emrich999

Reschedule the interview for AFTER the medical is completed, unless you would like to have a 2-4 week delay with the visa being issued by the embassy.

oh thanks hank. i will wait then. tomorrow is my vaccination.. thanks much!

hello, just wanna ask anyone here who pass the sputum test, on when did you reschedule your interview before or after vaccination? but i did ask slec they say they usually advise to reschedule after releasing of results but im hoping to get an early interview slots and i just check online. theres no available slots for october.

Call St. Lukes a few days before the 29th. They likely will tell you the results. It will be a few days less to worry about it. Most likely, you tested negative for TB.

Oh? Tahoma, can we really call earlier than the schedule date?

Oh? Tahoma, can we really call earlier than the schedule date?

Today is my 8th week. They didn't give me any antibiotics. I'll call next week. Hopefully negative... I think the antibiotics are for person with pneumonia.

yes, that's what i realized, too. just like you, i have allergies, too that caused me to have thick mucus in my throat, which was aggravated during my stay in manila for my medical. it's good you've reached your 8th week without hearing from slec. you're good to go. good luck and hope to hear your good news, soon!

yep i have acid reflux, thick mucus on throat and i was sneezing the day before i went to medical. so i dont know if that has connection..

yep im really thankful ive reach 8th week, yet still not confident. since during my pulmonary evaluation i met this one lady who was called during on the 4th week. she told me, she met another woman who finish 8th week and expecting negative results but found out shes positive in tb. i guess slec couldnt contact her.

im already tempted to email them today but other fellow sputum survivors advice me to call them on the scheduled date. well i read some get results early even before the 8th week mark.

I just had my sputum collection last sep 8-10. Just like you, i was stunned to know that I had to undergo sputum test. I couldn't believe it at first because I am always very careful with my health, aside from following a healthy diet (more veggies, fish & chicken, you know). I bring hankies with me all the time as well because I am too sensitive with smell and smoke, though our place is not as polluted as Metro Manila.

During my sputum evaluation, I was given the number B5 (as I had read from this thread, those who were placed in this group had to go treatment). I felt my heart dropped to my feet and thought I was doomed. Looking at those in group A, there were a man in his mid 50s not sickly looking, a voluptuous lady in her early 30s, another man in late 40s or early 50s, medium-built, an old lady probably in her 70s and another medium-built woman in her 30s carrying an x-ray film in a st. luke's envelop. In my group, there were 2 elderly women in their late 60s and 70s with the other one so fragile-looking, a young man in his early 20s, another man in late 60s or 70s, then me. Then, then one holding B6 was a man in mid 50s. The first to come out from the doctor's room was the man holding A1 and I noticed that he was carrying a piece of paper and a treatment record (which I am familiar with because I'd seen it on those people from the DOT at the sputum area) and he proceeded to the adjacent door right outside the pulmonary evaluation room, which I noticed the Treatment Record room. I began to have hope and remembered what a friend told me before that groupings in A & B are somewhat mixed. The old lady who was first in our line hadn't come out yet, but I noticed she and her chaperon were getting instructions from the nurse stationed at the pulmonary evaluation room. Then, the second from group A came out and she, too, was carrying the same slip and DOT record and went to the same adjacent door. When the next in our group went to the nurse and the 3rd from group A went to the treatment room, I realized that those in group A were probably had to undergo treatment. I had to wait for the man ahead of me to see where he would be going after his pulmonary evaluation and I was ecstatic to see him went to the nurse.

As I expected, my sputum smear was negative. The doctor showed me something as a white portion on my right upper lungs and a long white line (which it resembled as a hair strand--made me wonder if it wasn't my hair since I have hair-falling problem). I asked the doctor what's the possibility of that for me to have a TB. He told me that what they saw in my xray was only a suspicion and I have to wait for the culture for 8-10 weeks. If it turned out negative, only then will I be cleared from TB.

At the nurse station, I was given a piece of paper indicating that my sputum culture will end on Nov. 5 (which is the completion of 8-week culture) and was advised to call or email them on Nov. 10. So the waiting begins...just completed my first week with no call and hoping never to receive call from them before Nov. 5...

thank you for sharing your experience it really helps us who are under the same situation, during my pulmonary evaluation i was in set A. so i guess it really doesnt matter which sets assign to you!.

Mine is 3 weeks.

