Today, the long wait was finally over and by 2.10 pm I was sat on a park bench outside CHC London with our visas in my hand and a premature look of satisfaction on my face. I say premature, because I then delved into the envelope to have a read of the Confirmation of Permanent Residency (COPR) paperwork only to find mine had a nice letter stapled to it saying that I have 'Inactive Tuberculosis (TB)' and I need to register with the local health authority within 30-days of landing in Canada to arrange further monitoring.
A classic WTF moment followed, before I rang my DMP to see if she could shed any light on the matter. You may recall that I'd taken a CT scan with me to my original medical to show that I'd had a chest infection in the past and there was some evidence of calcification in my lungs. The DMP had written no evidence of TB on my med report and included the scan/report as evidence which was then forwarded to CHC. Although my medical chest x-ray had come back all-clear, CHC subsequently sent me for follow up tests just to make sure. The follow up x-ray came back all-clear too, as did the sputum TB test which had to be done over 3 consecutive days and cultured in a lab for 8-weeks. Nowhere was there any proof that I had ever had TB or indeed have ‘inactive TB.’
Anyway, 10 minutes later the DMP rang me back and said that based on the CT scan I provided, the CHC medical team had decided that due to there being evidence of a past infection (no mention of TB) they wanted to air on the side of caution and monitor me upon my arrival in Canada. To that end, I get a letter saying that I have ‘inactive TB’ when there’s no evidence to suggest that I do.
I wouldn’t have a problem with any of this if it wasn’t for the fact that I have my Canadian Forces (CF) pre-enrolment medical in less than 2-weeks and it’s not exactly going to help my cause when I have to tell them that CHC suggest I have a dormant and potentially highly infectious disease, when it’s been clearly proven that I don’t.
In the meantime, I have made an appointment for next Tuesday with my military doctor here. The nurse seems to think she'll be more than willing to put together a letter stating that from her (the British army's) perspective, I am fully fit and have no underlying medical concerns.
From what I have read, even if a CF applicant did have 'inactive TB' it is not neccesarily going to be a show-stopper, but it's certainly something I could do without. I guess in 2-weeks time we'll know one way or the other........
No comments:
Post a Comment