Victory!

Eduardo had his appointment yesterday at the embassy in San Salvador.  He came out of this appointment feeling quite victorious!  

It turns out that the reason for the appointment was because the Head Consular Officer is heading an investigation involving the doctors that have really screwed us around on our case.  There have been a lot of irregularities in the system and things we have known have not been quite right.

Eduardo got the chance to tell his whole story from the beginning of everything that has happened to him and the Consular Officer genuinely cared and took deep consideration in everything he shared.  

It turns out that the psychiatrist should never have sent Eduardo to that gastroentologist a few months back.  Not only is he not an embassy-approved physician, but she was appalled that we had to pay for extra testing!  It seems like it's been about money this whole time as we suspected it was.  To make it worse, the findings of the gastroentologist were never even included in the medical packet that was sent to the embassy!  Thank God Eduardo saved copies of EVERYTHING for the past few months.  He had every receipt and letter of each person he has seen and he had them with him at the interview :)  

We are so relieved that this is what the appointment was about and not the "ban" we were so scared he might receive!  I can't even tell you how relieving that is.  That was the scariest feeling to think we could be waiting another year.

The appointment ended with the very nice Consular Officer telling Eduardo that if he doesn't get a call from the embassy within the next two weeks, then he will be receiving his passport with visa stamped in it in mail in that time.  If he does hear from them, then he would probably need to go in for another interview because of whatever they find when they review all the papers again.  

But, the woman said she was 98% sure that he would just be receiving his passport in the next couple weeks. She told him to go home and relax :)  

I'm so glad the embassy is taking some responsibility here and stepping up to admit there are flaws in their systems and with these so-called embassy-appointed physicians.  She was deeply disturbed by the things that have happened to us and by the actions and attitudes of these doctors.  I still plan on filing official complaints against each of the doctors myself once Eduardo is back safe and sound, but for now we can rest assured knowing that justice is indeed being served!  

New Embassy Appt Set

I am way too exhausted from the last couple of days to go into great detail here about all the things that have transpired with our immigration case, but I will give a brief synopsis :)  

Hubby received a call from the doctor's office on Tuesday saying they were ready for him to go and sign the medical papers.  Yay!!  That's what we have been waiting to happen for the last 2 months.  I have a feeling it has to do with the embassy calling the doctor's office and inquiring on our case so I'm glad we took action a couple of weeks ago and did everything possible to spark interest in our case with the embassy.

Yesterday hubby went in the morning to his appt.  He was there early and was made to wait the ENTIRE day and was the last person to be seen.  Then it wasn't just a paper signing, but he was subjected to a full medical examination once again.  This actually outraged me quite a bit because it was completely unecessary and inappropriate.  He wasn't even charged for the medical, which is good, but sketchy.  In the end, the doctor said he was forward the papers on to the embassy in the morning (today).  

Today hubby received a phone call from the embassy.  They told him they had received his medical records and are "reviewing his case."  The scheduled an appointment for him to go next Wednesday the 11th at 8am for "another interview."  

I have spent a long time this evening freaking out beyond belief because I didn't understand what this meant.  He was supposed to just receive his passport in the mail after the embassy received the medical.  That's what they originally told him.  

So I frantically got online and was simultaneously on my FB immigration forums, Immigrate2us forum and emailing my attorney desperate for answers.  I got a wide variety, but most felt this might not be good news.  I panicked.  My attorney must have felt my desperation and pleaded with me to stop searching the internet for answers because it would drive me insane!  Haha.  

Finally after hours of searching, I have given up.  I can speculate all I want.  I can beg for answers over and over, but I won't get them.  We won't know until next Wednesday what the future holds for us.  Again I am back to patience and trust and the endless waiting game.  

On another note, I picked up my car this morning from the mechanic.  It was just a belt...or so they thought!  I ended up overheating again.  This time luckily I was by myself (which is rare in and of itself) and this time, I broke down right in front of the auto shop.  They immediately pulled it in and had a look.  It's the radiator and it's going to cost $500 to fix!  Lovely.  Just lovely.  Nobody could pick me up so I waited for a couple hours until a dear friend came and got me.  She drove me home until I realized I forgot the groceries in the car and had to go back.  Seriously, what is with these last couple days?!  I wish I could go to bed now and not wake up until next Wednesday...

One Step Forward and Two Steps Back

...That is how this immigration process is feeling at the moment.  After 3 days of intense medical tests last week, the gastroentologist finally concluded that Eduardo's physical issues are not alchohol-related as we already knew.  The doctor was a very nice guy and even wrote Eduardo a long note to the psychiatrist explaining his condition and what the cause was.  His liver and kidney are no longer enlarged and he basically just needs to lose 20 lbs to get the extra fat away from his organs.  

We were so happy by that news and Eduardo went straight over the the psychiatrist's office with the note and medical records he had requested.  The doctor was not in and he explained everything to the secretary.  The secretary then called the psychiatrist and he said to have Eduardo call the next day and to get a note from the AA meetings he has been attending saying he has been going there every day.  

So he called the next day as instructed only to be told that his appointment is scheduled for October 25th and that's when he should go, despite the test results.  AND he has to continue to go to the AA meetings every single night.  Luckily my dear husband is actually finding some comfort in those meetings and it's helping to pass the days.  He tried to beg and plead with the psychiatrist, but he got transferred back to the secretary who then told him that it was a bad day to call because the doctor was in a really bad mood!  So this one guy's bad mood is basically screwing our lives?!  