I had cough 2 weeks ago and was given medication for 7 days. The doctor did not ask me to do x-ray and when I asked her why she said " Hindi naman po maingay nung i-check ko ng stethoscope kaya no need for x-ray" I don't know if it has to do with the result of my x-ray at slec. Next week is my first sputum. I'm praying that it all turn out negative. Will it help if I go to pulmonary doctor before my sputum exam? Im really worried. This is the first time that I encounter problem with my x-ray.

Thank you so much to all the people Here who shared their experiences. It really helped a lot

well when i went to my sputum collection, i met one lady who is very worried too about this sputum process. It just makes us think that theres something wrong about us even we feel healthy. She did consult a doctor on the next day after she found out shes under sputum. She undergo xray again and found nothing, but still we need to follow slec regardless on what outside doctors diagnosis. Slec have strict guidelines.

I do have nasal allergies before i went on my medical exam. so i dont know if thats what they saw.

Wow ur on ur 8th week? It will be fine. From what I read if u went this far then it's negative. Well I guess all I have to do is wait and pray that everything will be alright.

yes i am, im already tempting to call for the results coz some say you could get it early.. but i decided to wait until my scheduled for them to call..

yes just pray and everything will be fine. i ask the sputum collector before during my 3 days sputum collection on how many people get positive results from this process, she said very small percentage.

Hi! I was sick 2 weeks before I took my medical at St. Luke's. I don't have Tb history and my last xray is clear so I was really shocked when they asked me to take another xray on my first day..they took a back x-ray this time then they asked me to come back the next day. I couldn't sleep that night. The following day the guard stamp my receipt with "laboratory reception" there they told me that I should take a sputum test coz xray shows that there's something suspicious on upper right of my lungs and they wanna check it ( I literally cried as the nurse explain me the process ). She also said that their test at St. Luke's is different from other clinic cause they are following US standard. My schedule is next week (sept.22,23 & 24). I was surprised on how my x-ray turned out. I thought it was god sign (that my fiancé & I are not meant to be together) silly me ?. There's a lot of emotion right now. I feel embarrassed and scared. Thank god I found this site and read that it's not just me who went through it. I hope my sputum is negative. Someone advice me to drink 16 glasses of water daily coz it helps. Reading all your experienced helps a lot

hello spitfire, i totally understand what you are going through, coz i am under sputum too, tomorrow is my 8th week so im really hoping no calls., thanks God.

Theres nothing to worry about, just start accepting the 2 months delay and just pray for all the sputum smear and culture to be negative. This delay process is out of our control and we had nothing else to do but to follow slec. You will feel better when you go to your scheduled 3 day sputum collection since you will meet people who are on the same situation. So all we have to do is follow slec and pray for negative sputum smear and culture.

Thanks so much. Congrats... I'm really praying for a negative culture too...

Hello kuya! Hope you still answer me. I'm on my 6th week this Thursday po

hello cjalviz, can you please update me on your sputum culture results, its my 6th week today, im just curious how early did you contact slec or are you like the others who receive a call from them to call on the 10th week.

thanks.

What I know is. They strictly require 3 samples.... I did sputum last July. Its my 6th week this week. Thanks God no call from them.....

my sputum culture ends on last week of september while my noa2 expired mid september? should i worry about the noa2 expiration date?

Wow. Its lucky for you to be 2 weeks. Mine is 2 months. And sputum culture will end next month. Praying for negative sputum culture.

Everything happens for a reason.. just hold on to HIM and everything will be fine..During xray for me thats my biggest miracle in life... I already told you had granuloma but was cleared during xray and really was expecting for sputum test but instead vaccinations.. God is good.. I know you will have your vaccination after 8wks.. Godbless emrich.

Thanks much Chedan, i guess i met you for a reason too. and thats to make me aware of this sputum test.

im really staying positive and praying. Godbless too.

Thanks Greenbaum and Hank!

I just finish my sputum test last July 22, 23 and 24, and pulmonary evaluation July 28. and here is my experience.

I got my results July 17, the first day i learn i have to undergo sputum test due to x ray, im really sad while calling my fiancee to deliver the bad news.

Aside from learning that its a 2 month delay process, im worrying if i really do have tuberculosis. I read some forums here where they were perfectly healthy but still they are positive in tuberculosis. Whew! thats 6months delay because they will require you to undergo DOT treatment (6months) at slec only.

