The Great Record Hunt of 2014

My next chapter in my life journey is requiring a lot of paperwork and record searching. Do you know how hard to is to track down records spanning the course of your life? I have to obtain a physical. Part of the physical exam requires a doctor signing off on reviewing my vaccination records. Apparently the doctor office I have been seeing since like the age of 5 or 6 doesn't have my complete vaccination record.

The kind nurse suggested I contact my high school to obtain them. So, this morning before school I contacted my Alma Mater. No dice. They informed me that they didn't start keeping those kind of records until about 10 years ago, when they were able to do it electronically. My next call was to the County Health Department. I remember getting a MMR booster shot there before starting middle school. The "kind and well-informed" worker didn't believe me that there was a satellite office located at Edwin Shaw back in the early 90's. She quickly transferred my call to someone else (I think it was to get out of having to deal with me). This next employee was MUCH more knowledgeable and was quickly able to locate an electronic copy of my shot record. SCORE!! I have to go pick it up tomorrow afternoon.

One down. Many to go.

The next step was to call my former pediatrician. This was no simple task, as my pediatrician is retired and had been for quite a while. So, I googled him. This search brought up his name and a "practice" he was associated with. I called the number and was greeted by a recording saying that I had reached CHIPA of the town I live in (which is a medical practice that is associated with the local children's hospital). After waiting on hold for over 10 minutes, I finally get to speak to a secretary or someone with an unknown position. I explain to her that I am trying to obtain vaccination records from the 80's when I was a patient of Dr. X. She had never heard of the doctor and didn't know how to spell his name. After spelling it out for her and giving her my crucial info, she told me that she would have to contact their off-site storage facility to see if they could locate it. Before she hung up, she told me that she would be calling me back.

I am NOT a patient person when I am waiting for a return phone call. So, after all my students were gone, I called this office back. Another person answered right away. This time, the lady informed me that they had to SEND my information to the off-site place and then it would take 24-48 hours for them to process the request. **Normally I would have got really snippy with them at this point. However, I have turned control over to God. I just took a deep breath and smiled over the phone and calmly said "OK." This is God's plan for me, it will all work out.** Sometime within the next 24 to 48 hours I will find out if they HAVE my records.

Please pray that they find these records in a timely manner and that if they can't find them, they will be able to give me insight as to where to inquire next. I am on a deadline to get all of this stuff submitted to the "powers that be."