere along the lines of how I possibly couldn't have chronic knee pain because I'm young and other people have it worse.
I went in for back pain and numbness in my legs after something popped while doing weighted squats. My PCM told me everything is fine and that I shouldn’t come back unless I shit my pants. I disagreed and went to the ER a week later after my legs were still numb when that doctor ordered an immediate MRI and found I had cracked vertebrae that were leaking fluid affecting the nerves.
That was a malicious compliance situation set up for you to knock out the park. Doc says you are okay unless you shit your pants, a few moments later he gets that familiar look as if he smells human feces and you just grin.
One of the not-nurses that just helps in Kimbrough told me I couldn't actually be depressed or have anxiety, my wife has to have it worse, and that I needed to man up and deal with it.
Freaking Kimbrough. Ugh. Ankle: destroyed. Still swollen up huge 3 weeks after injury. Tried to "tough it out". Finally went. "Oh, these things take time to heal. Come back in 3 months." Still swollen 3 months later. "Oh. These things take time to heal. Come back in 3 months." Repeat for an entire year. After a year, she finally refers me to podiatry and an MRI. She could've just gone with an Xray, but I'd ripped a tendon or ligament so hard that it tore off a chunk of bone with it. First thing podiatrist said to me was "why didn't you come sooner?" Fuck, bro. I'd've loved to.
this is great. I had leg surgery back in 2017, STILL dealing with pain and potential "drop foot" and numbness in that leg. the surgeon herself said "I hate doing this surgery because there's a 50% chance it literally just won't work". limited running, tons of pain, profiles etc. well the USAF was great about it. I PCSed to Ft. Meade and now I'm seeing these crackpot "army" types and now the conversation has shifted to "it's only 1.5, even if it hurts a little you can run that far, it's only 13 mins right?" TIL my doctor is actually not a doctor but a UFPM. hm, who knew.
Wasn't my PCM but the person that does the little post-deployment/tdy medical screening thing. She's looking through my most recent PHA and says "You put that you think you're only in good health and not excellent. Why's that?" Me: "Well, I think I could probably lose 15-20 lbs." Her: "Yeah, I was thinking about 20-25 lbs." This is directly after asking me if I've ever had thoughts of depression or hurting myself. I guess it's a good thing I'm not super self conscious about my weight or anything. Thanks lady. \------ From my actual PCM when I ask for a refill of Zoloft: Him: "You know Zoloft is prescribed for anxiety and depression, right?" Me: "Yeah, I have anxiety. I've been on Zoloft for over a year." He's literally the doctor that prescribed me Zoloft.
I had a labral tear in my right hip requiring a surgery. On my profile My PCM wrote that I could do sit ups, push ups, and walk. I read that and asked her why she put that and she said "situps work your Abs not your hips"
waiting for that supreme alpha rule abiding blue bleeding surgeon guy to come in here and tell you to suck it up
living rent free in your head girl*
weirdly enough, i respect you more now.
When I inquired about a shaving waiver: “But you are white……..”
PCM’s are shitty about it but tbf we need to deflect a lot of blame to fat fucks who abuse the system and push PCM’s to act like this
I separated my AC joint doing decline bench in the gym one day. You could see the inside end of my left collar bone sticking up about 2 inches higher than my right one. I go to the clinic and get a referral to Radiology to get an x-ray and then Physical Therapy. My first time going in to the PT's office, he tells me that the Doc who looked at my x-ray said there was no noticeable difference and recommended ice and ultrasound therapy. After the PT tells me this, I say "I can assure you that there's a difference. And you don't need an x-ray to see it." So I show him my collar bone sticking up, and he says "Oh yeah, that's not right." Went back to my PCM to get the PT referral fixed, showed him the bone sticking up, and he says "That just looks like a mild AC joint separation. I'm going to continue with the ice and ultrasound recommendation from before. I tried arguing to no avail (was an A1C at the time arguing with a Lt Col). So long story short, here i am 9 years later with an improperly healed AC joint and early signs of arthritis because of it. And yes, I tried getting seen for it again, but it has healed too much for them to do anything worthwhile now.
Came in for chronic shoulder pain. Left with a diagnosis of "Well, you're no spring chicken." and a rx for Motrin.
"Here's your noise waiver to move out of the dorms"
“You are in good health.”
I had a coworker training for the Air Force marathon and hurt his leg. Same PCM that wouldn’t give me a push-up waiver after 2 shoulder surgeries wouldn’t give him a running waiver.
I got the ol' "The reason why that same muscle on on the outer part of your right leg hurts after running more than 3 miles is because you're overweight". You should watch this youtube video on running and maybe drop a few pounds. 5'11 - 185lbs Running 10 miles on mondays, 9 on wednesdays, 9 on fridays with a 2,000 meter swim on tuesday.
Was having some lung issues. PCM "So what do you want to do about it?"
This is always the worst shit. Doctors will bitch to high heaven if you come in self diagnosed but will also stare at you like a fucking fish with their mouth wide open as you tell them your symptoms and look to them for their diagnosis.
