In this post I've included the email (in the box), followed by my thoughts, insights, some stories, whatever will give you a better understanding of what I experienced during my journey. Future posts will include only the email. Okay, I'll occasionally post a complete entry like this one. : - )
Where am I going?!!?
Hey all,
That's the big question left to be answered
after receiving my medical clearance letter yesterday.
Yipppeeeeee!!!!!!! I expect the offer to be extended in the very near
future.
It seems like I've been trying to get to this
point forever, but I really haven't. I was nominated on
December 21, so it's only been 4 1/2 months which is pretty quick in PC time.
If Peace Corps Medical awards
you their seal of approval, consider yourself in above average health or
better. It’s a comprehensive head-to-toe series of tests. And it needs to be.
Decent medical care in many Peace Corps countries can be difficult to come by,
hours away in many cases. Getting to the PC doctors in Kyrgyzstan meant a 5
hour taxi ride for me. No surprise then to learn that one of the reference
books we received was titled, “When There’s No Doctor Around.” The PC can only
accept the healthiest candidiates—age is not a consideration as the oldest
serving volunteer during my service was 83. Failing to receive medical
clearance must be the most common reason for rejection.
For most candidates the biggest
outlay is time, because the recent college grads are still covered under their
parents’ policies, while the older ones have employer coverage. I fell into
neither category having quit my job at Citi in June 2007. I didn’t take COBRA
and I temped for the year before I left. No insurance translated into paying
for everything out-of-pocket. Exams, both medical and dental, don’t come cheap.
Especially in New York City. But, I did save a significant amount of money when
I accidentally discovered two magic words. Peace Corps.
I needed an additional blood
test for cholesterol to see if I’d lowered it to an acceptable level. Making
conversation with the lab tech, I mentioned why I needed the test and that I
had no insurance. She thought that being a volunteer was really cool, then told
me she would only charge me what the lab charged them for the analysis, which
was $75. That saved me $200. After that I used it everywhere. A $750 stress
test was knocked down to $500. My dentist surprised me more than anyone. After
telling her the PC deemed one of my crowns to be substandard, i.e., old and
ill-fitting, she put in a new one for free. That saved me nearly $1500.
