Tuberculosis Skin test positive - NIGHTMARE at Civil Surgeon

[Big Papa Zone 93]

I actually called that very specific number Thai Mom and they told me that they will not sign off "TB Clearance" on my husband because they only see

ACTIVE TB patient. His TST test was 15mm. They told me on the phone that if his Chest Xray were clear, he has no business there... I am so confused.

What I dont understand is why cant the CS fill out the form, prescribe him medication etc ( in the even he feels that he has a latent TB )? All I want is this to be taken care of! I am afraid to be running out of time here. I mean if he needs to spit in a petry dish, we'll do that! I just want to go to the CS and his tell me what I need to do in the event that he wont sign off the I-693. The last CS we went to spoke barely english and didn't even told us what to do - she did take my money though!

I know I am pretty frustrated... Can we send all the forms minus the I-693 and wait for the RFE? Or that will flat out reject the application? When I called USCIS yesterday, their system was down and no one could give me that information...

Hey ETRV, just as a matter of interest, how long did it take for your old man's reaction to materialise? It's just that I had the TST done yesterday, and so far, not a damn thing.

Of course, they don't want me back to read it until tomorrow - is it a 48 hour thing?

[EtherealVocalist 0]

I actually called that very specific number Thai Mom and they told me that they will not sign off "TB Clearance" on my husband because they only see

ACTIVE TB patient. His TST test was 15mm. They told me on the phone that if his Chest Xray were clear, he has no business there... I am so confused.

What I dont understand is why cant the CS fill out the form, prescribe him medication etc ( in the even he feels that he has a latent TB )? All I want is this to be taken care of! I am afraid to be running out of time here. I mean if he needs to spit in a petry dish, we'll do that! I just want to go to the CS and his tell me what I need to do in the event that he wont sign off the I-693. The last CS we went to spoke barely english and didn't even told us what to do - she did take my money though!

I know I am pretty frustrated... Can we send all the forms minus the I-693 and wait for the RFE? Or that will flat out reject the application? When I called USCIS yesterday, their system was down and no one could give me that information...

Hey ETRV, just as a matter of interest, how long did it take for your old man's reaction to materialise? It's just that I had the TST done yesterday, and so far, not a damn thing.

Of course, they don't want me back to read it until tomorrow - is it a 48 hour thing?

They wanted him to come back 48 hours lter ... His arm was fine and the last 8-10 hours it spread to 15mm...

Hence my trouble now...

[Big Papa Zone 93]

They wanted him to come back 48 hours lter ... His arm was fine and the last 8-10 hours it spread to 15mm...

Hence my trouble now...

Bollox! Oh well, I guess we'll see tomorrow.

[Thai family 0]

I actually called that very specific number Thai Mom and they told me that they will not sign off "TB Clearance" on my husband because they only see

ACTIVE TB patient. His TST test was 15mm. They told me on the phone that if his Chest Xray were clear, he has no business there... I am so confused.

What I dont understand is why cant the CS fill out the form, prescribe him medication etc ( in the even he feels that he has a latent TB )? All I want is this to be taken care of! I am afraid to be running out of time here. I mean if he needs to spit in a petry dish, we'll do that! I just want to go to the CS and his tell me what I need to do in the event that he wont sign off the I-693. The last CS we went to spoke barely english and didn't even told us what to do - she did take my money though!

I know I am pretty frustrated... Can we send all the forms minus the I-693 and wait for the RFE? Or that will flat out reject the application? When I called USCIS yesterday, their system was down and no one could give me that information...

I'm sorry that didn't work out for you. Your idea of getting the letter from the PCP, seeing the civil surgeon and having a back-up appointment seems like a good game plan at this point. If the chest x-ray was clear, it seems that she should have signed off. You probably already read the technical instructions for civil surgeons

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dq/pdf/civil_surgeons_ti.pdf They are supposed to contact the CDC if they have questions regarding how to proceed. The whole TB issue does get a bit complicated. They shouldn't be sending you away without any direction.

I'd be tempted to send off the application and wait for the RFE, but cannot advise on that, because I don't have any experience with it.

I hope the road to AOS gets smoother.

Thai Mom

[Big Papa Zone 93]

They wanted him to come back 48 hours lter ... His arm was fine and the last 8-10 hours it spread to 15mm...

Hence my trouble now...

