Broken Bones and Medical Exam

[geofftheref]

I am applying for DEO Artillery
I had a bad motorbike accident 2 months ago, broke 2 vertebrae, my shoulderblade, collarbone and some ribs. I am still off work but should make a complete recovery.
I probably have at least 6-18 months before I get to the CF medical, as I do not live in Canada and need to go through security pre-screening.
My question is, will this count against me in the medical ?

 

[kurokaze]

Do you have any problems walking/running/stretching?

A few tests that I had to go through to test for any problems:
1) feet/knees together, stand straight, bend
over and touch your toes
2) walk forward on the balls of your feet
3) walk backward on the heels of your feet
4) crouch as low as you can, and walk forward
while crouching
5) while standing, lean as far back as you can
and look forward.

If you can do all of these smoothly, I don‘t think
there‘s going to be a problem.

Other than that all they do is a standard physical.

 

[portcullisguy]

Geoff, are you applying FROM Amsterdam? That‘s very interesting, and must be quite a long process!

As an aside, it was brought up on my BMQ course this weekend that the UK armed forces will allow Canadians (or any commonwealth citizen) to enrol, with the same ease as a British citizen. However, the rule is not reciprocal. A British citizen who joins the Canadian Forces must obtain Canadian citizenship within three years.

Further, Canadians who join a UK armed service, or any foreign armed service, are in fact considered "mercenaries" under Canadian law, and are committing an illegal act, unless they hold foreign (dual) citizenship, and join under their other citizenship. This sounds quite odd to me, and I wonder if anyone has ever been prosecuted as a mercenary for joining the British Army. After all, we have the same commander-in-chief!

For the life of me, I cannot find any law which mentions this in the Criminal Code. Perhaps my instructor was just feeding me hot air? I can swear I remember reading something about this, however...

 

[Korus]

Hmm.. I‘ve heard of Canadians going to serve in the British Navy, but haven‘t heard anything of it being illegal.

As an interesting note about British comming here, on my BMQ there was a British fellow who was in the Welsh Guards before he came to Canada. He had to start from scratch with the rest of us.

 

[geofftheref]

I have dual British / Canadian nationality hence I am allowed to apply to the CF. I‘m actually too old for the British Army - 27 is the cutoff point. Yes the process is pretty hellishly slow, if you have not lived in Canada for the last 10 years consecutively. Still since my accident I am in no condition to touch my toes yet or even do a single press up. So waiting for security clearance does give me some necessary time to recover. I just don‘t want to get as far as the medical and then get rejected for past injuries.

 

[humint]

Geoff,

You shouldn‘t have a problem if you make a full recovery. I was in the same position as you; well, not as bad, I only had a couple of broken legs and reconstructive surgery, etc, a few years back.

My only problem was that I needed to get the attending physician to sign off on the medical, basically stating that I can do all of the things required of a CF member.

I think your problem will be that you will need that physician to review the CF medical form and get him/her to sign. If your doctor is in Holland, this could present some problems.

So, all that said, make sure you keep in regular contact with your doctor and keep updated medical files, etc.

Also, the doctor who signs off does NOT need to be the surgeon, he/she could be your family doctor. So, if this is the case, make sure your get your chart from the hospital to your family doctor.

Also, be ready for a logistics nightmare. Even co-ordinating the act of chart transfer between Ontario hospitals can be a hassle.

All of these forms will ultimate go to the CF health services unit at your recruiting centre and then to the good medical folks at Borden and then they will review it to make sure you are medically qualified.

Get as much info as you can now from the CF recruiting office. You don‘t need anyone throwing you a late inning curve ball and messin‘ the whole thing up.

 

[Korus]

If it‘s any consolation at all, it took me 10 months to get in, and I live in Canada..

Humint (You gonna be a spook, humint?) pointed out correctly that you should get all the info as soon as possible so you don‘t get thrown a curve.

 

[portcullisguy]

It‘s too bad about the age 27 cut off for the Brit forces.

I really had hoped that the possibility would remain open to me, at some point in the future, to join the Royal Navy and continue a tradition in my family that dates back to about 1767. I have traced six ancestors who have all served as commissioned officers in the RN, in every century since the 18th... except, of course, the present one.

It would be a shame to break the tradition. Of course, I can always send my kids off to school in Britain and encourage them to join the RN later on in life -- when I have some!

