HEALTH CONCERNS 2

I went for the medical to obtain my visa to come back to China in June, however 3 days later I found out I’d failed it: it seems there was some problem which at the time is unspecified. My line manager Ian calls me to explain and suggests another hospital visit to obtain a second opinion with Iris, our new admin lady. Worried about the possible implications of this, I talk to  Iris and she agrees to take me to the hospital at 7.20 the next morning. I have a friend on standby in case Iris can’t make it, as she has family matters to deal with as well.

As it turns out I am only too glad she comes,  as we have to organise a new ultrasound scan, blood tests, and ultimately  a CAT-scan, to find out where we are at in terms of visa applications. She fights battle after battle with the hospital staff  to expedite all this and I sometimes despair of success, but she comes through every time.

During the CAT-scan an odd feeling comes over me; it is a sense of privilege similar to that which I get when I’m on a plane about to take off. It’s strange and illogical, but on the other hand I am in a foreign land and have jumped the queue to get this treatment.

We discover there is some liver problem but we cannot get to the bottom of it yet. In the end a senior consultant writes us a diagnosis: the process by which we obtained this is too long-winded to describe adequately here. It’s 3pm by the time we leave and we’ve been there since 8am.

I have to wait until Monday when the admin office lady can go back to the visa centre. When Iris calls me later on Monday afternoon my heart is in my mouth. When she tells me we’ve made it, I’m overjoyed! The second year is then assured: all we need to do is to make sure we can get the visa processed in time. I have to get this investigated in England when I get back. Plan B was going to be processing the visa in the UK.