Bollox! Oh well, I guess we'll see tomorrow.

Just had the test read - 0mm. Not a damn thing!

OK, now all I need to do is persaude Dr Arnold to transcribe the damn thing onto the I-693.

Edited January 29, 2009 by Damian P

[Stinky Monkey 1]

They wanted him to come back 48 hours lter ... His arm was fine and the last 8-10 hours it spread to 15mm...

Hence my trouble now...

Bollox! Oh well, I guess we'll see tomorrow.

Just had the test read - 0mm. Not a damn thing!

OK, now all I need to do is persaude Dr Arnold to transcribe the damn thing onto the I-693.

where did you get it done hon

[Big Papa Zone 93]

They wanted him to come back 48 hours lter ... His arm was fine and the last 8-10 hours it spread to 15mm...

Hence my trouble now...

Bollox! Oh well, I guess we'll see tomorrow.

Just had the test read - 0mm. Not a damn thing!

OK, now all I need to do is persaude Dr Arnold to transcribe the damn thing onto the I-693.

where did you get it done hon

A local private clinic near me in Brum, luv. Was £29, but money well spent.

[xiocepo 0]

You still have time. I send my package 10 days before my visa expired.

Call your local Health department and take the xray reports with you. They'll give you a card which states that your hubby has no TB.

This card has to be enough for the cs to fill out the papers.

hi gina I was reading your comment and I want to ask you some question? How to get here? what kind the visa do you have? I have a tourist visa and I got married not to long ago but the problem is that my visa just expired there is any problem do you know can you help me...

[teagirl 0]

For crying out loud...

My husband went to get all of his shots done at the local clinic - he also gets the TB skin test done. Well, he got the BCG vaccine when young ( in Germany ) and

of course he tested positive. So the local clinic sent him downstairs to take a chest X-ray and the hopsital read the X-ray and the report says that his lungs are clear.

So we bring EVERYTHING with us today to the civil surgeon at our appointment. After waiting 2 hours past our apointment, she looks at all the details and told us that we NEED to see a TB doctor / Pulmonary Specialist to give us a letter stating that he's not infectious. I live in a remote area here and these kind of doctors do not come by the dozens! His Visa is expiring on the 26th of February...

I am afraid we might not be able to send the I-693 with the I-485 and the I-130 ( plus all the other forms ) if I cannot secure an appointment with such specialist! We want to send everything in before his I-94 expires so we are not accum ulating out of status time!

What should I do?!

Has this happenend to anyone here? If so, what did you do?

I am stressing out!!!!!

We are in the exact same situation!!! It's ridiculous!!! My husband drove 2 hours today to get the results of the x-ray and the doctor didn't have them and still insists she will refer him for treatment even if the X-ray is clear!!!!!!!! We are also running out of time!!!!!! I called the local health department and they thought it was all ridiculous. My husband is thinking of canceling a trip a we have planned for next week so that he can make sure the civil surgeon gets the x-ray and sends the form to us so that we can take it to the health dept and get it signed (BTW, the civil surgeon said, "I highly doubt the health dept. will sign it." WHAT is her problem???? He also had the BCG and we also live in a remote area and we've already shelled out hundreds to this idiot dr. We are also thinking of sending the forms in without the medical if needed (to beat the 90 days) and then hope to get an RFE.

What a scam this all is. When it's all over and done, I'll either be leaving my country for good with my husband and giving my tax dollars to somewhere more hospitable OR I will find a way to advocate for people in situations like ours. It's completely wrong for these doctors to NOT follow what is clearly spelled out in USCIS protocol. We've read all the instructions on this issue that is given to the surgeons and they are clearly NOT following procedures. But we are powerless.

[map1map 3]

My $0.02 thoughts:

take the treatment, even if you are not infectious. Since there is no way of knowing if the positive skin reaction was due to the BCG vaccination or a subsequent exposure to the bacteria, the recommended procedure is to take the treatment. I had a positive skin reaction, the lady at the public health clinic verbally told me that I really don't need to take the treatment, but because of the USCIS, she has to prescribe it to me. It costs about $25 (with insurance) -$30 (without insurance) a month. The problem is that it can affect the liver, plus the treatment is antibiotics for 9 months...

I read on some other forum that there is a another test that can be administered to determine active or latent TB, it is called Quantiferon TB Gold test (something like this). It is not affected by previous vaccination with BCG. This is not administered by injection, this is a blood test. It appears like this test is approved by FDA since 2005. Perhaps you should try this one?