I think I read on the RN website that one can join as an NCM until age 35, under certain conditions. And, the Brits also allow commissioning from the ranks, so it‘s a possible back door. But I do not feasably see myself relocating to Britain within 7 years.

One final option is to see if I can commission within the CF, and then try and weasel a secondment to the RN. I imagine I would have to change my trade to one of the several naval officer trades. Very complex, and not a very high chance of it happening.

 

[DnA]

I fractured my right ring finger yestderday, an the Dr said it might not be fully healed for upto a year, but I‘m going for BMQ an SQ this summer, so I dont know if I can go now or not, I cant still do pushups, an fire a weapon, an such


anyways, for the medical people, will a fractured finger be healed by June, or healed enough to go on BMQ an SQ?

 

[portcullisguy]

You must‘ve really messed it up good, because normally bone reheals in 4-6 weeks. A year sounds more like ligaments & tendons being torn, and would include physiotherapy for getting the injury back into useable shape.

You may want a second opinion.

A fractured finger shouldn‘t take a year to heal.

That said, even when it‘s rehealed, it may be sore enough that doing SQ this summer may not be a good idea.

 

[DnA]

the healing of the finger itself will take a month or a bit more, but I was told a year, because a ligament or somthin might have been injured, I got a cast on my finger now, an I‘m takin test‘s to see if I did injure teh ligament, which I hope i didnt, I‘v felt no pain in my finger, even when I broke it, too, which is good, i hope

i really wanna take SQ this summer

 

[DnA]

i can also move my finger around, but it‘s kinda limited mainly due to the swelling, an the chip fracture

I can move the tip of my finger just fine, so I hope that‘s a sign the ligament aint injured

 

[stivic923]

The more you use that finger, the longer it will take to heal. If you did injure the ligament then extra strain on it will cause it to not heal properly and quickly. but normal exercise of that finger will keep it from healing too "tight" then resulting in the need for physio.

But i agree...get a second opinion. it wont hurt

take some vitamins and stuff too....cant hurt or make things work by taking the essentials

 

[stivic923]

if u ask nicely, portcullisguy might even kiss it better for you!!!

haha

 

[DnA]

lol

I just found out the ligamnet isnt damaged, but I‘m in physio of some reason, an that physio therapist told me to "excersise" the finger, by making a fist 10 times, every hour

at first i thought, that i should just let it heal in the splint, an not use it at all, but then the therapist tells me to "excersise" it an stuff, so I dunno

 

[portcullisguy]

Nah I tried kissing things better, I ended up doing more damage.

Maybe it‘s because I always use a Glasgow Kiss?

 

[NMPeters]

DnA...do what the doctor and physiothereapist tell you to do. After all, they are the trained professionals and I‘m guessing they see fractures on a regular basis and know what they are talking about. And if you don‘t understand what they are talking about, or are doubtful, ask THEM the questions.

And as someone who has recovered and is recovering from multiple fractures over the years, exercising will not slow down the healing process. In fact, it speeds it up. And the reason I know this is because when I was told to start exercising the limbs in question right away, I asked why. The reason for this is because bones get the nutrients they need to heal and grow from blood. And when one exercises the muscles around the fractured bone, blood is sent to that region, thus supplying the bones with the appropriate nutrients to speed up healing. Does that make sense to you now?

(I can just picture the rolling of the eyes right now from people and the mutterings of "why thank you for that Cliff Claven")

Oh, and one more thing, pet peeve, the word "and" is actually spelled with a "d" on the end of it.

 

[qualified]

WHAT ABOUT IVE BROKEN A FEW BONES IN AN ACCIDENT ABOUT 4 YEARS AGO THEY HAVE HEALED AND I FEEL GREAT
HOWEVER WILL THIS POSE A PROBLEM DURING MY MEDICAL???

 

[Sh0rtbUs]

nope. I‘ve had several broken bones and a severe concussion just last summer, and it was no prob. You‘ll just be asked what happened, and how you feel now. if you feel great, then there‘s nothing to worry about.

why the caps? :akimbo:

 

[winchable]

Qualified; I think you‘ll find no one has any problem answering questions and most are more then willing to oblige; but as far as general forum ettiquete goes, this is your second post on the forum and your second post WRITTEN ENTIRELY IN CAPITAL LETTERS.

It‘s the equivalent of yelling, if your "Caps Lock" key is stuck down it is understandable, otherwise please keep it down. =)