Sputum Test in St. lukes Walkthrough

[Kikay K 1]

hey guys. im a little confuse with this whole sputum culture test .. from my knowledge it usually just takes 2 days for the medical exam at st. luke. when did the whole 3 day sputum test start? and what is the 2 month culture test about? please please if anyone can give me some information about this i'd gladly appreciate it thanks in advance

If she doesn't have any findings on her xray on day 1, the medical exam will take only 2 days. If she has lung findings, she needs to undergo the 2-month sputum culture test. The 3-day sputum collection usually starts on the following week (but this largely depends on the work volume of St. Luke's). They will definitely tell the client when to go back. For now, don't think of the sputum culture yet. Most applicants don't have to undergo the sputum test. But if your wife has to undergo it, it'll be a breeze. It looked too long a wait for me back then, but now, everything seems to be a nice experience after all :-)

[jhilly143 0]

Hi Jhilly,

If you have problem with your 2-days medical exam (specially about your x-ray) the St. lukes will advice you to have 3 days sputum test to check if you are positive of TB. If your 3 days sputum test will be negative u still need to wait for 8 weeks for sputum culture result. (",)

Thanks bhebe.. its so nerve racking with the whole medical exam. and with the negative sputum results it'll still take 8 weeks waaaaaaa thats a lot of days waiting!

[Phil& Wi 1]

Yahoooo! after a long wait sa wakas natapos narin and lahat is worth...Nov3 tumawag ako sa St. Luke and sinabi ng staff Nov16 balik ako doon kasi by Nov 18 is my interview! Thanks God for always there for us! Sputum ladies go go go!

[sdanonymous 0]

Yey! Done with my medicals today! Interview is on October 14, which is 2 days from now! For the benefit of those who are waiting for updates from me (especially bhebe hehehe), here's the summary of what happened in my St. Luke's journey as a sputum test lady :-)

- August 2 - First day of medical exam. Before I went home, they told me that I'd be undergoing the sputum test. I was lucky because people usually learn about this on the second day of their medical exam.

- Aug. 9,10,11 - sputum collection

- Aug. 12 - sputum smear result (negative!!!) and pulmonary evaluation. I was given instructions on what to submit via private courier (specifically, my medical certificate from my doctor who helped in treating my asymptomatic TB in 2007-2008). I was also told to call on Oct. 8 for the result.

- Oct. 8 (Friday) - no result yet. I was told to call on Oct. 11 (Monday)

- Oct. 11 - no result yet in the morning. In the afternoon, I was finally told to go to St. Luke's the following day and bring my passport, appointment letter, and receipt. (They won't tell you the result of your culture via phone, but of course it's already obvious since you're already asked to bring your documents.)

- Oct. 12 - I arrived at 10 am and got out at 3 pm. I spent 5 hours there. Here's a list of what I went through today:

1.) Submitted my receipt to counter M.

2.) Waited for my turn on the immunization lobby (2nd floor). This took about 1.5 hours.

3.) When they called me, they told me that I need to have a repeat pregnancy test (MMR should NOT be given to pregnant women).

4.) I went to the 4th floor for the collection of my urine for the pregnancy test.

5.) I went to 5th floor for the pregnancy test payment, (P495?), and then gave the receipt to the 4th floor laboratory, and she told me that the result was already forwarded to the immunization room. This step was pretty quick.

6.) I waited for my turn to be immunized. This took less than 1 hour. I got DPT and MMR. I went out of the immunization room at 12 noon.

7.) I waited at the 1st floor. After a few minutes, I was called to proceed to counter A where I signed some papers.

8.) I had a quick lunch and then went back to continue waiting, then I was called to counter M, when they told me that I need to go to a Notary Public to have an affidavit of discrepancy. My xray from 2009 contains a wrong spelling of my surname. There's a nearby notary public, and it took me 15-20 minutes to complete everything.

9.) After I gave my affidavit of discrepancy, I waited again for less than 1 hour, and then I was called to counter C, which was my last stop. She gave me instructions for the interview and what I need to bring to the US as far as the medical exam is concerned. She also asked for my interview appointment letter.

