The medical hold officially begins today! I received the e-mail notification that my nomination status had been updated. The PC is just beginning to review my medical information now. The little message says that they do not require any additional information at this time but I'm sure that will change.
Also, I have my last dentist appointment soon so the dental hold will be released soon. Not that that matters all too much as you can still get invited with a dental hold. You just don't get to go if you don't get things figured out by the time staging comes around.
And, as always, I must put in my two cents about Tricare. It's awful. Customer service is awful. The website is awful. The entire system is confusing and nobody knows what is going on. And they gave me a PCM that isn't accepting new patients. Clearly I just got more bad news from them. Even though my father was signed into active duty in September (and Tricare is a benefit for active duty sevice members and their families) I am not covered until Feb 1. This means that the $900 in blood work, $440 physical and $550 dentist bill are all out of pocket. I'll try to call today to see if this is an error and I can file a claim. If not I will need to take out another loan from my wonderful parents who are willing to cover the expenses for now. I hate to ask them for money though. I feel like a child.
Cheers,
Nikki
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Medical and Dental Review
Despite my ongoing battle with TRICARE and trying to find a primary physician, I completed my medical and dental reviews. Unfortunately TRICARE Prime and TRICARE Standard do not have the same doctors in their network and, by surprise, I have to pay for all of my medical expenses. The total was $440 so it definitely could be worse. I spoke to someone today who had to pay over $700 for the same examination.
I am learning that during the application process nothing goes smoothly. My medical and dental reviews are no exception to this rule. The dental hold I was totally expecting. I'm addicted to Diet Coke and therefore have a couple cavaties that need to be filled. No big deal since I do have dental insurance AND my wonderful new dentist is giving me 50% off because its for the Peace Corps. There is one problem though. The dental officer at the Peace Corps office says I need to have a crown on a tooth that I hada root canal on a few years ago. Two dentists have both said that it is too risky to put a crown on. I'm hoping that's a good excuse and I don't have to destroy my tooth to appease them.
The medical results are what I'm really nervous about. My blood work came back and I had my dad interpret the results for me. He told me that there was something wrong and it appeared that I had lost a significant amount of blood and my iron levels are about 60% of what they should be. I've been told that you are medically deferred until you can prove you are no longer anemic. The iron supplements my dad gave me made me horribly ill so that's not going to work. I could eat more red meat...but then my just passable cholesterol will increase. My best reasoning is that since I donate blood every 8 weeks I don't have an opportunity to fully restore my blood counts. Perhaps if I just keep my blood to myself for a while I will regulate. I haven't actually heard back from the medical officer...but this is what I am preparing myself for.
Other than medical and dental stuff I've been looking into ways to prepare myself for service. I had two trips lined up with school, one to Nicaragua and the other to Mexico to work in health facilities. Both trips fell through. Right now I'm thinking I'll do a volunteer project in Ecuador. It's expensive, but I want to know if this is something I'm good at and enjoy before I devote 2 and a half years to it. I've also been in contact with the CT Dept of Public Health trying to get into an AIDS Educator class. They are impossible to reach. Between phone tag and unanswered e-mails I am getting a bit frustrated. I know I can at least count on finding a first aid/cpr course over the summer. Those are offered everywhere.
So now I am back to waiting. I would love to hear some good news, but right now any news would be good.
Cheers,
Nikki
I am learning that during the application process nothing goes smoothly. My medical and dental reviews are no exception to this rule. The dental hold I was totally expecting. I'm addicted to Diet Coke and therefore have a couple cavaties that need to be filled. No big deal since I do have dental insurance AND my wonderful new dentist is giving me 50% off because its for the Peace Corps. There is one problem though. The dental officer at the Peace Corps office says I need to have a crown on a tooth that I hada root canal on a few years ago. Two dentists have both said that it is too risky to put a crown on. I'm hoping that's a good excuse and I don't have to destroy my tooth to appease them.
The medical results are what I'm really nervous about. My blood work came back and I had my dad interpret the results for me. He told me that there was something wrong and it appeared that I had lost a significant amount of blood and my iron levels are about 60% of what they should be. I've been told that you are medically deferred until you can prove you are no longer anemic. The iron supplements my dad gave me made me horribly ill so that's not going to work. I could eat more red meat...but then my just passable cholesterol will increase. My best reasoning is that since I donate blood every 8 weeks I don't have an opportunity to fully restore my blood counts. Perhaps if I just keep my blood to myself for a while I will regulate. I haven't actually heard back from the medical officer...but this is what I am preparing myself for.
Other than medical and dental stuff I've been looking into ways to prepare myself for service. I had two trips lined up with school, one to Nicaragua and the other to Mexico to work in health facilities. Both trips fell through. Right now I'm thinking I'll do a volunteer project in Ecuador. It's expensive, but I want to know if this is something I'm good at and enjoy before I devote 2 and a half years to it. I've also been in contact with the CT Dept of Public Health trying to get into an AIDS Educator class. They are impossible to reach. Between phone tag and unanswered e-mails I am getting a bit frustrated. I know I can at least count on finding a first aid/cpr course over the summer. Those are offered everywhere.
