"Thank you for your CT scan report, however,............."

"THANK YOU FOR THE CT SCAN REPORT. HOWEVER, REPEAT CXR AND SPUTUM SAMPLES ARE STILL REQUIRED AS PER CANADIAN IMMIGRATION PROTOCOL."

Well there it is in black and white. Having gone through the all the hassle of finding the Consultant who did my follow up scan, and persuading him to send me through a copy, another fabulous letter arrived today from CHC basically saying I'd wasted my time (3-weeks) in providing them with the extra info.

Fortunately, as a contingency plan, I went and did the sputum tests anyway on the 13 April so at least I've avoided another 2-weeks of delay, if nothing else.

I still need to get the follow up x-ray done, but that's a walk in clinic and only takes a couple of days to process and send through to the DMP. The sputum results should be ready to collect around the 8th June and then it will be another week or so before the DMP sends everything off to London.

Fingers crossed by the middle of June we'll be back on track, in the system again, and one step closer to getting that sacred PPR (passport request) letter. Of course, that all depends on what CHC decide about our daughter Amber, for all we know they may not have even started looking at her requirements yet. There could be more letters on the way for all we know; I guess we're a long way from being home and dry yet.

Additional medical tests required - didn't see that coming?

Fortunately, it's been a few days since the letter from the Canadian High Commission (CHC) London dropped through the door, so I've managed to calm down to an acceptable level or rage.

The fuel to my fire of fury is the poxy additional medical checks I have now been asked to provide. The only saving grace is that I'm not the only one they've been picking on it seems.

Having had a pretty bad chest infection a couple of years ago, my Army doctor (in Canada) sent me to have a TB sputum test, pulmonary function test and a CT scan. The sputum test came back negative for TB but the CT scan showed calcified nodes in my chest caused by the infection. A year or so later when I arrived back in the UK the Army doctor sent me for another CT scan to make sure nothing had changed. Sure enough, everything was OK and the case was closed. My Army fitness grading remained 'fully fit' and life was good (so I thought).

So, when I went for my immigration medical I thought it best to provide the DMP with all the above mentioned documentation in order to avoid the fiasco that many other's have been experiencing. As expected, my immigration X-ray came back clear and I obviously thought that would be that.

How naive could I have been - too naive it seems! Having had my medical results for over 6-weeks, CHC have now decided they need the following:

"Sputum smears and cultures for Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, taken on 3 consecutive days and incubated for 6 to 8 weeks, and then repeat chest x-ray (actual report and film required) Posteroanterior on/after: 26 April 2010."

I'm now wondering why I even bothered. What possible need can there be to have the same tests done again? Words fail me.....

Anyway, I had a chat with my DMP and she's furious with CHC. I'm the second referral of this nature she's had this week. Might be some light at the end of the tunnel though; she wants me to get a copy of the full report from my last CT scan so she can argue the toss with CHC. If that fails then we'll have to bite the bullet and get the tests done. Fortunately, we're only talking £16 for the sputum tests and the hospital will do another x-ray for free as a gesture of goodwill.

The medicals are done..........who knows what'll happen now?

Today the fateful day had arrived and off we went for our medicals. We went to the Orchard Medical Centre, Bristol - our family consisting of 2 adults, our 2 boys (aged 19 & 17), and our 2 daughters (aged 14 & 10).

The medicals were pretty straight forward; we went in individually and for the physical examination we had to strip to our pants (bra removed for the females). Us boys had to go beyond that briefly (lying on the bed) for a full testicular examination. The Dr asked a load of questions about our medical history etc and all in all the exams took about 20 mins each.

When it came to Amber, Julie and I went in with her. The Dr did the standard exam and hadn't asked anything about learning delays etc. She was half way through the physical checks etc when I highlighted the fact that as she hadn't asked us I thought I should tell her that Amber had Asperger's. The Dr said those questions were coming later but to be honest I'm not convinced she was going to ask? Anyway, we explained about Amber's problems and gave the Dr copies of Amber's statement, diagnosis and reports (S&L, Paed, Ed Psych, Senco etc). I also included a personal letter addressed to the Immigration Officer explaining our predicament (you never know). The Dr said we'd done the right thing and that it would help CiC make a decision. The Dr said that she had no influence on CiC's decision and that she just reported the facts so I have no idea what she wrote of the med forms? She did say that CiC had told her that they take the families' situation into consideration so I am hoping that because I have a job offer etc it may make a difference?

We finished off by writing a cheque to the tune of £216 each for the 2 adults and 2 boys, plus £82 and £74 for the 2 girls (£1,020 in total).

We left the centre and headed off to Cossham Hospital for the x-rays. They were supposed to be £40 each, but we were offered a 'family discount' and they came to £150 all-in. They must have felt sorry for me when I told them the hard luck story that I'd just spent £1,020 on the medicals lol. The final tally came to £1,170 and it took about 4 hrs in total.

All we can do now is sit back and wait (as usual). I'm anticipating our medicals will get referred and will need to be sent to Ottawa for a full assessment. From listening to others in a similar situation that could take at least 6-months or so.

The medicals are booked :-)

Today I phoned up to book with our nearest Medical Practitioner (The Orchard Medical Centre, Bristol) and was told the earliest availability was 25 March. I explained that our youngest daughter has Asperger's and we are expecting an 'excessive demand assessment' delay so we'd have to go elsewhere for a quicker appointment. The nice lady on reception rang us back 10 mins later and said she'd spoken to the Dr and she was prepared put on an extra clinic for us next Tuesday (26th Jan).

So, next Tuesday it is, all booked and ready to to spend another £1,220.....

Medical requests already!

More news - our medical requests arrived in the post today, talk about quick. At least it gives us more time to prepare our case once they find out our daughter has Asperger's Syndrome. Now the fun begins.....

Status update :-)

Just when the New Year blues and snow had well and truly set in a piece of good news to lift the mood. Today I did the ritualistic daily check of our 'Client Application Status' only to find the following:



We've still got the fingers crossed, ready for the medicals.

An AOR from London

Saturday was one day shy of 6-months since we submitted our initial application; it was also the day that the AOR from London arrived through the letterbox. It's taken about 7-weeks for them to respond but I'm not complaining, at least we've got something now. The letter states that my file's now been transferred from Sydney, NS to London and I've been issued a new File Reference Number to log-in with. Fingers crossed things will progress smoothly and we get the call forward for medicals in the not too distant future.