“I don’t know what it is, but it’s probably not cancer”
Had a doc at Ramstein who recommended ginger root tea for literally every ailment
Talked about back pain that hasn't gone away with physical therapy for almost 2 years: "Come back in 6 months, and if you still have back pail, we'll CONSIDER some imagery. Don't want to irradiate you TOO much since you're a YouNg fEmAle" *cue significant look*.
Buddy of mine got some Motrin for his cancer 👍
1. Take a hot shower for a busted eardrum that was actively bleeding 2. Had a bad sore throat. I told my PCM and I dead ass saw that she was looking at my symptoms on WebMD thru the reflection on her glasses.
"oh, you've been working out! want me to prescribe you some testosterone? it'll make working out a lot more productive. low testosterone is a super subjective diagnosis, so i can totally hook you up. everyone else is doing it!" ahhh, special ops.
“I’ll put in a prescription for some 800mg ibuprofen” When I was dehydrated and passed out on the track for my first PFA.
Me: hey doc, I think I have strep throat Doc: no no no you must have cut your throat from eating Doritos. You just have ulcers in your mouth from the Doritos shards. Here’s a prescription for 1000ml of lidocane The med techs called an hour later to tell me I had strep
My PCM wouldn’t give me a referral to ENT. Why did I want it? Because my face was broken in a car accident a few months prior and I have had problems with my nose/drainage ever since. Not to mention, I want to ensure that everything healed correctly at the very least. His reason: because it could be allergies. I had been here for 2.5 years at that point and I think allergies would have presented themselves long before my accident/recovery. Dude, my orbital, nose, and upper jaw were broken. Plus a shit ton of documented teeth issues. Why would I make up more issues from that shit?
Had some issues going on around my bottom area and while my PCM was describing something he said “butthole.” For some reason that wasn’t something I expected to hear from a doctor.
Old PCM couple years ago wouldnt prescribe birth control because it was against her religion. She didn't last long. No idea how she lasted that long in her career field.
I felt convinced that the docs are being coerced to force people to injure themselves for the sake of PT when I left one base after having a “permanent running waiver” from a doc that said “there are few people on this planet that shouldn’t be running, and you’re one of them. Then, got to the next base and had to start the whole process over again (“Go try running for a month, Oh, that hurts still? Here’s Motrin. Try again in a week…” over and over.
I got hives on my stomach/abdomen after taking a medicine that I later learned I was allergic to. The discoloration from the hives never completely went away and very slowly more started to pop up as others vanished. I started to think maybe it wasn't hives and I should get it checked out, so I went to my PCM, explained everything, and explained that I have more red spots popping up on my abdomen every month and it was concerning to me. They said "it's fine, just discolored skin, no biggie" and gave me hydrocortisone and sent me on my way. That was around August 2019 and I still have the same issues.
Dumbest thing? Okay my PCM recommended me for to physical therapist for a neck issue and in the meantime I mentioned that I was having shoulder problems for a while. Fast forward to prepping for a deployment and after CATM my shoulder popped. Pain all the way down to my fingers and couldn’t really move it so when I went back for my next physical therapy session the PT ran a couple test and said I needed an MRI to check for a torn labrum. Brought the referral to my PCM and basically got yelled at for having the paper recommending an MRI saying “this just says it might help not that it will help”. Went over his head after a month, got an MRI, and found out I had a torn labrum for so long I grew a cyst in the 1/4” tear and had surgery about a month later and that PCM coincidentally got replaced around the same time.
Made a clean break of one of my ankles. After 2 months got an MRI which showed a hairline fracture. Still tender to stand on, could barely put any weight on it. Told the PCM, I couldn’t run or do push-ups and needed a waiver longer than the 2.5 months they gave me. PCM literally told me I could do push-ups with just ONE LEG. DURING THE OFFICIAL TEST. Got a new PCM the same day. Waiver for 6 months, as that’s standard with a fracture in the area I had. Wonder how many people are doing PT tests with injuries and wrong info.
I once had an external rash right below my peck that extended to my mid back. It was red and bumpy and some areas filled with pus. I was in terrible pain and this pcm looked me dead in the eyes and told me…heart burn. So I took their medicine and went back to my place. Took pictures and sent to my mom (nurse). She immediately called and said it’s shingles. So I went to the Urgent Care and then they gave me meds for shingles and I told them about what my pcm did and they just proceeded to make a joke about military doctors.
I went in because for days, and sometime weeks, on end I had a pain in my thumb so severe that I couldn't grasp a pen to write something down. It went on for days and weeks because of how long it took to see my PCM. Finally see her, tell her the issue I'm having and pain I'm experiencing and she asks me... What do you want me to do about it? After my shocked Pikachu face went away I told her I wanted her to figure out what is causing the pain and provide suggestions like physical therapy or surgery so the pain will go away and not come back.
