Vancouver Medical Review

[Misty1979 0]

I had my medical done today with Dr. Ian Morgan in Vancouver, and all went smoothly:) I was a little worried before I left for Vancouver yesterday, since I had an allergic reaction to some cashews the day before and got rushed to the walk in clinic where I was given a shot of adrenaline. I called the doc's office in Vancouver the day before my medical to make sure the adrenaline shot wouldn't mess up the results, and was informed all would be ok.

Anyways, I stayed at the Coast Plaza Hotel and Suites on Comox Ave. The staff there were exceptional, and extremely helpful. They have a luggage storing service there so that if you aren't able to pick up your luggage right away at the check-out time of 11am, you can come by anytime and pick it up, free of charge. The hotel was less than a mile from the medical building, so I did most of my travelling on foot, which saved alot of money as well.

Onto the medical!

Heeding the advice of all you VJ'ers, I showed up to the appt. at 6:30 (30 min early), but was shocked to find that 5 people were already in front of me. We sat in the waiting room for about 10 min until a young man came down the elevator and told us to all go upstairs.

We kept the order in which we had shown up as we lined up at the receptionist's desk to take the forms we needed to fill out. I sped through the forms and turned them in first, then gave the receptionist all the info she requested (Passport, photocopy of passport, immunization records for Tetanus and MMR, and three passport style photos.)

I was told to walk through three doors then take a right to have my bloodwork done. Me and two other girls had to wait about ten minutes until they opened the lab, but it gave us all a chance to chat, and I found out that the lady who had come in right after me had been going through the immigration process for 7 years now...(eek), since she was being petitioned from her step-father. She didn't know a whole lot about the interview process, and was scheduled at Montreal for a week from now so I told her all about VJ and the embassy reviews and told her to come check it out.

Next...the needle! A very nice lady called three of us at once into the lab and we all took our chairs. She drew I think 2 vials of blood, which was very painless. After that was done, she directed us to another room for our x-rays.

The x-ray was easy and straight forward as well. Enter the change-room, remove clothes from your waist up, put on the robe and head down the hall to your left. I had to pin my hair up since it was going to obstruct the x-ray somehow, so the man in there gave me a pretty pink hair-tie which I returned to him when I was finished.

After the x-ray, we returned to the original waiting room where the receptionist was. Most people decided to head to Blenz and grab a coffee since the wait for the doctor was about 25 min, but I just read a magazine in the mean time.

At about 9:15, I was called into the doctor's room and was told to strip down to my underwear and was handed a "sheet" to cover myself with. The "sheet" actually was more like a long length of paper-towel, but it did the job. When I was all covered up, the receptionist and Dr. Morgan entered the room and started the exam.

It was nice to have the lady receptionist in the room for the exam, since it made me feel more comfortable. Dr Morgan was extremely nice and pleasant and asked a few questions about life in NC, my husband, my job, etc while checked my eyes, ears, poked around my stomach a little and took my blood pressure. After that, he told me everything seemed good, so I was all done with the exam:)

After getting dressed, the receptionist weighed me and measured my height, then took my payment for the medical ($275), then told me to come back by about 1:50 to pick up the test results.

It was a long boring day in Vancouver after that. I hadn't really planned any kind of sight-seeing for my short trip there, so I spent most of the day wandering around aimlessly, until I decided to hang out in the lounge at the Coast Plaza hotel, and read until it was time to return for the results from the medical.

I returned to the medical building at about 1:30, but our results weren't ready until about 2:05. The receptionist told me all looked good on my medical, then handed me a envelope for myself with my vaccination records in it, and the huge infamous x-ray package with a white envelope stapled to it stating "US Consulate. Do Not Open."

That was pretty much it. After I left the medical, I scrambled for the airporter and made it just in time, then connected with Pacific Coast lines at the airport and boarded the ferry. Everyone on the bus kept staring at my huge x-ray envelope wondering what was in it, and I think if I had to do it again, I would book an extra seat just for the darn x-ray itself since it took up for room on the bus than I did

All in all, the medical was a good experience. Met some very nice people going through the same thing we are, had a nice day off to play tourist in Vancouver, and got one step closer to being with my husband all in one day

Edited July 26, 2007 by Misty1979

[Lance27 19]

I love Cashews... I started reading the post and was disappointed to see there were no reviews of the Cashews

Great Review of the medical though .

[~Nini~ 2]

Great review! Glad you made it through your medical

[Misty1979 0]

I love Cashews... I started reading the post and was disappointed to see there were no reviews of the Cashews

Great Review of the medical though .

Ugh. They are the only nut I don't like. Peanuts rock!!!! The most traumatizing part of the whole thing was my mom paniced when I started having the reaction and told me to take some Malox. I drank half the bottle before we zipped to the doctor, then read the expiry date....June 1997.

Not sure which came closer to killing me the cashews or the Malox.

[Lance27 19]

Probablly the Malox ... June 1997???? 10 year old medicine