Nearly six long years to go

Hang in there Tab...I'll buy you a drink when I also move there in 5-6 years.

From my own experiences, as well as reading this board, I don't believe there are any mean critters. There are a lot of lizards (geckos, iguanas) but they don't bother me. Spiders on the other hand...I've heard of tarantulas (sp?)...eek!.

Regarding doctor stuff, might ask our friend HipCrip on the boards about medical stuff in the islands.

I'm not sure now where you're from, but hockey rinks in the summer in the midwest are far from perfect...lots of fog/soft ice. I highly doubt with the heat and humidity in the islands that they have any ice at all...other than what you need for a rum punch. 😉 I've seen that there is organized softball, volleyball, soccer, etc so your son should stay interested in sports.

As far as your daughter turning 18...I doubt there are any restrictions about anything since 18 is considered an adult in the US.

Re: overcrowding...
That's one reason I'm looking towards moving to St Croix. However, the USVI have been there forever and are still not really over crowded. I look at the population of St Thomas and compare it (the whole island) to a medium large city in the US. A lot of people, but it's spread over the whole island! I also look at the total population of the island, compare it to a medium large city in the US and find the crime rate is generally lower. That's the WHOLE island...compared to one city.

Let's try to keep this "moving to the USVI" thing a little quiet until 2010 so we won't have to worry about overcrowding...okay? 🙂

BTW, I emailed a company in STX that can use my skilled profession. They replied, telling me just what I was hoping for. My plans are underway for a 2010 move to C'sted, STX. 🙂

Hello and welcome to the board!

I agree that HipCrip on the board (she moved to St. Croix a few months ago) will be able to assist with chronic pain specialist or lack of comments and meds. So stay tuned for her comments.

Your son could participate in soccer, flag football, basketball, baseball, wresling, karate, volleyball, diving, windsurfing, fishing...

Teachers are almost always in high demand. So your wife should be ok with that career path.

While it may seem that a lot of people are moving... take a look at the population growth rate information at the following web site

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/vq.html

Continentals are generally accepted. There isn't an overall hostility but you can expect that there are some rude people, there are times when folks might take a white resident as a tourist and ask them if they are going back to the ship or if they want hair braids (usually on St. Thomas/St. John) and this can get annoying, there is the "who you know" stuff going on so you might be in line in front of a long time resident (continental or west indian) and they get somehow helped before you (doesn't always happen but does sometimes).

Have you looked into schools for your son?

As for your 18 year old daughter... I think the cut off is 16 (where kids have to be in a school environment whether its a school or home schooled). So its up to your daughter if she wants to attend the university here or work or just vacation. The university web site is

www.uvi.edu

There are frogs, lizards, bugs... there are a few bugs that pack a hard sting... bees, jacksspaniards... there are a few plants that have thorns or that cause iching. There are a few plants that are poisonous - whether its a the seed or leaf or sap... but I don't imagine your son would be picking leaves randomly and eating them at 11 years old... but then you never know 🙂 some of these include Oleandar (which is a common yard bush with pretty flowers - its found on the mainland as well in warmer areas), the Jumbi vine has little red-black seeds that are poisonous - usually you find that in the wild bushes not in yards. Frangipani flowers are common and quite lovely but the milky sap can cause itching. There are monkey no climb trees that have huge spikes on the bark - hard to miss the spikes.

Check out the flora and fauna section at

http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/flora_fauna/

All great questions. If you have not already purchased books about the VIrgin Islands you might consider the Settlers Handbook at the top of this page. If you have other questions feel free to ask away.

--Islander

Thanks for the speedy replies! I'm interested in everyone's point of view, so feel free to add your thoughts and/or experiences.

As far as schools for my son, we are interested on everyone's opinion on all private and public schools. On one web page, the authors advised private schools for two reasons - first, they thought the language barrier would be hard for some to understand, and second, they felt that continetal kids would be harassed, though they gave no indication that they had personally experienced this.

Are any of the schools excelling with the president's "No Child Left Behind" policy?

If anyone feels that all of the schools are failing to meet a high standard, is there an established homeschooling network?

We plan on renting a condo the first year, to get a perspective on where trouble spots may be. When we do buy a home, we hope to find one in the 200k range. We've seen pretty many homes in that price range, of course, most needing some work. Is it likely that the homes in this range will be in safe neighborhoods?

Thanks again for all of your insight

Hello Tab907,

Interesting about the custody issue. I have a rare situation where my husband was offered a job on STT and we moved here, however my older two kids are from a former marriage. We had the custody issues as well. How did we work that out? My ex-husband moved here too. He moved here a day before us. Strange, but it worked out fine. I don't see him anymore than I used to and the kids felt better emotionally since no one was left behind.

I am homeschooling my kids, however I would not dissuade anyone from putting their kids in school here. Great private schools and public elementary schools. I do have some concerns about junior high and high school, however it is only from reading about the schools and hearing opinions. My kids are too young to go to junior high so I have not actually checked them out personally. I decided to homeschool since my kids are a bit behind.

I have been here a month and have already selected a few areas that I would like to live in. There actually is a home we have our eye on, but just can't seem to find any info on it. We like driving around finding signs for rent or sale. Some are listed in the paper too. You really can't be told what areas are good or bad. Some stick out as obvious but for 90% of the island it depends on what you want (ie. beachfront, mountain view, close to school, private, etc) You will be able to figure it out for yourself when you are here. Good luck with everything.

Teresa

Hello Hip Crip, hope you don't mind me drawing you out for this question but I thought you might be able to share some insight with Thomas on a question he asked. Thank you.

