Your physical training test is coming up and your run time has slipped for no reason you can point to. A pre-deployment physical out of Naval Air Station Oceana flagged fatigue, and blood work came back with ferritin at 18, even though hemoglobin was technically within range. The advice was an over-the-counter supplement and a recheck before your next screening.
That's a pattern we see often with active-duty patients around Oceana and the broader Hampton Roads area. Physical training standards don't leave much room for a slow fix, and oral iron's three-to-six-month timeline doesn't line up with a fitness test or a deployment date already on the calendar.
Hemoglobin holds steady because it's one of the last markers to drop. Ferritin goes first, and it's rarely checked as part of a standard readiness physical unless specifically requested. A trip to Sentara Virginia Beach General for a same-day infusion isn't realistic on a duty schedule, and navigating the Laskin Road construction corridor around First Colonial Road eats into time that's already tight before a deployment.
That's a pattern we see often with active-duty patients around Oceana and the broader Hampton Roads area. Physical training standards don't leave much room for a slow fix, and oral iron's three-to-six-month timeline doesn't line up with a fitness test or a deployment date already on the calendar.