March Madness

Audrey needs to get a test done that will tell us whether or not she has LCA. This test is called an Electroretinagram and most babies with LCA have this test at 6 months of age. Not Audrey. This has been the thorn in my bum for the last 2 months.

We first got a referral from Dr. Granet to have it done by a doctor at Shiley Eye Center when Audrey was 5 months old. We figured by the time she was 6 months, she'd have her appointment. Not the case:

They didn't have the special electrode needed to perform the procedure. It was on order. We wait.

We follow up incessantly. Still no electrode. We wait and wait and wait.

We go to Dr. Granet and ask for a referral to have the procedure done in LA. He asks for us to make an appointment with Dr. Zhang to give a second opinion on our course of action. We wait for that appointment.

We see Dr. Zhang who refers us up to UCLA to see one of his MD buddies who can perform the procedure. He's on vacation. We wait a week.

When we talk to his office manager, she says he needs to talk personally with Dr. Zhang before he'll accept us. We wait some more.

We find out that he will accept us but says that he will do it without anaesthesia first. If she is uncooperative, then we will need to make a separate appointment and trip back to LA.

I understand that on babies this procedure is always done under anaesthesia, so I start making phone calls.

I call Shiley and say that we would rather someone who specializes in children to perform the ERG, not just someone who is our doctor's buddy.

Dr. Zhang's office manager says that she needs to know the name and location of where I'd like the referral to go to. I do more research.

I call Children's Hospital UCLA, get full mailboxes and no returned calls. I make more calls and finally get in touch with someone who wants to make things happen for us. He assures us that this is a simple procedure and it shouldn't feel like pulling teeth to get an appointment. We get the doctor's name, Thomas Lee, and are told to wait another week for authorization.

Audrey gets sick and goes to the hospital. I call insurance to ask about the status of the authorization. They tell me that MY DAUGHTER IS NO LONGER INSURED BY PACIFICARE, EFFECTIVE FEBRUARY 1.

I nearly have a heart attack, envisioning $50,000 in medical bills.

I call my employer. Their mistake. She gets reinstated.

I call to make sure the authorization wasn't cancelled in the middle of the insurance debacle. It's still pending.

I call Friday to check on the status again...office closed for Caesar Chavez day.

Still no word... and we wait.