# Medical Assessment Conundrum...



## smiling_australian (Jul 25, 2013)

Hello everybody

I am a newcomer to Australia, and I have been a silent listener on this forum.

I am in the process of acquiring a 189 Permanant Residence visa to Australia, and thankfully, it has been a smooth sailing so far, largely due to the advice and guidance I have received from the forum members, and I simply cannot be thankful enough to you people for taking the time and pains to post your experiences over here.

As I said, I am through with almost entire process, except the Medical Assessment. Yesterday, I had my medicals done at the Sydney Medicare centre, and during the physians examination, the doctor told me that they had found some traces of bleeding in my urine.

As a result, she has given me a letter, which I am supposed to take to any GP in Sydney, and I have to get something called *MSSU MC&S* test done. She said that if required, I may have to also go through another blood test called *SeCr*. she said that untill I get these tests done, they will not forward my medicals to my CO.

I have tried scouring the forum to find out if anyone has faced such a situation, but could not get any such thread, and I am really worried about why am I being asked to go thru this additional testing. What is adding more to my uneasiness is that the sample I had given at Medibank was clear as water, with absolutely no trace of blood or anything. And the worst part is the physian said I could get these tests done immediately if I wanted to, but failed to answer as to why cant it be done there at Medibank centre itself.

Ahs anyone on the forum had similar experience? What are my options in such a scenario? Could any of the doctors in the group shed some light as to what exactly are these MSSU MC&S and SeCr tests?

Any help would be highly appreciated...


Rgrds


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## kittydoll (Mar 4, 2013)

First of all, r u female? If not, you'll find most of the info in this post irrelevant.

Yes, I have had a similar experience.

I am indeed a bit embarrassed to post about my encounter in an open forum. Of course I could have pm'd u, but I thought I will be bold and post publicly just so that I can help someone if they land in the same situation as u. 

I was extending my student visa from Melbourne. Did my medicals. Everything went OK except for the urine test. Doc told me to go to a GP, get a letter from GP for a blood test from pathology clinic. I did as I was told, it cost me extra money and time. (about $200, 1 month extra)

Now, back to your questions...
*
Urine was clear but doc said there were traces of blood. *Yes, same thing happened to me. I was clueless when doc said there were traces of blood in urine. I told the doc my period wasn't due for another week. She explained...

There are two reasons blood can be in urine 
1.periods
2. kidney infection
If you're close to your period date, this can happen (although you can't physically see blood in urine). 


In my case, unfortunately, due to stress, I started menstruating a few days early. I got my period a couple of days after medicals, so I wasn't worried about the tests, but I did have to go through those extra tests, annoying! - the joy of being a woman !

To rule out the possibility of kidney infection, you need to get a blood test done by the pathology clinic (it HAS to be a pathology clinic coz they do all the testing n medibank does not do it). But if you go directly to the clinic they wont do it for you, hence the visit to GP and shedding of an extra $80 to get a reference letter.

If you think your period is due soon, nothing to worry. Do as you were told. Relax.
If your period is not close, keep your fingers crossed, hopefully you wont be diagnosed with any medical condition.

Hope that helped.


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## smiling_australian (Jul 25, 2013)

kittydoll said:


> First of all, r u female? If not, you'll find most of the info in this post irrelevant.
> 
> Yes, I have had a similar experience.
> 
> ...


Thanks kittydoll for the reply...

The info you provided, although not applicable to me, is useful since my wife is facing the same issue as you had faced.... what I dont understand is why dont they put it on the appointment letter that ladies should not take up the medicals during those days...

Whats the point of giving the appointments, and then making a person go through a second test at some other lab...

Anyways, I am still not sure as to why my sample had blood traces, I guess the only way to know would be to go to that GP and get it done... BTW, any ideas, as to how long did it take for you to get the appointment at the lab, once the GP gave you a reference letter, and how long did it take before the lab sent the results to Medibank? Did the lab share a copy of the results with you?


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## DrLatib (Jul 14, 2013)

MSSU - Mid stream sample of urine

MC&S - Microscopy, culture and sensitivity

SeCr - Serum Creatinine levels

The first two are just a repeat of what you have already done, except they will examine the urine more closely under a microscope, as well as do a culture to check for bacteria in the urine, then if present they will check which antibiotic the bacteria are sensitive to.

With regard to the creatinine levels:

"Creatinine is chiefly filtered out of the blood by the kidneys (glomerular filtration and proximal tubular secretion). There is little or no tubular reabsorption of creatinine. If the filtering of the kidney is deficient, creatinine blood levels rise." - Wikipedia

means if your kidneys are not working properly creatinine levels will be high in your blood.


Dont stress about it, most of the time the subsequent tests dont pick up anything serious and its just a formality, get it done to complete your medicals and youll be on your way. Even if they do pick up anything they will not just refuse the visa, they may only advise you to take certain medication etc. (I had to remove a naevus/mole i had from birth because the examining doctor thought it may be a melanoma, i scheduled it immediately, had it removed and tested, and brought the results back and it was all clear, medicals done)


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## kittydoll (Mar 4, 2013)

Glad I could help !! 

yea it didn't take long at all to get an appointment coz they r not busy.

Actually on the immi/ medibank website there is info for ladies not to go for medicals while menstruating...

But unfortunately the date is *not always* predictable, sometimes it can come early if we stress a lot.

Anyways, the doc gave me 2 options when she explained all this to me. She said I could go back to medibank for urine test after a week after my period stops or I could choose to go for blood test at the pathology clinic. I chose the latter coz I couldn't be bothered waiting 2 weeks.





smiling_australian said:


> Thanks kittydoll for the reply...
> 
> The info you provided, although not applicable to me, is useful since my wife is facing the same issue as you had faced.... what I dont understand is why dont they put it on the appointment letter that ladies should not take up the medicals during those days...
> 
> ...


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## kittydoll (Mar 4, 2013)

Took 1 day to get an appointment after presenting referral letter from GP.
They gave posted the results to me. And then I had to post it to DIAC without opening it (if I remember right). The issued only only 1 copy of results


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