ap tb etc

[james&nicole 2]

Well...its 5 something in the morning and I'm sittin here in a 10x10 with my life on hold, a copy of Thoreau's "Walden", seven beers and a half a pack of rolaids for company, tryin to type this on a cell phone. It wasn't supposed to go down like this, but it did. Damn, them keys are small, specially when my eyes get kind of misty, I'm probley jus tired, yeah...jus tired, or allergies or sumthin. Can't indent or punctuate, trapped in Kerouac mode. Just back from Saigon again, or what looks to me like the worlds biggest yard sale. A strange fusion of Copenhagen and Tijuana, all motorbikes and grit. The human condition laid bare, the wild west attitude, mordida, the variety of the seedy side of any major city, not all franchised and whitewashed. The rich side of life is so predictable. Saigon... Intoxicating. Not sayin its the best or worst but I enjoy it and as with many intoxicants, you may be judged by your use of them. I seen a lot of broken people there, but they don't break down...and I understand... kindred spirits... took a day trip to Vung Tau once...in the morning I saw a man crawling on the highway...on the way back in the afternoon he was still crawling in the same direction... hours and hours of crawling...breaks your effin heart. There was a man I used to see near cho ban thanh...puddle man...it was like he had no bones...I mean how does dropping a 20k dong note into his hat make up for that? I seen some real gut wrenchers I tell ya. But I've yet to hear "why me"? Maybe its cause my tieng viet's a little thin...but goddam they livin' close to the bone over there. The sheer tragedy and triumph of it all...intoxicating...Col. Kurtz had some of the best lines ever about it..."my god the genius of that...the will to do that...perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure...and then I realized they were stronger than we...they had the strength...the strength...to do that". And yes I realize the context of his quote from the movie, but allow some poetic license here. But I digress...damn I hate that steel gray dawn sky...almost outta beer...man if I had a nickel for every time I sat in the parking lot of 7/11 waiting for the 6am beer selling festivities...brb...

[james&nicole 2]

Alright back to business...been stuck in AP a long long time now...talked to the tb doc at cho ray...he told me if all goes well we could get the medical clearance at the end of march 2012 and the visa could be issued a month or two after (almost 2 1/2 years AP?). No promises but a strong maybe. On the plus side if I have to move to VN the nursing staff at cho ray would like me to teach them english. I've been in the classroom before and come from a long line of teachers, so maybe I've got a new career lined up. Keeping my fingers crossed. Oh I forgot to mention last time, At IOM they told me the 4,400$ it used to cost extra for the second//third line of tv medications has been dropped. They added 10$ or so to the 80$ or so charge for the second line meds. So everyone pays 10$ more per month and this helps fund the cost for the third line meds for all. This way they don't have to send the mdr/xmdr people away without treatment. In that neck of the woods if you can't afford treatment they send you home sick. In the case of contagious diseases this is a real problem. I've been told at night in HCM you can hear the coughing all night long. If we don't get this health care thing settled in the US this could be coming to a city near you soon. Just sayin'. While in HCM I also stopped by the consulate during citizens hour...it was packed...went to the right side this time....so many people....many blues and one pink.....although since I've never seen a real pink in person I'm just guessing. Maybe I'll get to see a real pink in May or June next year. So many folks and they still use paper files. I saw a guy walk by behind the counter with a stack of files about 18 inches tall, I'm not kidding he was having trouble carrying them. At lot of the consulate employees struck me as looking quite young. Overseas employment is a young persons game I guess...or maybe I'm just getting old. The police certificate for our case has expired...I think its only good for 6 months at a time. Since it will be more than 6 months before our case gets medical clearance I asked if it was ok to wait and get the new police cert. issued closer to our potential clearance date. He said that shouldn't be a problem. All in all the consulate was easy I was in and out in 35 minutes. Not much more to report, I wish I had more info but we are in this holding pattern and there isn't much to do but wait. We have stopped the injections of th drugs and just take the 14 pills a day. It has helped with the side effects. It's been a long haul and its not near over yet but god willing and the creek don't rise we will get though it somehow. I hope it comes soon... I don't want to leave her at the airport any more...its tough...real tough...I...I..... you know its getting real hard to see these keys again...probley I'm just tired, or its just allergies....... sumthin....right?.....