10.) I paid my $350 (P15,400) K1 visa fee at a nearby BDO.

As far as the interview appointment is concerned, here's my story:

- I didn't call the US Embassy for an interview schedule yet before I went to St. Luke's on Aug. 2 because I knew that I'd undergo the sputum test (thanks to VJ for the advance info!).

- Today, I tried calling the US embassy using a PLDT call card worth P500 (my sis gave it to me for free). I used a smart cellphone (which didn't work), a PLDT landline (which didn't work), and a PLDT payphone (which didn't work). In short, I spent more than 30 minutes trying to reach the call center, to no avail, so I just asked my fiance to call from the US to set my interview date.

- My fiance called them at 10:30 am today for an interview schedule, only to be told that they won't give us one because it's the job of St. Luke's to give sputum test clients a new schedule.

- I asked the clinic staff about this, and they told me that it's wrong information from the call center!!! Since I haven't set any interview date yet, it's our responsibility to call the embassy for my interview date!

- So I asked my fiance to call again. At noontime, they gave him the earliest schedule that I could get, which is Oct. 14, two days after I got my vaccine (today)! I went to a nearby internet cafe and printed my appointment letter (the clinic will ask for a copy).

- On a side note, I have this K1 buddy (we went to the sputum test together), and she already had a prior interview date (which was of course postponed because of the sputum culture). Last October 8 when she got her sputum culture result, St. Luke's gave her an interview date of Oct. 29, which is much later than we expected! I'm so glad I didn't have to go through the same trauma. But then today, I told her that my fiance was able to get a great schedule for me (Oct. 14) via the call center, and so she also gave the call center a shot, and guess what, she got a better interview date -- Oct. 20! Moral lesson: Don't settle with what the clinic gives you. Call the embassy and set a better date. My friend could have gotten an even earlier schedule than Oct. 20 if she persisted some more, just like my fiance did. But anyway, my friend is happy with the new schedule.

That's it! It's been a great day! Thanks be to God!!! :-) Good luck to us all!

Do you know what reason your friend told the call center in order to get an earlier schedule. My brother has also been given a much later date which is a little more than two weeks after the culture result and we're trying to get them to come here in the US before the 31st of November so that my nieces can apply for the Spring 2011 deadline for College. I will call them in the morning and see what happens.

[Kikay K 1]

Oh, I just saw your post. Sorry. But anyway, my friend didn't tell me the details of her conversation with the call center agent. What I advised her is to just ask for an earlier interview date. Hope you were able to get one!

[elena aguilera 0]

guys, i have a question.. in medical at st. lukes is there a blood testing? if there is.. are they asking if you took antibiotic for the previous 6months? ('cause i remember in donating blood here in the phil. if you took antibiotic for the previous 6mos, you are not eligible to donate cause the result of the blood testing might be FALSE NEGATIVE, but im worried cause if i admit that i actually took antibiotic, will they say that i have to wait another 6mos to clear my blood from those drugs?) please share your experience.. THANK YOU!!!

[Kikay K 1]

There is blood testing, but I believe it's primarily for HIV. The amount we pay is just enough for basic tests. Doing further tests like detecting the presence of antibiotics in the blood would require a lot of work and money for them.

But nevertheless, I encourage you to be honest during your medical exam interview. They will ask you about the illnesses you've had, any hospitalizations and surgeries, and medications taken. It pays to be honest. If they discover you're lying, it will cost you your visa eligibility.

And if indeed you tell them that you took antibiotics for 6 months, I don't think you will be delayed in order to make the antibiotics disappear from your body. I've never heard of that and never read something about that before on the CDC docs and here on VJ. As long as you do not have a communicable disease such as HIV or TB, you're fine. For treatable infections, you will just be asked to take further antibiotics.

[elena aguilera 0]

im just taking antibiotics now cause my eyes got swollen and my doc told me to take those drugs.. im just really worried that they might tell me to wait for another 6mos to clear my blood.. THANKS Kikay..