Here is what information I found: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuantiFERON-TB#QuantiFERON-TB

The impediment is that the blood sample has to be tested within 16 hours of being taken, which makes the process a bit tedious.

Also, check this out:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=166903

[EtherealVocalist 0]

My $0.02 thoughts:

take the treatment, even if you are not infectious. Since there is no way of knowing if the positive skin reaction was due to the BCG vaccination or a subsequent exposure to the bacteria, the recommended procedure is to take the treatment. I had a positive skin reaction, the lady at the public health clinic verbally told me that I really don't need to take the treatment, but because of the USCIS, she has to prescribe it to me. It costs about $25 (with insurance) -$30 (without insurance) a month. The problem is that it can affect the liver, plus the treatment is antibiotics for 9 months...

I read on some other forum that there is a another test that can be administered to determine active or latent TB, it is called Quantiferon TB Gold test (something like this). It is not affected by previous vaccination with BCG. This is not administered by injection, this is a blood test. It appears like this test is approved by FDA since 2005. Perhaps you should try this one?

Here is what information I found: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuantiFERON-TB#QuantiFERON-TB

The impediment is that the blood sample has to be tested within 16 hours of being taken, which makes the process a bit tedious.

Also, check this out:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=166903

I scheduled an apt. with another CS and he signed off the form since his lab resultfrom his chest X-ray clearly said that there was NO cardiopulmonary diseases in process. He didn't offer any medication, he signed off the form and we left....

EASY

SQUEEZY

LEMON

PEASY!

[map1map 3]

I scheduled an apt. with another CS and he signed off the form since his lab resultfrom his chest X-ray clearly said that there was NO cardiopulmonary diseases in process. He didn't offer any medication, he signed off the form and we left....

EASY

SQUEEZY

LEMON

PEASY!

I am really thinking about doing it myself (going for the quantiferon test) and give up the stupid unnecessary treatment.

[EtherealVocalist 0]

I scheduled an apt. with another CS and he signed off the form since his lab resultfrom his chest X-ray clearly said that there was NO cardiopulmonary diseases in process. He didn't offer any medication, he signed off the form and we left....

EASY

SQUEEZY

LEMON

PEASY!

I am really thinking about doing it myself (going for the quantiferon test) and give up the stupid unnecessary treatment.

See, the first CS told us to go to a TB clinic and get "clearance" from a Dr. there stating that he's free of Active TB. I told her that the Xray Result says he's not infectious. she REFUSED to sign anything or to even help us as to where to go and what to do! I am really still upset that she "stole" $120 of our money for 5 mins in her office! See, when i called the TB clinic here in NH, they told me that NO doctor would see us at the clinic since they only treat ACTIVE TB patient. that if the Xray came clear, that we wouldnt even BE ALLOWED at the clinic. Obivously, they do not want people that are healthy in close quarters with people that are infectious... She actually suggested me to change CS cause taking un-necessary pills can cause damage to your liver!

This process was the hardest thing for usto overcome - we were stressed beyond belief cause no one wanted to answer our questions... We totally felt helpless!

[map1map 3]

.... cause taking un-necessary pills can cause damage to your liver!

Very true, and good thing you got to another physician, mine dragged me along for about 1 month, from one appointment to another, always forgetting "something" that I had to do before he would sign the damn form. I'm thinking about trashing him...even more so since he DELIBERATELY administered the TB skin test, when I told him that I had previously a positive skin reaction. This would also be carelessness for the patient's health, since subsequent skin testing is not recommended because of possible very large skin reactions.

[Kirsten UK 2]

They wanted him to come back 48 hours lter ... His arm was fine and the last 8-10 hours it spread to 15mm...

Hence my trouble now...

Bollox! Oh well, I guess we'll see tomorrow.

Just had the test read - 0mm. Not a damn thing!

OK, now all I need to do is persaude Dr Arnold to transcribe the damn thing onto the I-693.

where did you get it done hon

Most NHS hospitals have a TB clinic (may be called Chest clinic). Its worth checking with your local hospital, and its highly likely they will have one or be able to offer the test if you live in an area with a big immigrant population. I got mine done a couple of years ago very quickly at my hospital when I explained I was going away and needed it for immigration clearance.