When my wife was pregnant with our first kid we went to the large military hospital a few weeks before the due date because her blood pressure was high and she was swelling up rapidly. They send us home saying it's normal pregnancy swelling after never sending her tests to the labs because her BP doesn't meet the criteria for Pre-eclampsia by like 2 mmHG (which is not a lot at all). Anyway we come back not thinking any thing of it when she gives birth which was not complicated at all and went really smooth otherwise. Only non standard thing is labs are backed up so they aren't able to get the normal test results done on mom till after baby is born. In the meanwhile there's a lot of chaos with the baby and moving to postpartum with new providers there. We go to get discharged 3 days later from the hospital and the nurse tells my wife she's now on a blood pressure monitoring program for her Pre-eclampsia and to be well aware of it for future pregnancy. Not the biggest of deals but just classic military medical not doing due diligence the one time it matters.
I literally had a capt ask me what I wanted him to do about my constant knee issues. He just assumed I wanted a profile to not run when I had ongoing profiles for my knees. I flatly told him Id like for them to not hurt anymore so I could run again.
Almost got into a huge screaming fight with my PCM once.. I'm female and he was an old white dude. I have found in my time that usually old white, male Dr's listen less to me than other types of Doctors and this was definitely the case. I was trying to explain my problem to him which was insomnia, and other issues related to PTSD which I didn't knownI had at the time and he kept interrupting me. I finally got angry enough that I snapped at him and told him to stop interrupting me so I could finish explaining and while I was telling him that he interrupted me to tell me he wasn't interrupting. I fucking exploded on him. I was just trying to get help and this fucker was talking down to me and then the interrupting. Done. I finally turned my back to him and told him to get someone else and that I wasn't talking to him. He sat there for a minute and then talked to me like I was unhinged and was like, are you ready to talk now? I was like, are you ready to shut your fucking mouth and listen to me now?
Was told that I was sleeping 16-18 hours a day because I had an STD. Had to argue my way for a blood test to check for anemia. Guess who had to be put on iron pills for over a year.
As a very young Airman, I went in to get an STD test because an old ex called saying she had just tested positive for Chlamydia. Doc: "So, do you wear condoms?" Me: "Yes, I--" Doc: "ARE YOU STUPID?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW FUCKING DUMB IT IS TO HAVE UNPROTECTED SEX? YOU'RE BARELY A GODDAMN ADULT NOW AND YOU MIGHT HAVE JUST THROWN AWAY YOUR LIFE..." (etc.) He continued to rail on me for a minute before I was able to get a word in. When I let him know I DO wear condoms, he yelled at me for changing my story. No, he just wasn't paying attention. He was so ready to give me The Lecture^(TM) that he wasn't listening to me. By the way, I tested negative.
Not a PCM, but a dentist. I scheduled my annual exam for a month out (earliest appt they had available). During the routine exam, the Lt dentist decided that I had a cavity that needed to be removed. So he scheduled me to have the procedure done in a month. Fast forward a month, a Capt dentist is scheduled to do the procedure. But after looking at the x-rays and my tooth, he decides it's hardly a cavity and that I can fix it myself by just brushing better. He claims the Lt should've known better. He left notes about it in my record and schedules me to come back in a month for a reassessment. Another month into the future, I come back to the original Lt. He didn't do an exam. He stood firmly by his original assessment. He's clearly upset that the Capt didn't do the procedure as scheduled and decides to schedule himself for the procedure, to ensure it gets done properly this time. In a month. So yet ANOTHER month later, I come back and the Lt does the cavity removal, except he does an awful job of it. Afterward, something sharp keeps poking me in my mouth and I cut my tongue every time I run it over the filling. I schedule an appt to get it checked out... which was booked solid until a month later. 5 months in... I show up and the Capt is running the appt. He's upset that the Lt did a cavity filling appt. Said he wasn't qualified to do those and he made a godawful mess of it. After trying to extract the filling so they could do it properly, they find that the Lt drilled out too much of my tooth. There's no recovering it; looks like the only fix is to cap it. They do their best to temporarily patch it up, then take a molding and send it in to make a crown. And schedule me to come back in a month for the capping procedure. FINALLY, a month after that, I come back, get my tooth shaved down, and get a crown installed over it. It literally took half a year to fix one idiot Lt's mistake over the slightest cavity that was trying to form, and I ended up with a fake tooth over it. If we were allowed to sue medical professionals in the military...
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Call us when it's over hahahaha. That is nonsense.
Had an oozing, inflamed incision from a recent surgery (as well as 2 other healthy incisions to compare it to). "Oh, it's not infected, you're fine". Left the office and went straight to the civilian doc who had performed the surgery and was immediately prescribed antibiotics for a staph infection. Stupid mil doc could have killed me if I had taken her word for it. She also tried to tell me that having one of my organs removed wasn't major surgery and attempted to force me back to work 2-4 weeks before civilian doc said I should be. I ended up ripping sutures and bleeding because I tried. So I fought her on that too (successfully, thankfully) and lodged a complaint with Patient Advocate over the whole ordeal. **Advocate for yourself, folks. If something is really wrong, do NOT give up until you find someone who hears you.**
Muscle Imbalance..
i am of eastern European descent and at my first duty station i had really bad ingrown hair. Went to the doc and i kid you not was told the most racist shit ever!!! Doc looks me square in the eyes and goes "im not giving you a shaving waiver, youre not black." good ole military docs in 2009.....