Thomas Asked:

I am a retired police officer, blessed to have survived a horrible car crash that nearly took my life. I am now a stay-at-home dad, with a decent, permanent pension. I do, however, suffer from severe chronic pain, and will need to find a doctor (am I dreaming to hope for a chronic pain specialist?) who can continue my care. I currently see my doctor every month or two, and take a large amount of medication. How likely is it that I can get my medications that I take, and is there an island where I would be more successful at doing so?

Thank you, Islander, for pulling that part of the question out for me. I would have been here sooner, but my own health issues kept me down for a while after Jeanne came through. Am finally back to speed and reporting for duty!

Thomas,

Am happy to share everything I've learned about living in the USVI as a person with disabilities and chronic pain issues. The caveat is that my experience is limited to a whole four months on St. Croix -- things may be different on St. Thomas today, and will hopefully be better by the time you arrive.

The good news first -- yes, it is possible to get pain meds through some of the on island pharmacies. People's Pharmacy refuses to carry the higher level narcotics like Oxycontin and Oxycodone, but you can get them at the Doctors' Pharmacies that are located in Plaza Extra grocery stores. People's does carry Vicodin-type pain-killers, but they tend to always be out of everything. I suggest that you come with at least one extra months supply on hand, though, as it may take several weeks for the pharmacy to place and receive and order for your meds in the quantity and dosage you need. With one exception (the pharmacy that accepts my insurance - wouldn't you know it), the pharmacist has been fantastic about working with me to make sure I never go without if orders are delayed, and in making sure that orders are placed to arrive in plenty of time before I need them.

For what it's worth, the first GP I saw warned me that some docs and pharamcists here would not be willing to write/fill prescriptions for large quantities of narcotics for fear that the DEA would start an investigation and/or revoke their licenses. He said that the DEA had already done this to several docs on island (no names given), and that the agency watches the USVI extremely closely as it is already tagged as a prime narcotics gateway to the US. I haven't had any problems at all, and my pharmacist doesn't weem the least bit worried. Just thought I'd pass it on.

There aren't any doctors in the USVI that are qualifed to refill intrathecal pumps that deliver pain med cocktails and/or antispasticity drugs like Baclofen. There are two docs in Puerto Rico who can do this, though -- it's just a matter of flying over when a refill is needed. I do this once every 54-70 days, and see a great doc over there.

There is only one pain managment specialist here on STX, and he spends a great deal of time off island. His area of expertise is blocks and other similar procedures, and he has no interest in taking on anyone who doesn't require those procedures or, as he put it, "ONLY needs prescriptions written." (I know -- no pain specialist should EVER say only when it comes to life saving drugs like you and I rely on.) Thios doc wouldn't even meet with me for an initial consult -- he called me and told me he would not treat me. Perhaps we can figure out a way to recruit an additional pain management doc to arrive before you do. (I've been personally recruiting several residents who were at Georgetown when I was going there!)

That leaves you with two options: finding a general practitioner here on island who is willing to write your scripts, or going off island to see a specialist.

Finding a doctor who is willing to care for you (and write prescriptions for meds) will hinge on a couple of factors. A key is making sure that you have complete medical records from every provider who has worked with you, especially those who have prescribed any form of treatment for managing pain. The records should detail everything you're currently precribed, plus outline dosage changes that have occurred and, if possible, what the provider plans to do if the current treatment becomes less effective. Get these copies before you leave your current home and carry them with you on the plane. You'll want to have at least two copies of each -- one to give to the provider and one for your files.

The rest is simply a test of trial and error -- you go see someone, talk about your overall condition as well as your pain issues. Some will refuse you if you're too complex ("I'm just simple country doctor who came here to retire"), or if they are not on staff at the hospital and feel you may need hospitalization at any time. (Private practice docs cannot admit to the hospital nor care for patients who are admitted,. so they don't want to take you on only to turn you over to a complete stranger if you need to be hospitalized.) After several tries, I finally found a general practitioner who was willing to write my prescriptions for both pain meds and other drugs I was taking. All was well until the pain meds became ineffective (as they can do over time) -- he told me he'd done all he could do and basically told me to go to the ER. What it boiled down to is that he was fine prescribing at the current level, but refused to explore increasing dosage, etc. unless he knew my entire history of treatment for pain. (Hence the importance of getting your records in hand before you arrive.) As I had been fighting to get records from tow major hospitals for many months now, I felt I was SOL and turned to option B -- find an off island specialist.

I was quite fortunate that I already had a relationship with the doctor in Puerto Rico who refills my pump, and asked him if he was willing to take over managing my other pain meds as well. He was willing, so once we confirmed that prescriptions written by a physician licensed in PR would be accepted by the pharmacies on St. Croix I was good to go. While I haven't specifically loked for pain management doctors of clinics in Puerto Rico, the sheer volume of providers and health facilities, plus the quality of care compared to STX makes me pretty certain there is at least one specialist in that field.

I would also ask your current doctor to write a letter of introduction for you to give to the new provider, and, if he/she is willing, ask fi the new doctor could call to go over questions about your hstory, crrent course of treatment, etc. That alone may be enough of a safety net for a general practitioner to take you on.

I will tell you that being in the islands is, on its own, some of the best pain relief you can get. We moved here so that I didn't have to suffer from the dramatic changes in temperature found in Washington DC, to get away from the stress of being in that city at ground zero (I worked near the White House, WOrld Bank, and IMF and lived near the Pentagon), and so I could get in the warm salt water for physical therapy I could never get at home. While the islands aren't for everyone, this is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I hope you'll benefit from it as much as I do.

There's the not so quick overview -- as people here will attest, I tend to be a bit, um, verbose in my replies! If I haven't answered a specific question you have, feel free to start a new thread here on the board, or you can email me directly by clicking on my name.

Hope this was helpful, and that the next six years will pass quickly and happily for you.

HipCrip