Tuberculosis? WTF?!

So Ken and I both had to get TB tests done, and I reacted to the shot. Which could mean that I have TB. I really don't think that I have TB, but it means that I have to get a chest x-ray to prove my innocence. Annoying.

Physicals Done!

Ken and I had our physicals done on Thursday. Everything went fine. Dr. Ruscheinsky was awesome and was very aware that everything has to be filled out perfectly. To our benefit, she had another PC physical that she did just last week, so she was pretty familiar with the paperwork and all the random stuff we have to be checked for. There are so many random tests we have to have done. I don't remember the name, but we have to be checked for this certain disease that if we have it and eat fava beans we will die. We've both eaten aforementioned beans in the last few months, and no death, so I'm pretty sure that one will be fine. We have to go down to the After Hours Clinic today to get our TB tests read. One thing that Dr. Ruscheinsky was concerned about was that I have an enlarged thyroid, so I have to go have an ultrasound done on Wednesday. I hope that nothing's wrong, but if I do have a problematic thyroid, I'd rather know now before I get a goiter, cause that's not cute.
On other fronts -- we're moving out to my parent's house this weekend. Hopefully everything totally essential will fit into our new "apartment". We're used to a two bedroom townhouse, and will now be living in a 10'x12' bedroom. Needless to say, we've gotten a storage unit.

Lady-Bits Physical

Another step in this grand medical process was for me to have a gynecological check-up. It was time for me to do it anyway, so no harm there. So yesterday I went in and had my lady-bits examined and swabbed. I'm sure everything will come out dandy, just waiting for the results so I can print them out and add them to the stack of paperwork (*crap*) that we have to send back. Tomorrow, Ken and I have our physicals with our PCP (and it's also our anniversary! Four years down, a gazillion more to go!) Then on Tuesday I have my dental check up. We still need to pick up the paperwork from the eye doctor, but they have to measure the distance between our pupils for some odd reason, and that isn't a part of a regular exam so we have to each go in and get that measured. We were planning on doing that and a bunch of other stuff the last couple of days, but I've felt like complete crud, so nothing else has gotten done. Ah well. Hopefully we can still get everything done by the end of the month. On other fronts, Ken and I are moving out to my parent's house this weekend, so that we can save money. We've gotta be able to pay for our storage unit, and 27 payments is quite a bit of money. So we'll be staying out there until we leave. Adios Whiteaker!

Dental Exam #1

Ken had his teeth cleaned yesterday, and no cavities! Yay! One less thing we have to worry about. The goof forgot his paperwork, so hopefully he had everything done that he was supposed to do, and will drop off the paperwork sometime soon. Luckily, my mama is the office coordinator at our dentist's office so she'll make sure the paperwork gets done snappy. One more step completed!

Shrinking List

Had an excellent suggestion from a blog-reader to eliminate the countries that speak French. As Ken and I don't speak French (or Spanish as was determined in our shenanigans with the possible Latin American placement) the Peace Corps would not be wise, and thankfully not planning to send us to a French speaking country. That actually rules a lot of them out. Additionally, I looked more in depth at each country to see which of them have primary focus on Health Education and Agriculture. Most of the countries in Africa have HIV Health Education programs, but fewer have Agriculture programs, and even fewer have both. So here's the updated list. Of course, Peace Corps can do anything they want, so we could get sent anywhere, but if I had money to gamble, I would pick one of these countries.

Non-French Speaking, Sub-Saharan countries of Africa Currently Accepting Peace Corps Volunteers, and Whose Primary Programs are Health Education and Agriculture:

1. Gambia
2. Ghana
3. Malawi
4. Tanzania
5. Zambia

Much smaller list! :)

Potential Countries

The the most common question I get when I tell people that Ken and I are going to Africa is, "What country?"
Until now, I honestly hadn't looked up specifically what countries are included in the Sub-Saharan group, and which of those are currently hosting volunteers. So here's my list. The list of potential countries is still really long, and most of them are taking volunteers to work with both Agriculture (Ken) and HIV education (me), so that doesn't reduce the list any further, so this is the list for now.

Sub-Saharan African Countries Who Have Current Volunteers
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Ethiopia
Gambia
Ghana
Kenya
Lesotho
Malawi
Mozambique
Namibia
Rwanda
Sierra Leone
South Africa
Swaziland
Tanzania
Togo
Uganda
Zambia

Medical/Denal/Vision/Crazy Person Paperwork

So. We got our GIANT packets in the mail on Monday. The to-do list includes:
1. Physicals with PCP and large number of blood tests - Appointments scheduled for November 19th which I find quite telling as that's our wedding anniversary.
2. Dental exams and x-rays: Ken's scheduled for November 10th, and I'm scheduled for November 24th. We're praying for no cavities as we have to have them filled before we will be cleared.
3. Eye exam paperwork. We are both up-to-date on eye exams so this afternoon I'm going to take the forms to be completed to our eye doctors.
4. Statements of our mental sanity. Shockingly enough, the Peace Corps is said to be stressful, difficult, and can cause depression, frustration, and craziness. We both have to write a statement discussing our current sanity, and how we would deal with Peace Corps induced madness.
I'm hoping to have everything completed and in the mail by the end of the month. Wish us luck!