Coming in to the application
process for the Peace Corps, the part that scared me the most was getting
medical and dental clearance. When I read blogs from other volunteers, it was a
subject that seemed woefully under addressed, and I didn’t know what I was
getting into. It’s not like I have any pre existing conditions that I thought
could prevent me from serving. In fact, I had no medical history at all. I never
had a physical or a dental check up. I
didn’t need one. Those things can be expensive, and since I’ve always been
healthy, I never bothered. However, as soon as I accepted my invitation, I was
rushing to navigate my way through scheduled appointments and trying to figure
out how to pay for all of it.
I am pretty lucky I came across
some useful resources. The first thing I did was get my dental exam. There is a
group of dentists out there in the wide world who all agreed to offer free
exams for future volunteers (http://www.usa-icd.org/projects/peace-corps/CO.html). I
expected an office that is offering any free services to be busy, and most
likely understaffed. To my surprise, they fit me in right away, and it was one
of the nicest offices I’ve ever been in. The staff was also very friendly, but
a little confused about me. You tell a dentist (or even a receptionist at a
dentist’s office) that you’ve never seen a dentist before, and they don’t know
how to respond. They approach you like a child who was raised by wolves. Like
at any second I could bite off his fingers. Luckily, despite my horrific neglect, my teeth were fine.
I even came across a clinic with employees who helped me figure
out how to apply for Medicaid. I was so blessed to suddenly be able to afford
most of the other medical assignments.
Peace Corps required I get a ton of vaccinations (Peace
Corps doesn’t require you get a lot of travel vaccines, but they require that
you prove you are up to date on childhood vaccines; I wasn’t). They also
asked for about half a dozen blood tests, a PAP smear and an eye exam. I had to
get one of my blood tests redone because my platelets were high, but apparently
they are always high. Then I was done. :)
I wanted to discuss the whole medical clearance process for
anyone out there getting ready to start, but I realize my view is a little
skewed because of my total lack of experience with health care. Overall, I just
feel exhausted by the whole thing. I’ve had a stranger’s fingers in basically
every hole in my body. I’ve been stabbed by needles over 30 times (now I know that
I have hard to find veins, and I was shamefully behind on my vaccines). My insurance constantly surprised me by what it did cover and what it did not. Mostly, I was just
stressed and embarrassed because I had no idea what I was doing at any point. I
didn’t even realize I was going to need to pee in a cup at the physical! It all
just felt awkward and foreign.
As strange as it all was, I’m DONE! The last obstacle to my
service has been knocked down. I have 28 days until I leave Denver for staging,
and then Samoa!
Crazy!
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