VJers With Medical Issues...Anybody else?

[AFQuaid 18]

I know this is very corny but just wondered if there is anybody else of VJ with health/medical issues who'd like to come to this thread and share there story. So we can all learn a bit, if having a medical condition affected the process. In what way and why? Any health problem Hopefully there are some happily ever afters out there too who can officially say "I'm in america, I made it despite that...."

[Collie 122]

Alrighty I'll bite

I hope that my medical issues won't affect the process of my AOS although I've been assured it won't by my attorney.

I have epilepsy which was just diagnosed last summer when i was holidaying in texas. I was taken in by emergency ambulance with unexplained seizures and spent a week in hospital in ICU, so i got to experience what an american hospital was like! At that time I had just met my husband through a friend. Hes a paramedic and he was brill at coming to visit me at hospital and explaining things to me and hes seen me at my worst lol. I'm also deathly allergic to all narcotics and was given morphine by mistake last christmas so hes witnessed me stopped breathing as well, which he said was the scariest thing hes ever seen and he sees it every day at work!

also have a heart condition called wolff parkinson white syndrome which is like wee extra accessory pathways that make the heart beat very fast up to 500 beats per minute.

ooops i rambled a bit, sorry!

Kat

[Fuzzness 2]

i have a mild case of colitis and also anxiety disorder. i came to america despite being scared out of my wits!

but im sure you mean something more serious

[AFQuaid 18]

Thats really encouraging Collie. How made you are for each other too! wow partner with useful medical skills...

Fuzziness, no I meant any condition I notice one big worry on these boards is actually depression/anxiety disorders and if it might affect the process so having a thread like this may help people to not post multiple and get some reassurance.

I have a big fear of us getting knocked back, so wanted to hear your experiances

[Kajikit 65]

I don't have any physical health issues that were a problem... but I had a history of depression and anxiety and I'd been seeing a psychiatrist for five years, and it caused a minor problem with the medical and nearly gave me a heart attack in the process... the doc said he couldn't approve me on the spot because he wasn't a psychiatrist and he didn't know anything about my history so I had to get my head-shrinker to write a letter to him saying that I was okay... actually I have no idea what the letter said because I never saw it - it went straight from psychiatrist to doctor, and then I got a call to go and pick up my medical report.

It wasn't an issue at the interview (although I had a screaming panic attack while I was waiting and I was so upset when I went up to the counter that the troll behind the desk almost wouldn't deal with me - she wanted me to go and calm down, like that was going to happen!) Anyway, the actual interviewer only asked me two questions about my health - a, how I thought I was going to handle the transition to America and marriage (my answer was that if I could handle the stress of GETTING the visa, I could handle anything...) and b, what plans we had for my continuing care in the US (none because I didn't need it any more).

From what I can make out, before they approve you they need to know that your condition is not on the do-not-approve list, that you're under appropriate treatment and have plans for continuing it if necessary once you move, and probably that your US partner has enough means to support you if you can't support yourself, so that you won't become a public charge. eg.medical insurance, or savings, or a connection with a doctor/specialist who'll treat you... etc.

PS. For those worried about certain things... I had scars on my arms and shoulders, but they were old and faded and the doctor didn't even ask about them, probably because they were five years old and they looked it, and there weren't any more recent ones. The only scar I was asked about was the giant one on my leg from a childhood accident, which the doc thought might have come from knee surgery (it didn't).

Edited May 16, 2006 by Kajikit

[Kez/JWolf 6]

I have arthritis in both my knees as a result of injuries from a baseball bat at the hands of my ex... only problem this has cause me is that I have found it very hard to get information from the NHS in UK that my surgeon needs here... I am about to have more surgery on my left knee next week, to take out all the plates and screws and do a total knee replacement.... I think the mental scars are harder to deal with than the physical ones...

Kezzie

[raphael7546 0]

Well I'm a Cancer Surviver. ( Had Stomach/intestinal cancer 3 times) before my medical for my K-1, I went to my oncologist and he gave me my records & a letter stating I was cancer free. I then went to my regular doctor and he did the same thing. I presented these records & letters to the Immigration doctor. She had no problem with it. I passed the medical & the interview. Had no mention of it at all when I went thru Customs upon entering with the visa . It wasn't mentioned at all when we went for my AOS interview either.

Goodluck !

[crashandcari 0]

well Crash has Crohn's Disease and when he went for his medical the doctor put it down as "inactive" and no one even brought it up at his interview. the doctor had asked him if i was working and whether Crash would be able to be put onto my medical coverage (which was already in the works) because if asked at the interview at least by showing that he was already on my medical coverage he wasn't going to be a "burden to the family"

as far as the Crohn's goes... Crash has had his good days and bad days... with all the stress of this whole visa process not to mention the unexpected sex change the embassy gave him he has not been too well this past week.. my poor sweetie... hopefully once he lands here on wednesday and gets good loving from his wife (and good american food) he will be feeling as good as he did when he was here visiting all those times..

ooops not to forget ibs on top of crohns hey why do things by half lol

Edited May 16, 2006 by crashandcari

[mrs.jenjen 0]

I'm another one with Crohns disease. The main thing I worry about is the cost of the meds out here - What I used to get for approx $170 a year on the NHS can easily cost $700 a month here without insurance.

Luckily I stockpiled my pills whilst I was in the UK and I'm in remission right now, and have been pretty much for a year, so I have quite a supply left now. I'm also on my hubbys medical insurance so should anything happen with the crohns I am pretty much covered.

Other than that I was previously hospitalised and diagnosed as having Borderline Personality Disorder and mild depression in 2004. I personally don't believe I suffer from these things, I prefer to think of them as temporary symptoms of generally not coping during the two years I spent watching every member of my immediate family nearly die (Cancer, crohns disease, caeliacs disease / salmonella poisioning, potential paralysis.. you name it, it happened) ... but its there in my notes so I might as well mention it.

Now though, I've been in the US for a year and I'm med free and doing great. So there's either something in the water or my new hubby has a lot to answer for

[chri'stina 190]

I have osteoarthritis in both my ankles...the Dr said it is a genetic defect, and not enough cartilage formed in a part of ankles before birth. I can't walk around for too much time or even stand for more than an hour or so at a time, ever since I was 15 or so it started getting bad. I have wanted to take Sujeet to disneyworld, or universal studios ever since he came here...since it's not far, but I am not even able to walk around those places anymore unless I want to be in severe pain at the end of the day.

I had to leave my job last year working at a school because of my ankles. The job required standing for hours during the day and each night I'd be in bad pain. It's something I only remember I have when my ankles start hurting badly. Most ppl around me don't even realize how bad it can hurt, as usually I am walking around fine around my friends and all. But at home is when the worst pain occurs, after being out all day, etc. Ppl don't realize how much it hurts, only Sujeet and my family knows how bad it hurts me sometimes.

I don't know what the long term solution is as yet, and I'm only 25 and already having this pain after standing...I don't know how bad it will be in 10 years from now.

But still I count myself blessed as it's not as bad as many other things people have.

Edited May 16, 2006 by stina&suj