aklor

Hi everyone.

I had my medical examination in London today for my K1 visa application.

It's safe to say that I'm scared of doctors. I was hospitalised with diabetes when I was six years old and I guess it's just stuck.

When after 2 hours of waiting I was called in by the doctor I could immediately tell this woman had an attitude problem. I'm sorry but that's the vibes I was getting. It's like I was a piece of sh*t on the bottom of her shoe.

Prior to this, I had been in another room having 2 vaccinations done. My nerves were already slightly jangled.

After a handful of yes/no questions she came around to checking my blood pressure. She was huffing and puffing at the fact that my blood pressure was high. I smiled and politely explained to her that this is simply "White coat syndrome" and that I always get extremely nervous when visiting doctors. It's bad enough when I'm simply going for my routine diabetic checkup at the hospital, but when it's a Visa Medical Examination which is going to determine where I spend the rest of my life, then you can understand that "relaxing" is not an option. I can't help it, it's just my personality. I'll take it up with a shrink one day.

Still she continued. Giving me stern, disapproving looks. I felt like a naughty school boy being told off by the teacher. She kept insisting that I "relax". She was almost getting agitated herself. I don't know what the hell was wrong with her.

I tried to keep my cool but I said to her: "I can't relax because it feels like you're telling me off for something I can't really help. It's not my fault, I'm sorry". To which she raised her voice and pointed her finger at me and ordered "LISTEN. I AM NOT TELLING YOU OFF".

She was an absolute nutcase and now I'm freaking out because I don't know what's going to happen and how a high blood pressure reading is going to affect my chances of getting approved for a visa. It's like she was purposely looking for something to FAIL me and I'm worried that this is it. A measly high blood pressure reading. I'm a young man, in decent shape with my diabetes under control (letters from my diabetic doctors verify this) with no other health problems. I'm utterly flummoxed right now because this whole experience was just absolutely bizarre. I thought the medical part of the visa application was the easy part. I don't know what to do now. I feel like the wind has been totally knocked out of me.

TracyTN

Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do now. But I've never seen a visa denied because someone had high BP at their medical exam. Anyone else on the forum ever hear of that?

fatbrit

The worst that's going to happen is that they decide you're going to become a public charge and insist that you pre-buy worthless health insurance. Get the cheapest you can get away with, and cancel it at the first opportunity once you get over here would be my suggestion.

jeffreyhy

a,

Wow, get yourself mentally prepared for the visa interview, because consular officers DO purposely look for reasons to deny you.

Hopefully this experience was good practice, learn from it.

Regards, JEff

Rete

Wow out of the hundred or more people who have had their medicals at Knightbridge I can honestly say you are the only poster that has run into this problem with a nurse. Wonder if she is new to the job.

fatbrit

Probably a Canadian import.

Duncan Roberts

I would be more worried about getting your supplies and insulin when you get here!

meauxna

It has come up as an item to be solved before the visa will be issued.


aklor, you can go see your own GP and get some documentation about what you do to keep your condition(s) under control. And do some exploring on fatbrit's suggestion. And prepare for your visa interview so that you don't collapse.
Sounds to me like she was just a bit short tempered, you were a little extra anxious and that you taking some sort of action to feel in control will help you feel more.. in control.

Try not to worry, and prepare as best you can for the next steps.

meauxna

He said it was the doctor.. she just got a great review from someone else earlier this week!

Rete

Yup, SHE was a doctor ...

However, still never heard anything say anything negative about one of the doctors from Knightsbridge.

Just wondering if the OP is of a heritage that encounters prejudice often as the report gives that distinct impression.

traceym

aklor,

Try to calm down, if you search for threads by me you'll see my medical experience, I was so uptight that the Doctor couldnt stop me bleeding after she took my blood, she also said dont worry we understand that everyone is nervous and this raises their blood pressure which we take into account.

You can call Knightsbridge in 4 or so working days and they will tell you if your records have been sent to the Embassy, that might help a little. Those of us that went through it last year were also told if we didnt hear anything in 4 days we could assume that no news was good news.

Do what fatbrit said and get your insurance sorted (you'll need it anyway for your diabetes.)

Immigration makes everyone very nervous read as much as you can on here about the interviews etc, so that you are prepared for what will happen. When I did mine I went back through years of threads and found out that about 2 years before the CO was asking people for proof that when they got to the USA they would have medical insurance, so I made sure I took copies of hubby's medical insurance proving that I would have it from day 1. Of course I didnt need it but it reassured me that I had every angle covered.

Think about your medical, and what you can do to help if anything does come up, also it gives you something to do rather than biting your nails and clock watching until the interview date!

Tracey

aklor

Thanks Tracey.

I've calmed down but I'm still trying to digest what happened and trying to figure out if it was something I did wrong or could have done different, or whether it was just a case of being confronted with a complete moron and a poor excuse for a human being.

If there was some sort of complaints procedure, I'd probably look into it because this doctor seemed to be an incompetent wretch.

When I was reciting the letters off the eye chart she didn't even turn around once. She had her back to me, her mind elsewhere and was scribbling away on a piece of paper. She then had the audacity to declare that I was short-sighted. Now I've being going to opticians every year without fail since the age of 11 and not once have I been told I am short or long sighted or that I need glasses. On the contrary, I've been commended on my good eyesight.

At a later point while I was laid down on the couch having my abdomen checked, she yanked away my trousers at the waist and had a look at the base of my penis.

Seriously, WTF?

I was prepared to have my genitalia examined (having read about it prior to the appointment) but trust me, this was no penis examination. All she got was a glimpse of some pubic hair.

Sorry, I'm being graphic....but I'm just relaying what happened.

I'm trying to stay optimistic because at the end of the day it's not Knightsbridge Doctors who will decide my fate as far as my visa approval is concerned. My only hope is that this woman didn't have it in for me to such an extent that she has fiddled with my medical results.


I'm not sure what you mean.

meauxna

I'd be willing to say that that is nearly impossible.
Don't be paranoid, just roll with it.

Here are two related threads that have some info for you; you could also search this group on 'insurance' to turn up the few people who've been required to buy health insurance before the visa can be issued.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7573428
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=609872

aklor

Thanks meauxna.

If I remember rightly, when she checked my BP the number she gave was 140. That number meant nothing to me at the time because I don't know about BP monitoring, but looking through those threads and doing some other research, 140 isn't that bad. It's high, but nothing that warranted being given a lecture about.

Anyway, what's done is done. Think it's best if i put this behind me now and look forward. No point whinging about it over and over.

Thanks all.

meauxna

That's the spirit!