NeQ
11-25-2007, 00:58
I have a question regarding lipomas that I’m hoping someone could clear up for me. I have searched high and low on the forums, and although lipomas are mentioned in one thread, I have not found anything that would answer this particular question.
I did some research and know that lipomas are basically fatty benign tumors and are pretty common…and I happen to have 3 of them on my abdomen. They are located on the lower left side, right at the edge of the ribcage. They are in a line, spaced about 4 inches apart, and are all about the size of a pinto bean. I also had a doc check me out and he confirmed that they are in fact lipomas.
Now I’m not too worried because as I understand it, these things are no big deal and can be easily removed. But I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t throw up any red flags when I do finally go to MEPS for the physical. I checked out AR 40-501, and didn’t find lipomas specifically mentioned anywhere…but in 2-36 in states:
Tumors and malignant diseases
The causes for rejection for appointment, enlistment, and induction are:
a. Benign tumors (M8000) that interfere with function, prevent wearing the uniform or protective equipment, would require frequent specialized attention, or have a high malignant potential.
b. Malignant tumors (V10), exception for basal cell carcinoma, removed with no residual. In addition, the following cases should be qualified if on careful review they meet the following criteria: individuals who have a history of childhood cancer who have not received any surgical or medical cancer therapy for 5 years and are free of cancer; individuals with a history of Wilm's tumor and germ cell tumors of the testis treated surgically and/or with chemotherapy after a 2-year disease-free interval off all treatment; individuals with a history of Hodgkin's disease treated with radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy and disease free off treatment for 5 years; individuals with a history of large cell lymphoma after a 2-year disease-free interval off all therapy.
So do lipomas fall under category A? Should I have them removed? And if I do remove them, would I then require some type of waiver because of the surgery required to remove them?
I really don’t see these lipomas as falling under any of the descriptions in category A…they don’t interfere with function, they would not interfere with wearing a uniform or any protective equipment that I know of…I’ve had them for years and do all kinds of physical activities and don’t even notice they are there.
I know it’s probably not even a big deal, but this thing has just been bugging me, and I would just like to get it straightened out…and if it turns out I need to remove them, I gotta get on that quick since my medical insurance expires when I turn 22.
Sorry about the long post, any advice will be greatly appreciated.
I did some research and know that lipomas are basically fatty benign tumors and are pretty common…and I happen to have 3 of them on my abdomen. They are located on the lower left side, right at the edge of the ribcage. They are in a line, spaced about 4 inches apart, and are all about the size of a pinto bean. I also had a doc check me out and he confirmed that they are in fact lipomas.
Now I’m not too worried because as I understand it, these things are no big deal and can be easily removed. But I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t throw up any red flags when I do finally go to MEPS for the physical. I checked out AR 40-501, and didn’t find lipomas specifically mentioned anywhere…but in 2-36 in states:
Tumors and malignant diseases
The causes for rejection for appointment, enlistment, and induction are:
a. Benign tumors (M8000) that interfere with function, prevent wearing the uniform or protective equipment, would require frequent specialized attention, or have a high malignant potential.
b. Malignant tumors (V10), exception for basal cell carcinoma, removed with no residual. In addition, the following cases should be qualified if on careful review they meet the following criteria: individuals who have a history of childhood cancer who have not received any surgical or medical cancer therapy for 5 years and are free of cancer; individuals with a history of Wilm's tumor and germ cell tumors of the testis treated surgically and/or with chemotherapy after a 2-year disease-free interval off all treatment; individuals with a history of Hodgkin's disease treated with radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy and disease free off treatment for 5 years; individuals with a history of large cell lymphoma after a 2-year disease-free interval off all therapy.
So do lipomas fall under category A? Should I have them removed? And if I do remove them, would I then require some type of waiver because of the surgery required to remove them?
I really don’t see these lipomas as falling under any of the descriptions in category A…they don’t interfere with function, they would not interfere with wearing a uniform or any protective equipment that I know of…I’ve had them for years and do all kinds of physical activities and don’t even notice they are there.
I know it’s probably not even a big deal, but this thing has just been bugging me, and I would just like to get it straightened out…and if it turns out I need to remove them, I gotta get on that quick since my medical insurance expires when I turn 22.
Sorry about the long post, any advice will be greatly appreciated.