Customer Service: an update

When Sarah and Mike were over for dinner on Sunday, we talked a little bit about the situation with the hospital that I posted about here last week. I was admitting to Sarah that I heavily considered the counsel that her sister Christy left in the comments on the original post. If you have read Christy's blog at all, you know that she is an amazing, godly woman, and even from a "distance," I look up to her and appreciate her wisdom. And there was a little part of me that was seeking Christy's approval in making my/our decision about any potential action against the hospital. (Christy, I know you probably think that is silly, but it's true...will you be my surrogate big sis?)

Anyway, after reading Christy's comment, I felt compelled to email her for some further encouragement, to which, of course, she immediately responded, and after some more prayer, I knew what to do.

During Seth's nap on Friday, I pulled up the blog post, to have as a reference as I spoke to the hospital, and dialed the billing department. I really feel that the Lord had his hand on my spirit and on those that I spoke with. The gentleman that I first spoke with was kind, patient, and helpful, even though in the end, as I'd expected, he needed to hand me off to someone with more authority. But still, he listened, he apologized on behalf of the system, and he noted our account appropriately so that we won't receive any more notices until a final resolution is reached.

The next woman I spoke with also was unable to actually "help" me, but she, too, listened to the whole story, taking notes and sensitively asking questions. She let me know that a patient representative would be given my case information, and would be calling me back within twenty-four hours to further discuss.

Sure enough, at 7:30 Saturday morning, a sweet and oh-so-thorough patient representative called me, and again, listened intently to my recounting. She, too, apologized, and said that this case would go to the top of her list, and that we were completely fine in holding off on payment on any of our bills.

And Sunday...here is where things get interesting. Sunday, during dinner, the phone rang. Since Sarah and Mike were over, I almost ignored it, but I recognized the Toledo Hospital phone number. It was our rep. And she had some big news.

She had been able to locate the pathology report. The one we were told didn't exist. Obviously, that was good news, albeit surprising. She is sending me a consent form that I'll need to get back to her in order to release the findings to me.

I'm SO thankful that Sarah was over when I received this news, because it sent my mind in a million directions, and having been on the receiving end of a pathology report, she was able to help me make some sense of what I was feeling.

So, there we are. As much as I'm glad we'll have some answers, this in no way cancels out the issues of the hospital. If anything, it highlights the lack of communication and competence that went into my care that weekend.

We continue to wait, and that's fine. Because I feel that I am handling this right and in the proper way. And as a mom, it makes me feel like I'm fighting for my babies in a way that my body could not.

So there you have it.

Thank you all for your comments and love last week; it meant a lot. I promise to keep you updated.