I got two calls from the Peace Corps medical office this past Thursday the 14th.
First, the nurse at the medical office asked me about my prosthesis. I wasn't surprised, since they didn't ask for any additional forms or information about it aside from a few short questions in my medical packet. On the initial online medical survey, there is a box for "uses assistive device (e.g. prosthesis, etc)." So, I checked it. In my medical review packet, the only questions about it for my doctor asked things like, "What assistance does the volunteer need?" "What additional accommodations would this volunteer need?" etc. Since none of that applies to me, my doctor simply wrote "N/A." The nurse said this was contradictory, since I wrote that I use an assistive device, but my doctor wrote that I didn't need assistance. I told her that using an assistive device does NOT necessitate needing additional assistance - those are two distinct things. She still said she was going to have to send it back to my doctor for more information, and I was not at all pleased.
A few hours later, though, the nurse called me again. She said that she had gotten the information straightened out, and would not need additional information from my doctor after all. (Thank goodness! That probably would have taken forever!) All I have to do is write a personal statement about my prosthesis - how long I've had it, how I use it, and describing the fact that I don't have any limitations. After they receive that, she said I'll be medically cleared! Yes! The only strange thing was that she said they needed the personal statement to help the placement officer make sure "that I get the most meaningful placement possible." I'm not really sure what that means...my guess at this point is that they just want to make sure I really don't have any limitations, before they place me somewhere with more limited access - and "meaningful" is code for "safe" in this context.
Hopefully next time I write I'll be medically cleared!
