I have Type I diabetes equipped with an insulin pump and I was wondering what my probabilities for staying in the Army National gaurd are ? My intentions are to stay in and continue to serve my country proud . I have almost 10 years in the armed services and DO NOT want to get out . If there is any information anyone can give me to help my case it would be much appreciative . Thank you .
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Type I Diabetes
- Thread starter jscrews
- Start date
I received my local board evaluation today with a result of Return To Duty. However this still has to get routed through the Air Force Personel Center in Texas. I have has T1D for 10 months now and so far it has not conflicted with my service. When and where were you when you were diagnosed? I am trying to get a feel for how many service members have T1D and how many of them were deployed while dx...
I am surprised they returned you to duty, Are you acitve, Reserve or ANG? Is it your intent to try and stay in? The problem with Type-1 on active duty is deployability and taxation on your units resources as a T1 as well as the possible dangers you subject those around you to as T1 in training and/or deployment. To me as a T1 I was not willing to subject my fellow Marines, my unit or myself to the dangers and attention T1 requires by myself and others to maintain my health. Deploying to me with type-1 is extremely dangerous to the diabetic as well as the unit. Questions I ask: does everyone around you know how to treat you if you go down in a hypoglycemic episode? Most people you ask will probably tell you they would give you a shot of insulin..... obviously for us T1's we know that is the opposite remedy and assuming hey do know how to treat a hypo situation do those around you know where you always keep simple sugars or a glucagon pen on your person? Who and how will you maintain all the necessary supplies needed to maintain your t1 and what happens if your supplies run out or lose/get destroyed in a deployment scenario?
Your body can not physiologically regulate itself anymore and no matter how well you think you have it controlled in an isolated environment the uncontrolled environmental stressors of military training and deployment put you in many dangerous and potentially life threatening situations even without T1, now throw those stressors at your t1 body which has no ability to monitor or control your BG levels and that is a recipe for disaster given your own risk and those that may depend on you while in harms way.
Things to think about that you may not have experienced yet as an early T1 and the potential risks brought on by T1. I thought I could beat T1 until after a few years and full destruction of my pancreatic beta cells and several episodes of hypoglycemia did I realize the inherent dangers of this disease. I did not want to reduce the capacity of my unit nor serve in a reduced capacity which as a T1 I realized I am both.
Your body can not physiologically regulate itself anymore and no matter how well you think you have it controlled in an isolated environment the uncontrolled environmental stressors of military training and deployment put you in many dangerous and potentially life threatening situations even without T1, now throw those stressors at your t1 body which has no ability to monitor or control your BG levels and that is a recipe for disaster given your own risk and those that may depend on you while in harms way.
Things to think about that you may not have experienced yet as an early T1 and the potential risks brought on by T1. I thought I could beat T1 until after a few years and full destruction of my pancreatic beta cells and several episodes of hypoglycemia did I realize the inherent dangers of this disease. I did not want to reduce the capacity of my unit nor serve in a reduced capacity which as a T1 I realized I am both.
Sorry for the confusion, my Informal Board suggested I Return to Duty, but it still has to get approved by the Formal Board. I also will no longer be able to deploy. I am Active Duty Air Force and my current job does not deploy. I work as a back shop tech for the Avionics package on the B1 Bomber. It is my intent to stay in, however I will be looking for a typical chair force job behind a desk which I guess is serving in it's own way. When and where were you when you were diagnosed? How about VA benefits... how did they rate your T1D?
I was diagnosed while on my second deployment. My second deployment came 7 months after my first to Iraq. Within 12 monts of returning from Iraq 3 members of my battalion to include myself were diagnosed with T1 which suggests we were exposed to something that spawned the autoimune attack on our pancreas's. I was an Infantry officer and moved into an instructor billet after diagnosis and when I started on insulin they began my MEB/PEB process. The VA rated me at 40%. The issue you face if you try and stay in is forfeiting your opportunity for medical retirement now. If you stay in as a non-deployable and they end up downsizing the Air force the first cuts will likely come from non-deployables which is a likely scenario given the current budgetary constraints. It is the opinion of many that your chances are better to pursue medical retirement now and transition into the civilian sector vs risking the forfeiture of medical retirement. The VA will only cover your conditions brought on by military service and is not a comprehensive medical insurance plan and only applies to you, if you go the medical retirement route you will maintain full tri-care coverage for you and your family for the remainder of your life. I know it is tough to give up a career in the Air Force as it was for me in the Marine Corps but your overall health and more importantly the comprehensive long term medical coverage should be a priority in your decision process. You can always appeal the boards decisions and I can help you put together an appeal to pursue medical retirement as I just went through the process. Also if you are not on a continuous Glucose Monitor I suggest you get on it. It is the single greatest advancement in T1 diabetes management since synthetic insulin. Check out Dexcom.com. I have been on it for about 6 months and it has made management of the disease much easier as it provides minute by minute BGL readings allowing me to prevent highs and lows before they happen. Feel free to contact me via email at jbmmac1@yahoo.com if you have any questions.
It's sad to hear that 3 members of your battalion were diagnosed with T1D; at the same time it does show a link of deplyoments and the trigger of the disease. I believe the military needs to be putting more research into this. I am glad to hear you received 40% and your decision about your career. I am starting to doubt my push to stay in as I could likely be throwing out my medical retirement as you stated. At this point I don't know what to do as my paperwork has already been routed. Any suggestions? I really think I made the wrong chose to stay in.