Paris Update: 18May06 - Cleared Medical Exam

We cleared the medical examination!!!!

It was nerve-wrecking coz we have been warned by our visa lady 3 times not to mention my medical history. According to her, it will only complicate matters and end up an administrative nightmare. So we decided that unless we are asked, we will not volunteer the information.

As it turns out, we went for the medical exam, took our x-rays and all. Seemed ok, nobody asked anything. Then we were called individually into little rooms where the doctors will show us our x-rays. And I was first. So I went in and the doctor was very nice, spoke to me in English. He showed me my x-ray and this was how things went:

Doc: This is your heart (does a thumbs up sign and smiles)

Jodie: Great.

Doc: and these are your lungs (does a thumbs up sign again and smiles)

Doc sits down and runs through some standard questions with me, each time happy with the answers and does the thumbs up continuously. Then,

Doc: Anyone in the family with serious health problems? Father, mother, brother, sister…

Jodie: Nope.

Doc does thumbs up again.

Doc: (while ticking off some boxes and not looking at me) And you have no major illnesses either…

And there it was. My moment of dilemma. You see, if he had asked me if I have had any major illnesses, it would be easy for me to say, yes, I have. But in this case, he ASSUMED I did not. AND he was not looking at me. So if I just kept my mouth shut and not say anything, he would skip by the segment and technically, I would not have told a lie. So while all that was running through my head, he continues…

Doc: no hospitalization, no surgery, no…

Jodie: Actually, I have a history of leukemia.

Doc: (stops talking, stops smiling) Oh.

And I thought to myself, “There! You blew it! See, he ain’t not smiling no more…great job, Jodie Koh, now you probably have to re-apply everything all over again…Bravo..”

And he asked me for more info, all the while writing all the information down in a box that seems too small to contain all the information that he was scribbling. And he looked serious. And I was nervous.

Then he asked me, “You are here for long term?”. To which I replied, “Yes.” And he asked, “You need a reference to a blood specialist here?” And I said, “No.”

And he looked at me, took a stamp and said, “It is finished and stamped it on my form and signed his name, looked at me again and said, “You are cured. No problem.”

I wanted to bend over and kiss his feet there and then.

I did my part. I kept to truth, integrity, honesty and obedience as best as I knew how. And God did His part. He performed His miracle and increased our faith in Him yet once again.