Medical Clearance Granted!

So today I received the following information:

"[We have] issued you an unlimited, worldwide available, medical clearance effective 03/19/10."

Now it's just the security clearance, final adjudication, the register...and, oh yeah, convincing Mrs. FSO Wannabe!

Medical Clearance Update

Earlier this week I was contacted by a nurse at State handling my medical clearance. She requested some follow up testing and documents for my asthma, which meant getting another appointment with Dr. McCranky and having him fill in all the forms. Or, I should say, agree to everything I filled in for him since his performance at completely filling out the medical documents and answering every question was sorely lacking the last go-round. And don't worry any potential DSS readers, I had clean copies of the forms for him to fill out if he disagreed with anything I had.

It's weird having to go back for additional testing. Although I still keep an inhaler with me, it's generally just out of habit. I haven't had an attack in years (maybe decades). I had asthma when I was a teenager, and it was fairly bad. None of that losing your breath and passing out bit, but I had long-term wheezing, tightness in the chest and a general inability to be active. Although I don't think there is a formal diagnosis for it, I think my asthma developed after spending a couple of years here:

Sweet, sweet smog-induced asthma goodness. I know it is nothing compared to the horrors of smog in other parts of the world, but I still can't believe how bad it is. I remember the first time I met my lovely bride-to-be at LAX and drove her to my apartment in Los Feliz. As we came up the freeway to downtown, I told her that there were some really, freaking large mountains in the distance that she couldn't see thanks to the smog. She, thinking I meant the Hollywood Hills, said she could see them. Of course, the next day when the smog had cleared, she noticed these gigantic mountains behind the city that literally were invisible the day before.

It's a beautiful town when the air is clean.

Waiting

I've come to the realization that the waiting over clearances, which haven't even really begun yet in my case, and the register must slowly drive all the candidates (and their families) insane.

Medical Documents Away!

In order to meet the "worldwide availability" requirements of the Foreign Service, FSO candidates must pass a medical screening. Last week, I spent a lovely day at my physician's office being poked, prodded and fondled (and not in a good way). They also took at least a pint of blood for various tests.

My physician, being a bit curmudgeonly, required convincing (several times) that he actually had to do all the tests required and that he did in fact have to fill out everything on the medical forms. Finally, after checking, double-checking and triple-checking that everything required was done (anal retentive? Yes, yes, I am), I emailed my documents to State's Office of Medical Services today. Given the Snowtorious B.I.G. going on in DC the last several days, I will be lucky to get confirmation that they have received my information by the end of next week. I can't imagine how backed up everything is getting. So I expect to wait a while to hear if I am cleared, or if I have to undergo any additional testing.

Hopefully, to distract me from waiting and to give me something else to obsess over, DSS will contact me soon so I can begin the security clearance process.