It is that time again . Time for the dreaded PHA- the Periodic Health Assesement. First of all, I would like to thank whomever it was that got rid of the female PAP portion of the yearly health screening because getting scraped, prodded and “assessed” in that region of my body in a mobile trailer set up outside in the Florida sun by an Ob/Gyn I have never met before is absolutely ridiculous and GROSS!
Since we are getting ready to deploy, we do not want to mention anything that would make us non-deployable, right? So, should I not advise the doctor(s) of my acute sleep disorder, chronic back pain, runners knee, growing fibroids and… C’mon, I am totally kidding here. Maybe I am not. Either way, going through the assessment is a necessity. There are so many young soldiers that have issues and are never seen by a doctor, especially in the National Guard or Reserves, when as a civilian, they may not have medical coverage. Yes, I know they can get Tricare at a low-cost, but even a low-cost is a large cost to a 19 year old private. I can understand the military not wanting to find out later rather than sooner about a soldiers medical problems. If an issue can be prevented, let the medical staff find out and let us NCO’s do what we can to help. Maybe the medical problem can be easily solved with medication or a change in diet. Or maybe the issue is critical and the PHA actually saves the soldier from having a stroke or heart attack. If something is seriously wrong with me, I would want to know (jokesters, stay in your lane; mental health assessments do not count)!
Teeth? Check! Blood Pressure? Check! Eyes? Check! Hearing, hearing, hearing…? Check! My concern is the medication I take for fibroid pain. Yeah, I was only half kidding before. I have had several surgeries for fibroids and the pain has returned. The only thing I can do to operate as a normal person when the pain kicks in is take narcotics. Seems like an oxymoron, narcotics/normal, but it is absolutely my truth. When I have pain, it makes me want to curl into the permanent fetal position and moan… for days! I hope they understand that with the medication, I can actually function. Other than that, I should be as healthy as a fox; or is it an OX? Are foxes healthy?
Oh, I need to cover up my mountain biking accident injury, too. I’m just a mess! But I get better with OLD age!
*Cough, cough, clear throat and smile*
Comments
I'm a retarded (retired) SF sniper in Tampa and love to go shooting . I have much pain and the normal pain meds do very little for me. I've spent thousands on medical treatments and stiil have pain every day. Narcotics do stop the pain but they are harder to get due to the stupid DEA attacking pain clinics. Beer stops the pain but you can't stay drunk all the time so I just drink at night. I writer of magazine articles and Sci Fi SF books to pass the time and wait for hunting season so I can go and shoot something. WWR
PHA was initially started as a preventative measure when incorporated with the per-deployment exams. Pap Smears are particular to the female and is usually an annual affair in civilian life, for those who value their lives in predicting potential Cancer infections?. It never was intended to be a social introduction patient-to-doctor in the military. So if any female in the active military thinks this Pap exam is gross, your a little confused, because it is part of your anatomy that has a high failure rate? True, anytime one has to have their "private area" examined (male or female), it is not the favorite exam on their list? So stop the griping and get it done.
Chronic pain is one of those little perks of a career in the military; we're taught from basic that to go to the clinic for something as trivial as pain is akin to spitting on the senior drill's brown round…
During the separation physical, you can tell the VA all about your pains, they'll listen sympathetically and tell you the intent of these exams is not to recommend any courses of treatment.. then 2 years later you get your VA rating and guess what… no compensation for pain… I guess it's too subjective… or it's that they are putting so much of their compensation budget into sleep apnea…