What's Up Doc? Part 2

So, once you've come back from your x-ray (mine was done in a back room by a very friendly gentleman) you will wait in the waiting room again.

Eventually you'll get called for your examination - the doctor will come for you personally (or at least greet you at the door of the examining room).

As this will be different for everyone I shall just go over what happened to me:

First, a chat. This showed that the form you bring in is, essentially, a waste of time. The doctor sat down with me and filled in another, more official looking, form. She went over anything unusual in my medical history and double checked my vaccinations.

Then I was measured. Weight (I was 2.5kg heavier than when I'd weighed myself earlier that week - oops), height (at least I hadn't shrunk/grown) and, moving me over to stand by the examining "couch", my eyesight

As I was standing by the examining couch... I removed my shirt, sat on the bed/couch and breathed as an ice cold stethoscope was pressed against parts of my torso. I had my blood-pressure taken too. At some point she checked my ears too.

So I might as well lie down... Now I had various parts of my body pressed upon as my lymphatic system was given a thorough MOT.

And while I'm relaxed... My jeans had to be opened up and I had to turn my head and cough (really!) - also, if they need to look at any part of you that's still covered up, (operation scars, extra testicles etc.), this is when they'll ask.

Bloodshed, literally Finally she took a blood sample (for HIV and syphilis) and informed me that, pending results from my blood test/x-ray, I'd passed and that my details would be sent to the US Embassy next week. If there were any issues they would call me immediately. I had the correct vaccinations (yay!) and immunities (I'd had chicken pox as a kid) and went back to the waiting room while they wrote up the bill. I started to bleed again and got taken to a store room where I got patched up.


A short while later I paid my £180 (in cash as it seemed the quickest way to do it) and I was off, back towards Bond Street and a long journey home...

What's Up Doc? Part 1

View Larger Map

That's the door, the doorbell is on the right.
Press the button and you'll get buzzed in.

Once inside, walk forwards and head right.

Reception is just through the next door and it has two hatches.

You'll hand in your passport (which they'll photocopy and give back) your medical form (plus any additional sheets) and any vaccination records. They'll then send you around to the waiting room (straight on, turn right - I'll hack together a bad floorplan and include it in the second part of this post).

Once in the waiting room they'll surprise you with a quiz. It will be mostly the stuff from your medical form, just answer the yes/no questions on the top half of the first page and sign the HIV disclaimer on the last sheet.

Hand the forms back and sit in the waiting room until they call you for your x-ray.

Jabbed!

As you may (or may not) recall, I decided to have some vaccinations prior to my medical to save some money as the NHS will give me them for free. I needed the MMR for measles, mumps and rubella and the Tdap for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough).

So the nurse gave me my two vaccinations, the first being the MMR (a live vaccine apparently). The second, she explained, had been for tetanus, diphtheria and polio. Sorry? Polio?

It turns out that the NHS don't do the Tdap.

So I'm a little confused as to what happens next.

Logically, as the Tdap is not a live vaccine, I can have that on Friday but who knows.

Stay tuned...

You'll Feel a Slight Prick

Okay - don't freak out over the picture - it's just a magic trick.

I went to my GP (British for "Doctor") today to get my vaccination records. For your enjoyment they are listed below:

1. None that are in date

So that was a wasted journey. Once I know what vaccinations I need I can call them and they will arrange to stab me with needles until I'm immune. This will be tricky as I'm donating blood components next Wednesday and need my blood to be clean before then.

To find out exactly what I'll need, I checked here at the US Embassy website (if the link has vanished you'll just have to go and look for it yourself). Being a male in his 40s, the chart tells me that I need to get Tdap, MMR and, weirdly, a Chickenpox jab (Varicella) that you can't get in the UK (but I had chickenpox as a kid so I don't know if that counts). Checking the price list, this would cost me £60 so I'm hoping that my own doctors can do this for less.

Update 1.

I called my doctors and asked about having a Tdap and an MMR. They had no idea what a Tdap was. I read them the description form Wikipedia and they're going to get back to me. This, of course, fills me with confidence.

Update 2.
They can do the injections. The time that would suit me would be Wednesday afternoon/evening or Thursday evening (1st/2nd July). The Sister is not available on the Thursday and is fully booked on the Wednesday (which is apparently "half-hour appointment day") so they'll have a think and get back to me. I actually offered to forget about it and I'd do it during my medical (It's kinda worth £60 just to avoid this kind of hassle) but they said they'd get back to me.

Update 3.
Having to number your updates is never a good sign. Still, we're now on for 3.30pm next Wednesday (July 1st).

Turn Your Head & Cough

So now we know when the interview is, I need to book my medical (the final letter from the NVC actually tells you to log on to their website and follow the instructions (for your country) to prepare for your interview).

For this I will need the following:

• Passport
  
• Passport photo
• £180
• Vaccination records
  
• Completed USA Medical Questionnaire

The first three items I have (or can get), the vaccination records I will get from my GP tomorrow (I called them and they seemed pretty cool about it) and the (country specific) Medical Questionnaire I have downloaded from www.ImmigrantVisas.state.gov (as the NVC letter states).

The Medical Questionnaire itself is a one page form at the end of the downloadable medical pdf (which contains some FAQ, directions, vaccination details etc…) which requires your case number, interview date, name, address, nationality etc... and then goes on to ask 21 medical questions. If you answer "YES" to any of these questions you must use a separate sheet of paper to give further details.

I rang a very nice lady at Knightsbridge Doctors who, even though they were busy, managed to get me a medical on the day I wanted (I am donating platelets on July 1st so I didn't want to have any vaccinations until after then) at a time that was convenient. Note: All immigration medicals are performed at their site in Bentinck Mansions.

I now have my medical booked for July 3rd.
Exactly one week before my interview…