So now I am back to waiting. I would love to hear some good news, but right now any news would be good.
Cheers,
Nikki
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Robot?
I keep getting told that my account looks like a spam blog. This entry is just so I keep the account active. Unfortunately I have no new Peace Corps news. Still waiting on insurance...
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Welcome
Rather than telling the same stories over and over I decided to start up a blog for my Peace Corps adventure. I've already made it through the application and interview process. Despite being late for the interview (which is a story perhaps you should ask Danshults about haha) everything went very well. I recently received my nomination for Health Extension in Sub-Saharan Africa leaving October 2009. I'm very excited about it, SSA was one of my top three choices, im just a bit concerned about the jungle heat! I'm currently going through the medical and dental packet. Today I spent the entire morning driving around Hamden and New Haven looking for medical records. The ped center where I went for my immunizations as a kid no longer has any records and Yale is so huge they are having difficulty locating any evidence of my appendecomy. I am even more convinced now that we need a completely electronic medical record system. Through my search, I found immunization records and latest physical information and have a few requests in with Yale which I'm hoping will produce results. To complicate matters I am in between insurances and 1. cannot make appointments in a timely fashion (which the Peace Corps is big on) and 2. I need to find all new doctors. However, I did have a positive experience today. The ICD has a program that provides free exams for Peace Corps applicants. I found a relatively local member and the receptionist was wonderful! I was able to schedule a 100% free appointment for this Monday and she is even going to go through the hassle of transferring records for me. After my run around this morning, this really made my day. Unfortunately, the medical portion will have to wait until I have insurance next month.
I've had a few conversations lately with people asking if I am nervous. It is much too soon to be nervous about the work, I mean I don't even know where I am going or what exactly I will be doing. It's hard to be nervous with so many unknowns. However, I have had a few sad moments this past week. It's mostly thinking about the important events I am going to miss. We are all anticipating a proposal soonish, if this is true (trying not to make assumptions) chances are I'll miss the wedding. Not just any wedding though, one of the Dons! I will also miss most of Obama's first term, which I'm actually quite upset about. Similarly, I'm going to miss most of my dad's Air Force term and all of his major successes and trips to Maryland. And those are just the big events. When I came home from Australia I had a hard time readjusting. This is about 2 years longer than that, I'm not going to have much in common with my friends. I was thinking, the majority of the conversations I have are the "remember when we...." and they are usually events within the past couple years. I wont be able to enjoy any of the "remember when" moments. Then of course I'm going to miss the Bob kids growing up, something I've enjoyed so much the past 5 years. It is all a bit overwhelming, but I know it is something I need to do and will be worth the homesickness. Looking at the big picture, 2 years really isn't that long I suppose. All the waiting in between stages is what gets me thinking. Once I hear from them again with more information the surge or excitement will come back and I'll be back on the "I can't leave soon enough" mindset.
I'll try to keep this blog updated as I continue through the process. Once I actually get to Africa this will probably be my main contact with all of you so leave me notes. I'll be able to make letters more personal this way rather than writing the same letter to everyone.
Cheers,
Nikki
I've had a few conversations lately with people asking if I am nervous. It is much too soon to be nervous about the work, I mean I don't even know where I am going or what exactly I will be doing. It's hard to be nervous with so many unknowns. However, I have had a few sad moments this past week. It's mostly thinking about the important events I am going to miss. We are all anticipating a proposal soonish, if this is true (trying not to make assumptions) chances are I'll miss the wedding. Not just any wedding though, one of the Dons! I will also miss most of Obama's first term, which I'm actually quite upset about. Similarly, I'm going to miss most of my dad's Air Force term and all of his major successes and trips to Maryland. And those are just the big events. When I came home from Australia I had a hard time readjusting. This is about 2 years longer than that, I'm not going to have much in common with my friends. I was thinking, the majority of the conversations I have are the "remember when we...." and they are usually events within the past couple years. I wont be able to enjoy any of the "remember when" moments. Then of course I'm going to miss the Bob kids growing up, something I've enjoyed so much the past 5 years. It is all a bit overwhelming, but I know it is something I need to do and will be worth the homesickness. Looking at the big picture, 2 years really isn't that long I suppose. All the waiting in between stages is what gets me thinking. Once I hear from them again with more information the surge or excitement will come back and I'll be back on the "I can't leave soon enough" mindset.
I'll try to keep this blog updated as I continue through the process. Once I actually get to Africa this will probably be my main contact with all of you so leave me notes. I'll be able to make letters more personal this way rather than writing the same letter to everyone.
Cheers,
Nikki
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