[Chris&Cecil 1]

Today is the last day of my culture test thanks God! I'm thinking if possible to call SLMEC tom (my sched to follow-up call is on monday ... im just excited) to know the result?

[happyme 0]

Today is the last day of my culture test thanks God! I'm thinking if possible to call SLMEC tom (my sched to follow-up call is on monday ... im just excited) to know the result?

hi sis! sure na yan na for immunization ka na =)

good luck! keep us posted. thanks!

[Chris&Cecil 1]

thanks sis ... sure! i will let you guys updated ....God bless us all here!

[Chris&Cecil 1]

hey guys! i called up SLMEC today 3pm... my culture test result is not yet available..i was advise to call back on monday 1pm-2pm... :-)

[Chris&Cecil 1]

yeheyyyy!!! thanks God finally i'm done with the most difficult part of this process which is my medical!!! anyway as i said last time i will update my post here... Here it goes...

SLMEC told me to report at 8am and need to bring my passport, med receipt and appointment letter. I arrived there at exactly 8am this morning...I presented my passport together withmy med receipt to the guard..He stamped my receipt (for immunizatiion) and he advised me to go to 2nd floor for my immunization..i waited for my name to be called..then the doctor in the immunization interview asked me when is my last day of my MP...then she told me that my pregnancy test is already expired so they need to get my urine for pregnancy test and she said i need to pay P495.00 then i go up to 5th floor to pay the said amount. then went to 4th flr for urine collection..after in a min the lady gave me the receipt (pregnancy test) done and told to go to 2nd floor for immunization...at 2nd flr i waited 10 mins for my name to be called for be immunized..i got 2 shots (in my left and right arm) after that the nurse told me to go to ground floor to releasing counter for the final journey of my med history hehehe... after 4 hours of waiting ..thanks God i was released hehehehe...the lady gave me the CD xray result with immunization form..finally i go out with a smile while my stomach is in pain for some reason (super gutom na gutom na ako as in grabe!) ....take taxi going home! bye bye SLMEC!

So that was my unforgettable/difficult experience that I had ..... but then I'm so thankful coz God is really good! to those still waiting for their culture result, keep healthy guys! keep the faith and stay healthy...offer all to God, no worries He won't fail us! God bless us all!!!

[enzocute 2]

yeheyyyy!!! thanks God finally i'm done with the most difficult part of this process which is my medical!!! anyway as i said last time i will update my post here... Here it goes...

SLMEC told me to report at 8am and need to bring my passport, med receipt and appointment letter. I arrived there at exactly 8am this morning...I presented my passport together withmy med receipt to the guard..He stamped my receipt (for immunizatiion) and he advised me to go to 2nd floor for my immunization..i waited for my name to be called..then the doctor in the immunization interview asked me when is my last day of my MP...then she told me that my pregnancy test is already expired so they need to get my urine for pregnancy test and she said i need to pay P495.00 then i go up to 5th floor to pay the said amount. then went to 4th flr for urine collection..after in a min the lady gave me the receipt (pregnancy test) done and told to go to 2nd floor for immunization...at 2nd flr i waited 10 mins for my name to be called for be immunized..i got 2 shots (in my left and right arm) after that the nurse told me to go to ground floor to releasing counter for the final journey of my med history hehehe... after 4 hours of waiting ..thanks God i was released hehehehe...the lady gave me the CD xray result with immunization form..finally i go out with a smile while my stomach is in pain for some reason (super gutom na gutom na ako as in grabe!) ....take taxi going home! bye bye SLMEC!

So that was my unforgettable/difficult experience that I had ..... but then I'm so thankful coz God is really good! to those still waiting for their culture result, keep healthy guys! keep the faith and stay healthy...offer all to God, no worries He won't fail us! God bless us all!!!

Hi sis, thank u so much for posting here your experiences in your medical and now its ended and ready to face the next big step.. I am so happy for you my friend!!

Edited December 7, 2010 by bhebe

[Chris&Cecil 1]

thanks a lot too sis! :thumbs: goodluck! its ur turn for immunization hehehe :dance: