Hello from the last frontier - I am scheduled to self surrender to Carswell in a couple of weeks. I am a bit nervous and don't know what to expect. I had hip surgery a few years ago and was recently diagnosed with MS (but I don't have ANY problems whatsoever) so I'm not sure if I'm going to the Camp (as from reading on here I guess there is) or the Medical center. I am going to serve a 36 month sentence and not sure how long that means I will be there. I am a bit nervous as I am leaving my baby (she's 21 but still my baby) who this will be her first time on her own (I know, I know it's about time!) but I'm a Mom so what can I say :) ! First off I will be flying in from Anchorage by myself. I don't know ANYONE in TX and don't have much money as I paid bills well in advance for my daughter. I have no idea where I'm going and I'm sure a taxi would break me, any suggestions? I have contacted my Church here in AK to see if we had any sister Churches that perhaps could help. I don't know where the heck I'm going, not to mention I will probably be a wreck. At least I don't have to endure the 'Con Air' flight I heard such horrible things about or have to endure SeaTac or OK City. I just don't know what to expect and I know I'm rattling on so I apologize in advance. I just would like some advice, info, help, prayers all of the above. I'm just scared, not about prison (well that too) but leaving my daughter and not seeing her or ANYONE I know for years. I feel so ALONE already and I'm not even there yet. I have a friend here who's step-daughter I guess knows someone there and she said she receives emails from her, can that be possible? That would be great as we won't be able to afford the phone calls. What kind of jobs are there, any Unicor jobs? What can I bring with me, if anything? Thank you for any help you can offer. I am suppose to be there on Oct. 30th, 2006 but we are going to ask for another week or so as we were just notified today and without 2 weeks the flights are outrageous. Would anyone be willing to have a new friend while I'm there? :o

First, Welcome to the PTO Family!

There is a thread in the Letters from Inmates forum that I posted for Tonib while she was in the camp at Carswell. It is an old thread, but may still have some pertinent info that can help.

Patti

Welcome to PTO. Yes this is a bad time for you and your family, all I can offer you is support in the time before surrender and support for your family after you surrender. Know that the first month is the roughest since you must get phone numbers approved wait on letters to cross and go through the orientation process. It will get better and once you get a routine started time will pass. TxRhino is great at time calculations and there is quite a bit of info for self surrendering on the federal forum itself. It would be best to either mail a money order to the lockbox or put money on western union the morning of your surrender that way you can by your basic needs. Stay strong and take care of yourself.

Well I was suppose to surrender on Monday (10/30) and received word late this afternoon that my surrender date has been extended to Nov. 13th. So I will be off to Carswell then. I've tried to call and they said they won't know anything about me until I get there. I'm not sure what time I'm suppose to be there. Pretrial told me to call them directly and they say they don't know. Well I'm happy I received the extra time I have alot of last minute things to do. At least I'll spend my birthday (11/8) with my daughter! :p I couldn't ask for a better present! PTO has been such a blessing. I have been in contact with some very dear people who I'm sure will be friends for many, many years. God Bless you all!

HAPPYKP,

Try calling the US Marshall's office and ask them. They will have the information about the time you are supposed to surrender. The exstension that I received told me the time to surrender. Try the US Marshall and see what they say.
E

You are awesome!! I will call the Marshall's on Monday. Thanks for being you!!