I have a sinking feeling that the next contact I have with the Peace Corps is them telling me I have a medical deferral. This morning I got an email from the woman I assume to be my nurse that said the fax I sent last week was illegible and could I please fax a lighter copy. Well, I spent literally all day trying to do so. First I tried scanning it and emailing it to her (an option she protested but I was determined to save myself the $2). Somehow that didn't work, which makes zero sense. I assume it's the fault of the printer on her end. So I tried to make a lighter copy but my computer wasn't having any of it. It kept reverting back to the darker copy after I messed with the contrast. Then my printer refused to print. All around not a good time.
Now there's a reason the fax was illegible. All levels that are low are shaded which makes them blacked out during faxing. I looked online and the all-knowing internet says it's likely that I'm anemic, which actually makes sense. I don't eat red meat, not much fish, and spinach and I are not friends at all so I don't ever get iron. And I can't get through the day without napping. Problem is, until it's resolved, anemia is one of the deferrable conditions. Soo I'm going to try to head it off and I have an appointment tomorrow with one of the doctors at student health to go over my lab results and get on top of fixing things before PC asks so the deferral will be as short as possible, if that is in fact what this is. Fingers crossed it's not, but like I said, there's a definite sinking feeling.
Hi, you have no idea who I am, but I'm a fellow applicant who is worried about the medical kit. :)
ReplyDeleteIf you DO have low iron, beans could help. I'm currently vegan, so I don't eat red meat, either. Greens other than spinach can help - the darker, the better. But beans and nuts are good for iron. I think dried figs are, too.
I hope everything turns out ok!
Do you take a multivitamin with iron in it? I had low iron one time (not classified as chronic anemia though) and my doctor advised taking my vitamin with a glass of OJ because the vitamin C aides in iron absorption. She also said to cut down on caffeinated drinks because those decrease iron absorption. I don't know if these things could possibly help your levels, but it might be worth a try :) Good luck!
ReplyDeletethanks! I had an appointment today and I'm slightly anemic, so he put me on an iron supplement to raise my levels a little bit. Probably should be taking a multivitamin anyway. Good call on the beans, they never even crossed my mind but I do like them. Hopefully if they want the test re-run, I'll be in the clear by then.
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