I guess most people are upset on sputum test because its out of our control and we just need to follow. But the only powerful weapon we can do is

PRAY PRAY PRAY.

Day 1: i arrive 5:15am at slec and goes straight to the left side of the building where i notice most people are wearing masks. I handed my yellow slip and passport, guard scan my yellow slip and gave me a number, i was 49. i met a fellow k1 applicant seated before me who will undergo sputum test for the 2nd time since her medical expired while waiting for her police clearance from other country. i ask her what did they saw in your x ray, she said based on her pulmonary evaluation last year, they just saw 2 small dots on her x ray and thats it. Honestly, i worry less after seeing a lot of people undergoing sputum test, makes me feel im not alone with this delay. She said there are many people now compare the last time she undergo sputum test. She was my guide during the process, she told me, those people which is not in line wearing face mask with white folded card are under DOT already. Based on my observation, most are old but there are young ones like 4year old and some really look perfectly healthy. All i can say is, with or without symptoms of tuberculosis, any types of people can have it.

Before 6 am, the ground floor is getting crowded, they have to transfer us to the 4th floor while waiting for our turn. My seatmate told me that sputum test and DOT are held on the rooftop and theres no CR there so better use CR on the ground floor. Elevator call us by batch (30-40) then (40-50) and so on. On the rooftop, people in line near the elevator are under DOT, while on the other side are people under sputum test. Some people who are on their second day, advise me that i really have to cough something even i dont have a cough or else they will still ask you to cough and cough.

During sputum test, you will handover the yellow slip and passport, one girl, will just ask you the state your name and take off your mask and put it back (maybe to check if youre the right person). There are ready glasses of water where you are require to gargle and wait for another person to take you to the cubicle. I maybe finish around 5minutes but before that the nurse still ask me to cough 2 consecutive times before she took my sputum sample.

They took my yellow slip and replace it with a white one where it indicates the date of the remaining 2 sputum days. But before i leave, i ask the nurse how much percentage chances that people undergoing sputum test is tuberculosis positive, she replied just a small percentage. Happy to hear it and i was done exactly at 7 am.

Day 2: I arrived 5 25 am, my number is 38 this time, it was the same routine as day 1. but lesser people. During the sputum test, one guy lost his passport yesterday so i advise everyone to make sure you have your passport before and after leaving slec. i was done before 7 am

Day 3: I arrived 5:30 am, my number is 27, much lesser people, maybe because its friday most are on the last day. But this time they took the white slip and replace with another white slip with my scheduled pulmonary evaluation. They instruct me that i can enter the main entrance building and just go to the 2nd floor. i was done before 7am.

Pulmonary Evaluation:

My pulmonary evaluation was scheduled 9:30 but i still wanna go early since im living outside metro manila and dont like traffic. I arrived 5:45 am the guard near the stairs stamped my hand and took my slip. I notice im the 3rd slip on his desk, i guess the guard took the slip only for early birds like me but normally the nurse on the 2nd floor will took it. When i went straight to the pulmonary evaluation 2nd floor, there are only 4 old people waiting already and no one is wearing a face mask. While waiting, one woman arrive with one travel bag and seems like sad. After few minutes, i try to make a conversation with her, she said, slec called on the 4th week of sputum culture and she was positive, i try to comfort her and say, everything happens for a reason, we just have to accept it and follow GODs will. Its kind of frustrating because its out of our control and all we have to do is to follow. like most say, HEALTH IS WEALTH. She told me she never have any symptoms but she notice loss of weight and thats it. She also share her friends experience where she never receive any calls during 8th week period but when she went to slec she found out shes positive and slec couldnt contact her during those times and just waited her to call. now thats a very sad experience, right? Hope it wont happen to anyone of us anymore.

Pulmonary evaluation starts 8 am and nurse start giving face mask, i was number 3, like everyone else share, it is divided into two sets A and B. A is for first time pulmonary evaluation i guess, while B is under DOT. My number is A3. i was called around 8:50. doctor ask me questions if i have any tuberculosis symptoms and ask if have previous x ray which i dont have. She ask my name, birthday, educational attainment, work and ask twice if i really dont have any previous x ray. After the questioning, she showed me my xray and told me they found abnormalities on my right lung thats (i dont see any remarkable difference on it but i just said ok) and this why i have to undergo sputum test. she show me the yellow slip where theres a stamp of sputum smear negative (Praise God, its negative) and explain to me that i have to wait 8 weeks for sputum culture. She handed me my folder and instructed to give it to the nurse. Nurse handed me a white slip stating when sputum culture ends and when to call for the results. She also told me that my medical expires december and if all goes well i have to leave before on that date.

