My five year medical records have gone AWOL....

 So I've been diligently doing all the paperwork, nagging my doc to death about getting my diet documented on the correct forms (we discuss my diet every visit because of the diabetes and my problems with exercise limitations) and working on the stopping smoking...I'm now down to half a pack, maybe less.  So I decide to call the docs office today to make sure they have sent the other records the surgeons office requested, and low and behold, they can't be found!  

I have seen this doc since about 2003....with a two year absence when I moved to GA.  Since moving back to TN, I returned to this doc--Feb 2009.  I had mentioned to my doc that the surgeons office needed records from back when they started treating me, and she told me they had probably been archived.  So I call records today, the record lady calls me back and says that although the computer has ONE recorded visit in 2003, that my records are somehow lost.  Says she doesn't understand WHY, since they usually keep them for 8 - 10 years before destroying.  I'm sorry.....I thought this was the age of computers.  They don't somehow load them into a computer somewhere for future reference???  Shouldn't they at least keep SOMETHING of your medical history?  So now I'm trying to get records from a couple of health clinics that I went to when I lived in GA, which knew little to nothing about me.

The surgeons office said if I can't get any more records, that we will have to TRY a dated picture showing I had a weight problem five or more years ago.  She didn't sound promising......

So now I'm digging through family photos....and thanking my mother that she took pics of me even when I didn't want them taken....and I'm ready to send the whole freaking family album.  I can show I had weight probs from about 7 yo up.......Ya think that would get the blasted image across?  One for every year of my life?  How about the ENTIRE family of short fat people.....I have a picture of at least five generations standing fat and happy.....GRRRRRRRRR.....sorry, had an urge to rant, and I know this is alot better than some have, it just irritates me to no end that they have "lost" 8 or 9 years of documentation........

How awful!  I wonder sometimes just how doctors manage to run their offices with the inefficient
clerical workers they have!!!

Do you have any calendars with notations of times and dates with the names of the doctors?  I
know I kept my little calendar books for many years.  Maybe that would be sufficient.

I hope your medical folks can get their acts together and get you going in the right direction.

Best wishes,

 Well, the records lady called this morning and said her supervisor is on vacation right now, and that she might know where to find them.....REALLY???  Since this lady I'm talking to takes care of the records, I just somehow would expect HER to know where they are.  Maybe it's just me....LOL  But it's all good, I was just really honked off about it all.....I have dated pics, and the clinics I went to for two years are faxing records that they have, which has my weight documented.  I still think I ought to send a pic for every flippin' year of my life....  But things usually always work out somehow......thanks!

If the records can't be found, they can at the very least prepare a letter for you documenting that you were a patient there all these years and that THEY have lost your records. 
   Also, if you were ever hospitalized during that time period for any reason, get the hospital records, as they should have at least some mention of your weight, or that you were obese, etc.

Larra

We had a DSer in Chicago get approved because she carefully put together a detailed photo album of her throughout the years. She had some truly traumatizing experiences with docs over the years, so she didn't go for a long time. She also had some Weigh****chers type weigh-ins over the years, so she included those booklets. Anything at this point would be more helpful than not, so try to think hard about anywhere you were where you were officially weighed. An old job's health fair? Maybe even old driver's licenses where you were photographed on a specific date (although my weight was always a lie on those!). Be creative!

Don't give up on the doc's office, though. Push, push, push! Good luck!

Nicolle

 Great idea, and one I'm working on now.  My mother was a HUGE picture freak, so my life is pretty well documented in pictures.  Just because I'm a smart a$$, I soooo want to include all the generaltions of fat people in my clan.  I have pics of a fat great grandma, grandma, grandpa, mom, uncle, two aunts, two sisters, and a couple of nephews.  NO, I'm not blaming it all on genetics, but my family is certainly an argument for it.....LOL

I know the two clinics I went to in those couple of years have documentation of my weight......everyone knows that's all that the docs concentrate on when you go to visit them--and I have to say with good reason, but still........it's kinda like I want to say....."hey....look at me, not my big arse and belly"...