London Medical - 3rd May 2006

[elwintro 0]

Hello, VJ!

I had my K1 medical yesterday (03 May) at the Knightsbridge Doctors

office in Bulstrode Place. It was an interesting experience!

I travelled all the way from Belfast, and my route was as follows:

- Easyjet to Stansted

- Stansted Express to Liverpool Street station

- Tube from Liverpool St. to Bond Street

- Bulstrode Place is a five minute walk away

On arriving at the Alliance Imaging Centre, I pushed the button at the

left of the doors and got buzzed in. Told the receptionist I had an

appointment with Knightsbridge Doctors, and she directed me to the

lift at the rear of the lobby, telling me to go up to the second floor.

When I got up there, the receptionist was going into the lift just as I

was stepping out. She told me to take a seat, that she'd be back in

a minute or two. There was another young man waiting about who

seemed to have just done his x-ray.

When the receptionist returned, she took my passport, picture, medical

questionnaire from packet 3, vaccination history, and had a look at my

embassy appointment letter to verify the case number. Then, she handed

me a clipboard with another medical questionnaire to fill out, and an HIV

test waiver thing to sign. After that, it was only a couple of minutes before

I was called for the chest x-ray.

The technician was a rather amiable Antipodean chap with blond curly

hair, and he walked me through the process with a good dose of friendly

banter. The x-ray is simple, and no removal of clothing was necessary.

Back out to reception, and the immunisation nurse was there to tell me I

was all up to date (I'd gotten the MMR and TD jabs free from my GP last

week), so I could go on down and see the doctor for the exam. The

receptionist gave me a blue folder with all the documents in it, and told

me to go down to the first floor and take a seat.

In the waiting area downstairs, I started to take a look through the folder,

but it wasn't long before the doc came out and called me in. I got Dr.

Sayed, a petite, young woman, of Middle Eastern/Asian descent, and

she seemed quite friendly. I took a seat along side her desk, and we went

over my answers to the medical questionnaire I'd filled out at reception,

then she had me countersign my passport photo, and sign the questionnaire.

I was then told to go behind the screen and remove all clothing except

for socks and underwear, and my glasses. First, she measured weight

and height, had me read the eye chart, then I sat on the bed for a throat

and gland exam. I lay down, and was told to raise each leg in turn,

followed by Dr. Sayed examining my abdomen and taking a quick peek

under my boxers (!).

Now the fun part... She got out the stethoscope and listened to my heart.

Let's just say I was a little nervous (at what, I don't know), so my heart

was pounding in my chest a bit. Dr. Sayed's first question was if I had

a heart murmur. I said no, and she listened a bit more. All of a sudden,

she told me I really needed to calm down, that I was tachycardic and

she could hear my heart beating in my stomach and legs. Out came the

blood pressure equipment, and I was 160 systolic! When I went to see

the nurse at my GP's office for the vaccinations, she took my pressure

and it was a perfect 120/80 (and I usually have a resting heart rate of

60-70bpm), so I guess that just goes to show how nervous I really was!

The doc seemed to be genuinely concerned for me, and was asking if

my pulse is always so high. Of course, I told her no. I made some joke

about being worried about coughing up the 160 quid at the end, but she

seemed to think I was serious. Anyway, she continued with the exam by

listening to my lungs, and taking a blood sample. By that time, I'd relaxed

a little and asked her to try listening to my chest again. She said it was

much better and could actually hear what was going on now. I got her

to try taking my pressure again, but it hadn't gone down any.

I was definitely nervous, and she noted my palms were all clammy. She

said she'd put down on the forms that I was anxious so the embassy

wouldn't kick up a fuss and I'd still get the visa, and she took my GP's

details incase she (or the embassy?) wanted to review my medical history.

Anyway, that was that for the medical. I brought the folder back upstairs,

and paid the receptionist. I mentioned to her the fiasco about being anxious

and it affecting my blood pressure, and she said they get that a lot there,

so not to worry - the embassy is more interested in whether or not you're

carrying STDs or something worse.

Off back to the tube I went (after little more than half an hour from start

to finish), feeling like a fool for getting anxious over nothing. But that's

one big step closer to marrying my fiancee and spending my life with

her - the humiliation is more than worth it!

Good luck to all! (And don't worry! )

[mrswooten4ever 0]

Yup it really is nothing to worry about. Good luck with your interview

Adele