[luckytxn 2,265]

I remember them days of drunk texting fondly.......

[Ronnie&Hang 12]

That's beautiful Sometimes one has to endure the worst, to appreciate the best.

You hang in there a little longer..it will get brighter at the end.

[Ban Hammer 13,552]

duplicate topics have been merged

[tcTTct 37]

At least your fiancee is getting treatment for TB. It could have been a lot worse if left untreated. Hang in there.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

For the first time in a very long time, I was mesmerized by a post on this forum. Jesus, man, I hope you're keeping notes. You really need to write a book about this experience. I'd buy it!

[WeatherEmperor 21]

+1 to Jim's comment. My gosh that was a powerful post and brought a tear to my eye. I was starting to think that I had it bad but it is nothing compared to what you are going through. I feel like such a spoiled brat complaining about being stuck in AP for only 3.5 months

Learning about what you are going through adds a whole new perspective for me about the AP waiting. Please be strong and get through this. I hope your story will give me and my fiance the strength we need to get over our challenge. God speed!

[tcTTct 37]

Come on, enough of the "your suffering is nothing compared to millions of Vietnamese who lost their lives at sea" etc. Everybody's pain and suffering is personal and they are entitled to express it if it helps. If your child hurts himself or gets sick do you not feel pain or sadness even if it's not the same pain as the people who lost their lives at sea?

I almost lost my life at sea and suffered hell in those camps in the early 80s, I even saw dead bodies floating onto the beach in Bidong, yet I'm not bitter about it because it makes me a stronger person today.

Don't belittle other people's feelings and situations.

[joenlemy 2]

Best Of luck with your fiancee's treatment. Hoping pink for you when the treatment is complete and she gets a clean bill of health.

[james&nicole 2]

Well, its amazing what a full days sleep can do. I would like to thank you all for your kind words. I must address something important in one of the responses to my post.

Tuberculosis is not a "mishap". Let me repeat that a little louder for the hard of thinking.

TUBERCULOSIS IS NOT A "MISHAP".

Statements like that are ignorant, misleading and dangerous. I really have to take exception to the cavalier attitude expressed by that term. It is a very serious disease infecting 1/3 of the worlds population, with new infections occurring at a continuing rate of one person per second. Untreated it has a mortality rate of over 50%. It has killed an estimated 1 billion people in the last 200 years and continues to kill at a current rate of 2 million people annually even today. The untold suffering of the afflicted has been happening for thousands of years, is continuing today and will be with us for a long long time. I'm not here to get into a pissin' match about suffering because as one goes so do we all. Please, please, if you or a loved one are in a TB situation take the disease seriously, follow the guidelines, listen to the docs, do your own research and stay the course. I'm not one to beg but I can't let this slide. I've been to the TB ward,seen the sick,this ain't no joke and I'm beggin for sure. Remember you can lead a horse to Google but you can't make him think.

[Ban Hammer 13,552]

one thread hijack removed along with a personal insult that quoted said hijack.

stay on topic. don't insult each other.

[bigdog 376]

Get healthy, stay healthy so you can have long life together. my wife up my XXX to live long time, I am so lucky. Keep the faith, keep up time lines.

[james&nicole 2]

Get healthy, stay healthy so you can have long life together. my wife up my XXX to live long time, I am so lucky. Keep the faith, keep up time lines.

Thank you so much for your help and concern, every word you speak is same same for me. I am so lucky also. My blood family elders have all passed on. I am the oldest now and have been for almost 30 years. My biggest fear is that I leave my young family alone. Not because I think I'm so great but because I know the void it will leave(or I guess it left me). I'm very blessed to have my new family love and support us. ( Rhetorical question here) Have you ever spent your whole life looking for someone and then realized you wasted the first twenty years of your search because that person wasn't even born yet? I certainly have...I guess kindred spirits don't always follow a traditional timeline. in my way of thinking love means not so much as that with you I am strong ...It is that with you I can be weak.

[Ban Hammer 13,552]

one bait post removed.