I was done around 9am.

I was really nervous and worried about this sputum test. I dont want anymore delays. But i believe everything happens for a reason.

The effect of sputum test made me more aware about tuberculosis and made me closer to God. Sputum test is out of our control and the powerful weapon we can do is PRAY PRAY PRAY. I was holding my rosary during my pulmonary evaluation and thank God a lot after receiving the good news.

This sputum test had taught me to even pray the rosary everyday! yep.. On times like this, God is our only Hope. Just Have Faith in God.

Do I just need to cancel interview online? Or have to email usem to informcancellation is due to sputum test?

Acid reflex has nothing to do with your lungs.

They will do SPUTUM collecting during those three days, hopefully you will go all 60 days afterwards WITHOUT hearing from SLEC... hearing from them early means you have TB. Then it is 6 months of DOT.

If you are found to have TB be glad it was found as TB kills and is highly contagious.

thanks but thats only im expecting them to see. i experience coughing without phlegm for a week last year and i was given antacid meds by my doctor and suspected it was just GERD. I get better after 1 week but i always felt mucus on my throat and burping a lot everytime i eat any acidic foods. its just hard to accept that you are subject for sputum when you really feel youre healthy.. im really praying it will all went negative.

Have you ever had pneumonia? My husband had it really bad as a child, and he had a lung x-ray for Canadian immigration and they thought he had TB.Apparently it can leave a lot of scar tissue. The sputum test cleared it up.

Try to keep calm until you know whether or not to panic

*Just noticed this was posted in the Philippines forum, I saw it on the front page and didn't pay attention.

nope i never had pneumonia. but i suffered acid reflux where you can cough when acid goes back to your throat. and thats it..

i will try to keep calm.. but it was really disappointing..

Thank you. Ofcourse, I want to be healthy and I thought that was I was doing already prior to getting the news. Well its either they are wrong or my body is just deceiving me. I'd rather take the latter. I'll just keep my faith that all these will result to something great!

Anyway, I guess my other concern which was not addressed by the doctor or nurse from SLEC is whether its a contagious TB or not. Or what should I expect from it. They didn't really explain it to me thoroughly as with the other people I've talked to. I was only told my last sputum came back positive and that was it. I tried to ask the doctor and she said, its preventive treatment. From an ordinary person, I can't really understand it well. So maybe I was itchy to get a 2nd opinion. Im just feeling weak at this time and still thinking abt it since I am living with my family, with a 2 year nephew around most of the time. During the TB Education where the nurse explained to us abt the disease. Someone asked if we are contagious (most of us in that room didn't have symptoms beside the old lady) and he said if we don't feel any symptoms, it will not be, but better take precautions. I already bought multi-vitamins for my nephew. And now thinking of renting closer to SLEC. I just don't know where. I am from Manila so its not an issue going to SLEC. I don't have any symptoms of TB but I don't want to risk my family.

I'll get through it! I'll put up a good fight of faith. What is 6-7months anyway, compare to the lifetime I'll get to spend with the people I love.

im really worried too in this test. i just received the results and im subject for sputum test next week.. and im a chubby person.. and i dont feel any symptoms at all.. so people which dont experience any symptoms at all can be positive in tb? unbelievable..

unfortunately, i just went to slec today and was instructed to undergo sputum test on july 22 23 and 24... i was so sad i almost cry, i have to ask the nurse, do you have a case where a chubby person can have tuberculosis?, she replied that they just found a suspicious thing on my x ray so i have to undergo sputum test.. i have GERD/ACID REFLUX Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), or in simpler terms im acidic. Is it possible thats what they saw. im really worried now if i really have tuberculosis. this is so frustrating.

My fiance went in with the confirmation letter and DS-160 and they were still bent out of shape for her not having the NVC letter. They made her write in that she didn't have it and told her that if she has issues at the embassy it isn't their fault. She got approved with no issues though. Maybe a bunch of new people working there now...

aw.. so even you have the usem interview letter and ds-160.. they still looking on the nvc letter?

you dont have the usem mail too?