Poor Eduardo was so devastated.  I have felt kind of numb to the news.  There have been times when I want to break down and cry, but I haven't allowed myself to quite yet.  There is so much anger and hurt and frustration that I can't even express any emotion about it.  Usually I am quite open and wanting to share our immigration experiences with anyone and everyone, but I just can't right now.  It's almost too much to bear to even think about.  

So we are now back to looking at November.  I had already called the embassy to reschedule his final appointment and being hopeful I scheduled it for September 28th.  Eduardo will still go and turn in all the documents that we have and explain what is going on with the medical so they don't start to question things.  Then in the end hopefully all we will need is the medical signed and he can get his visa.  I think my heart just might break in half if he is not here by Thanksgiving, so that is my prayer.  

Thank you to everyone who is supporting us through this time.  I'm doing what I can to keep Liliana feeling safe and secure without her papi.  I know she misses him dearly.  She even tells me all the time.  The thing she wants more than anything in the world is "to sit on papi's lap on the couch." :(

I know big things are awaiting us and each day new opportunities are opening up for me here.  I'm praying this is all for a bigger reason and that someday soon that reason will be revealed.  Until then, we welcome all prayers!!

Pysch Evaluation Gone Bad...

Our immigration case has taken a turn for the worse, unfortunately.  Eduardo went on Friday for his Embassy required psych evaluation.  At the evaluation he learned that the medical reports from the medical exams he had the week before showed some problems including an enlarged liver.  For most people this might not have looked so bad, but for him it did.  

I'm hesitant to even talk about it here as it's very personal, but my poor hubby had a DUI in 2007.  It was Halloween and we had been drinking and it was really just as much my fault as his.  But he's the one that got caught and we have been paying the price dearly since then.  Maybe by telling you all it will help someone out there see that the effects of drinking and driving are not worth it AT ALL!  

So anyway, because of his prior history, the enlarged liver is being seen as he might have a current problem with alcohol.  We know this is ridiculous because he barely has money for food in El Salvador, let alone alcohol, but there seems to be nothing we can do to change the mind of the psychiatrist at this point.  

We all have had MANY physical problems and sicknesses while being in El Salvador.  It took Liliana and I at least a month to recover after coming back to the States.  I think Eduardo's problems have only gotten worse due to his diet since I have left.  I am not there to take care of him and make sure he eats well.  And there's only so much money I can afford to send him every week.  It makes me really sad to think about it :(  

So for now the psychiatrist has basically sentenced him to 2 months of alcohol classes.  He has an appointment to return to the doctor on October 25th at which time the doctor said he will approve his medical waiver and we can proceed like we thought we were going to now.  

Tomorrow morning, Eduardo is also supposed to schedule an appointment with a gastroentologist to see what is really going on.  I'm praying for 2 things:  1) That they come to the conclusion that  alcohol is NOT the cause of his problems and 2) that my husband DOES NOT have some serious illness!  We don't know yet when the appointment will be or when the test results will come after the appointment.  All we know is that he will not be coming home soon.

When he told me I sobbed like I haven't since we left El Salvador.  It was too much to handle.  My poor baby witnessed it all too and I feel bad about that.  None of us slept that night.  I am carrying on now because I have to, but I'm torn up inside.  The only thing getting me through these days was thinking he would be home soon.  

I will keep you posted on what becomes of all this, if anything.

The Checklist

We received the next step in our process last Friday.  It's THE CHECKLIST.  Oooh.  Eduardo received a packet of information in the mail including his official approval letter and a list of all the documents we need to gather and bring to the last interview.  Included in this, he is also required to have another medical exam since it has been over a year since the first one he had.  This will run us another $300 or so like the first one and some doctor in El Salvador is getting really rich off of the poor bastards people like us that have no choice but to go to them.

Eduardo has been trying to call to schedule his final appointment with no luck today.  He can't seem to get through to the right person who does the scheduling.  They won't just connect you with someone else, you see.  You have to hang up and call the numbers in the "packet", which is a number that will cost you $7 to call of course.  Again, a super wonderful way for them to make money.  We have to pay to make our own fricking appointment!  I'm hoping to hear back from someone on the forum to see if there is another number we can call.

Eduardo actually went for the medical today with again no luck.  He got there at 7am and it was too late.  The offices were closed on Monday so there was a backlog of people waiting.  They had reached the maximum amount of people for the day and told Eduardo to go back tomorrow and be there at 5am.  

The biggest bummer was that Eduardo had driven the car into the city and now wasted $20 in gas for NOTHING.  $20 may not seem like a lot to most people, especially in the States.  But in El Salvador, it's a lot of money and for hubby right now, it's a LOT of money.  Poor guy :(  So he drove home and packed a bag to then take the bus back to the city.  He is staying at his aunt's house tonight because there's not a bus from our town that will get him to the city by 5am.  He will call me tomorrow after the appointment.  

So I'm hoping tomorrow we make some progress and I will update ya'll.  My goals for tomorrow are to 1.) have Eduardo's medical exam done and 2.) to have his final appointment at the embassy scheduled.  The appointments are being scheduled for 3-4 weeks out at this point so I'm hoping that will give us a general idea of when he may be able to come back.  Yay!!  Whenever it is, it's not soon enough :)