Anyone that follows me on twitter saw a few days ago how I was ranting about the lead coordinator of this county. Thankfully, I have calmed down some since then.
This lady finally called me back the morning of the 21st, after I had left I don't know how many messages for her since October! Whatever happened to people returning calls in a timely manner? Anyway, she was claiming the only results she had were from the last county we lived in. That she didn't have any results from getting B tested in this county. Whatever. The hospital lab has it in their records that they were all faxed to her. Heck they had even faxed December's results to her AGAIN the day before she called me, yet she claimed she didn't have those either. I told her exactly what his levels were (and called the hospital to have them faxed to her yet again).
During the call, she also informed me I needed to make an appointment for the guy from the Lead Abatement Program to come back out to retest the house, and that I needed to take B back in now for another lead level check. I told her that unlike her, I kept up with what I was supposed to do, and that the house had already been retested. I also told her it was not time for B to get another level check seeing that he is supposed to get it checked at this point every 8 weeks and not every 4 weeks, and it had only been 4 weeks since his last check.
She calls me back about half an hour later to tell me, "His levels were what you said they were. The guy retested the house, just like you said he did, on the date you said he did. And you were right, he is supposed to get checked every 8 weeks just like you said." I felt so much like being childish and telling her, "I told you so." But some of the things I did tell her not appropriate to post here. This is one of my children we are talking about here. I don't know what kinds of other parents she deals with, but I for one keep up with any medical tests and/or care my children need...especially something as serious as lead poisoning!
Showing posts with label Lead poisoning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lead poisoning. Show all posts
Monday, January 25, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
B & His Lead Poisoning PART 2
Before I pick up where I left off in my last post, I just want to mention that when B gets his lead testing done, the hospital lab is required to send the results to the county lead coordinator. It is then the lead coordinator's responsibility to get the results to me in a timely manner. I am also just going to write about the last 3 times B has had his lead levels checked.
I took B in August to have his blood drawn for his lead level check. I waited for the results to come to me in the mail. Finally I called the lead coordinator. She claims the lab never sent her the results. So I call the lab. They have it in their computer that they DID fax her the results already, but they fax them to her again while I am on the phone with them (the lab). This was morning time. I get a call from the lead coordinator the next afternoon. She didn't even tell me the levels (which I knew from calling the lab), she just told me, "B's lead levels are high, and he has lead poisoning." Yeah, lady, I think we've already been through this...I ALREADY KNOW THAT! She still never told me his levels, and never sent me a copy of the report she got (like she is supposed to do).
He was due for another lead check in October. Again, after I took him in, I waited for her to give me the results. Again, I didn't get anything. I tried calling her, leaving messages on her voicemail. Never got a call back from her. I call the hospital lab again to get the results (it is really against their policy to give out results over the phone, but they are great and give them to me anyway). They have it in their computer that they have faxed the results to her not once, but TWICE. And they fax them to her a 3rd time.
By the time December rolled around, and it was time for yet another lead check for B, I STILL had not heard a word from the lead coordinator on his results from October! She is the one that is supposed to get the results to me. That is supposed to be her responsibility and hers alone. B went the Monday before Christmas to get his lead check. I had the results just before the New Year because I again called the lab and they gave me the results.
It is now almost the end of January. It has been over a month since B's last lead check. If I hadn't called the hospital lab, I still would not have the results of that lead check! I still haven't heard a word from the lead coordinator. When I called the lab last month, they again had it in their computer they had faxed the results to her. Wednesday (Jan. 20) afternoon, I decided to try to call her. Of course she was out of the office. So I asked to speak to her supervisor. I let her supervisor know that since moving to this county, I have had to call every single time to get his results because she isn't giving them to me. I let the supervisor know that I have left several messages for the lead coordinator, and have not gotten a call back since September!
I took B in August to have his blood drawn for his lead level check. I waited for the results to come to me in the mail. Finally I called the lead coordinator. She claims the lab never sent her the results. So I call the lab. They have it in their computer that they DID fax her the results already, but they fax them to her again while I am on the phone with them (the lab). This was morning time. I get a call from the lead coordinator the next afternoon. She didn't even tell me the levels (which I knew from calling the lab), she just told me, "B's lead levels are high, and he has lead poisoning." Yeah, lady, I think we've already been through this...I ALREADY KNOW THAT! She still never told me his levels, and never sent me a copy of the report she got (like she is supposed to do).
