I last wrote in March of 2018 after finding out I had no immune system. Two weeks later in April I was rushed to a local clinic. I absolutely couldn't breathe. I had Pneumonia. I was given Theophylline, hyrdrocortisone , powerful antibiotics and a pain medicine for the pain around my ribcage (Costochodritis). I really suffered for a month after that with weakness. I couldn't stay out of bed very long.
In the middle of April the gofundme my sister started for me gained momentum and we saw enough money was raised for at least two plane tickets for me and my husband to fly to America for my treatment. We went ahead and he filled out an application at the U.S. Embassy Kampala and made an appt. for an interview for a Tourist Visa which ultimately was May 10. Originally it was June but we checked the calendar everyday to see if there was a cancellation. We kept moving it up until we were left with May 10.
On May 10th he went for his tourist visa interview and was denied. There weren't many questions asked and he wasn't even given a chair to sit. He really tried to explain what was going on but it fell on deaf ears. His denial letter and passport were handed back through the plexiglass window where he stood with an emotionless "unfortunately you have been denied" given by the consulate officer.
We were devastated to say the least. I was just getting more sick all the time. But we let it be and spent over a month of trying to contact the embassy to inquire just what could I do as I was sick and really needed him to be there with me in my time of sickness (In sickness and health we vowed in marriage on Feb 26, 2015) The embassy finally responded back with an email and told me he could reapply after 90 days. At that point 90 days was July.
In the meantime, I had one infection after another. I had IV antibiotics over and over again. In June and July I tried some herbal medicine from Kenya and got some energy to get out of bed. I still had the ulcer on my leg and worked diligently to heal it with Medihoney I had ordered from America and it finally closed over the end of July. I still had pain under my rib cage and abdominal swelling. Breathing was difficult but I still got up everyday and kept trying, kept taking antibiotics and trying to eat. On July 12th Stephen applied for another interview for a Tourist visa. The first open date on the calendar was Sept. 12th.
In early August I had a terrible pain running down the inside of my right leg. I thought for sure it was Typhoid again as it's one of the first symptoms I get but upon having bloodwork, the Typhoid and Malaria screens were negative and I had Septicemia with a bad kidney/urine infection (again). I was very sick and in a lot of pain. The nurses came to the house for 4 days with powerful IV antibiotics and when the pain in my back and down my leg, as well as the pounding headache that came the second day, powerful pain medicine injections and hyrdocortisone. I really thought that this time I was going to die. I came out the other side of it very dehydrated and weak. It took a month to recover.
We kept checking the calendar at the US embassy Kampala to hopefully get the interview date moved up, there were just no cancellations day after day. One day I checked and there was one for one week earlier than what we had so the new date became September 5th. In the meantime, back in May after Stephen had been denied, I had written a letter to the U.S. Ambassador to Uganda here about me being sick and needing my husband with me when I went back to America for treatment. They said they normally didn't do this but they opened his interview and reviewed it and felt the consulate officer did not violate any rules and the rejection stood. But they advised I either have a family member come get me or pay for a medical escort service. Uhmmmm my perfectly healthy strong husband would work just fine.......
So we just waited for the day to come for his second chance. We were prepared this time. We practiced pretend questions they may ask, he learned every name of all my family members in the U.S. and where they lived. He knew the address of where we would be staying. He had every document to prove why he had ties to his country; recommendation letters, rental agreements, his NGO proof of employment, invitations from people in America who wished to see him when he came, financial records, proof of strong family ties here in Uganda. Just everything. He. Was. So. Ready!
On September 5th he went for his interview. As told to me by him, his name was called, he went to the window, an Indian man(from India) with a strong accent was angrily yelling at him that "NO VISAS WERE BEING GIVEN TO ANYONE WHO WAS DENIED BEFORE IN THIS BUSY SEASON" and dismissed him with a motion of sliding his passport and a denial letter through the window. Stephen tried to bring "my wife is sick....." and the man said they were done. Ironically, the letter he gave him was the same one he received the first time, a standard denial saying basically he couldn't prove ties to his country to the consulate officer during the interview and a reason why he'd come back. So he left again with no visa. And no way to accompany his wife back to America for treatment. We had waited a really long time for nothing.
So now my time is up. I have just finished 17 days of antibiotics for yet another kidney infection with pain running down the inside of my leg. I just don't have 90 more days to wait then another 60 days for him to get an interview. If that's what they call it at the U.S. Embassy Kampala. They have strange interviews. I won't bother writing another letter to the Ambassador. I just don't have the strength to fight anymore. I don't know how my tax dollars pay for these embassy civil servant workers here when they aren't even doing what they are supposed to which I THOUGHT was to help us Americans here. I don't really know if any actual Americans are working in the embassy here. I don't know how they call it an "interview" when they don't ask relevant questions or let someone tell their story. I just don't know anything I guess.
So next week I will embark on a long journey back to America by myself. I cannot afford a medical escort and it's not feasible for any family member to fly all that way just to fly back with me. I will say goodbye to my husband at the departure door (here in Uganda they do not allow anyone into the building other than the ones actually flying). I will hug and kiss him goodbye and face the the unknown of what is causing my decline in health. I will face the tests and treatment without his support or encouragement. Without his hand to hold. Yes, there is video chat and facebook messaging but it just won't be the same. I have arranged wheelchair transport at the airports and my family will be waiting for me at the end.
So, there is a time for everything........it's my time to be a bit sad and definitely a lot afraid. It is my time to face the unknown alone.