He was due for another lead check in October. Again, after I took him in, I waited for her to give me the results. Again, I didn't get anything. I tried calling her, leaving messages on her voicemail. Never got a call back from her. I call the hospital lab again to get the results (it is really against their policy to give out results over the phone, but they are great and give them to me anyway). They have it in their computer that they have faxed the results to her not once, but TWICE. And they fax them to her a 3rd time.
By the time December rolled around, and it was time for yet another lead check for B, I STILL had not heard a word from the lead coordinator on his results from October! She is the one that is supposed to get the results to me. That is supposed to be her responsibility and hers alone. B went the Monday before Christmas to get his lead check. I had the results just before the New Year because I again called the lab and they gave me the results.
It is now almost the end of January. It has been over a month since B's last lead check. If I hadn't called the hospital lab, I still would not have the results of that lead check! I still haven't heard a word from the lead coordinator. When I called the lab last month, they again had it in their computer they had faxed the results to her. Wednesday (Jan. 20) afternoon, I decided to try to call her. Of course she was out of the office. So I asked to speak to her supervisor. I let her supervisor know that since moving to this county, I have had to call every single time to get his results because she isn't giving them to me. I let the supervisor know that I have left several messages for the lead coordinator, and have not gotten a call back since September!
B & His Lead Poisoning PART 1
I started out making this one post, but it started to turn into a book. Therefore I am breaking it into different posts.
My youngest son, B, who is 3, was diagnosed with lead poisoning last year. The normal levels in children should be less than 10, and at the time, his levels were 27! We had someone come out and test the home we were living in at the time to discover the source. It was the mini blinds the landlords had in there when we moved in. Out of the 12 sets of mini blinds in the house, only 1 did not test high for lead! We got those taken out, and his levels started dropping slowly.
Every time B had to get a blood draw to test his levels, his results were sent to the "lead coordinator" in the county and it was her job to send the results to me. This lady was great about getting the results to me. As soon as she got them, she would call me to let me know. She would then send a copy of the results to me, and let me know if he needed to be retested. It was her responsibility to get the results to me, and she made sure she did it.
A few months later, we moved to another county. I called the lead coordinator in this county, just to make sure the case had been transferred over here. To start with, I called her office about twice a week for almost 3 weeks. Each time she was either not in the office, or was on the phone so I was given her voicemail. I never got a call back from her. So finally one day while out and about, I popped into her office. I finally got to talk to her. I tell her my son has lead poisoning, that we had just moved from another county, and I just wanted to make sure that his case had been transferred to this county. She looked up his case to make sure she had it. Then she told me, "Your son has lead poisoning." Um, yeah, didn't I just say he had lead poisoning!
My next post will go into detail of my dealings with this woman since then. Or should I say lack of dealings.
My youngest son, B, who is 3, was diagnosed with lead poisoning last year. The normal levels in children should be less than 10, and at the time, his levels were 27! We had someone come out and test the home we were living in at the time to discover the source. It was the mini blinds the landlords had in there when we moved in. Out of the 12 sets of mini blinds in the house, only 1 did not test high for lead! We got those taken out, and his levels started dropping slowly.
Every time B had to get a blood draw to test his levels, his results were sent to the "lead coordinator" in the county and it was her job to send the results to me. This lady was great about getting the results to me. As soon as she got them, she would call me to let me know. She would then send a copy of the results to me, and let me know if he needed to be retested. It was her responsibility to get the results to me, and she made sure she did it.
A few months later, we moved to another county. I called the lead coordinator in this county, just to make sure the case had been transferred over here. To start with, I called her office about twice a week for almost 3 weeks. Each time she was either not in the office, or was on the phone so I was given her voicemail. I never got a call back from her. So finally one day while out and about, I popped into her office. I finally got to talk to her. I tell her my son has lead poisoning, that we had just moved from another county, and I just wanted to make sure that his case had been transferred to this county. She looked up his case to make sure she had it. Then she told me, "Your son has lead poisoning." Um, yeah, didn't I just say he had lead poisoning!
My next post will go into detail of my dealings with this woman since then. Or should I say lack of dealings.
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