Getting Blood Work Done

[bear60]

I see various posts here about difficulty in getting the results of your blood work. Here is what happened to me yesterday:
Things are certainly changing in the health care field.  I had blood drawn yesterday during my annual physical.
1. The blood was not drawn in my doctors office.  I had to go across the hall to LabCorp. Carrying the necessary paperwork.
2. The nice woman at the check-in counter said....." Who do you want the results of the tests sent to?"  I was kind of taken aback since this was never part of the routine in my doctors office. She looked at me with this knowing look of experience and said "I keep copies of ALL my medical records, and if I were you I would want the results sent to me, as well as to my doctor.  They are YOUR records. "   I was shaken and agreed readily.
3. Then they drew bood and I peed in a cup.

So, is the operative factor here that I no longer have the blood drawn in the doctors office or that I never thought to ask that the results be sennt to me directly?  I guess I will never know.  But it is a heads up to anyone who is going outside the doctors office to have blood drawn.
IF YOU DONT ASK..... IT WON'T HAPPEN.

[brooklynpoz]

Hi Bear60,

I get my labs done at quest labs. they send everything right to my doctor with a few days to a week.
This is how it is has been for me. NYC here.

[bear60]

brooklynpoz.......this was a new experience for me.  See, I grew up in a family of doctors and all doctors before the age of 20 for me, were friends of the family. They were, to put it mildly, like uncles.  So it is with true horror and loathing that I see what we have come to in health care in the USA. Its an assembly line,  literally.  Patient care is out the window.  Doctors no longer have any idea what your family history is because they have so many patients.  Everytime I go in for my annual physical I have to fill out a form with family history on it...cause my doctor never remembers that my father died in 1999 of prostate cancer that mestasticized and my mother  is 96 and lives in a nursing home. Or that my brother and I both have serious allergies, sinus problems, sleep apnea, and are overweight. She even has told me that she can no longer manage my HIV condition and I must go to an ID specialist.  She said she no longer can keep up with the advances in medicine in the HIV field. Primarily because she does not want to and because her number of HIV positive patients has dwindled to next to zero.
Like I said......from now on I am asking for the results to be sent to ME as well as to the doctor.

[bocker3]

I'm a bit surprised by your story Bear -- I hope that the person in the lab was not speaking out of turn and that you get results sent you.  I say this because I worked in various labs for many years (although not for the past 7), and we were FORBIDDEN to give results to patients.  In fact, if a patient asked what a certain test was for, we were to refer them to their doctor.  The reasoning behind this is to insure that lab results (or why tests are ordered) are properly interpreted for the patient.  A single "abnormal" result could send a patient off the deep end.  Now, I know that many of us do not fall into that category, but the phlebotomists or clerical staff of a lab aren't really in a position to tell who could or couldn't handle it.

I'll be very curious to hear if LabCorp really does mail results to you.

Mike

[BT65]

Where I get my labs drawn, I always ask for copies to be sent to me and they always do. 

[Queen Tokelove]

I use to get blood drawn by the clinic nurse before clinic but then that nurse went to a better paying job. Since then I have to go to a lab to get them done. It is already written on the order who the results are to be sent to whether my ID doc or primary asks for the draw, they always send the other the results. I never knew I could ask for a copy for myself.

[milker]

Kaiser Permanente's policy is to not give HIV related results online or on the phone. That said, I'm sure that after the relationship is made with the doctor and the nurses that they would give the results on the phone. I told my ID doc that they should have a system where the doctor checks a box when he believes that the patient can get the results as they come.

Milker.

[Miss Philicia]

My blood work is drawn 1 week previous to my doctors visit, in the same facility of my doctor but not BY my doctor.  I guess they're nurses... My doctor's in NYC always drew my blood on their own, but they were private doctors and not part of a larger clinic like currently.

I can easily obtain a copy of my blood work on the day I have my doctor's visit, though I did not yesterday when I went for my appointment. 

Perhaps you'll be aghast, but I went through an entire decade where I never, ever kept copies of any lab results.  I kept them from my first year's diagnosis, but after making 12 or so months of charts I judged the entire affair overly anal retentive and stopped.  I could see it feeding an unhealthy obsession, at least for me.

When I began my new treatment last year I charted the progress for a year, but now I'm considering going on auto-pilot again.  It allows me some normalcy.

[GSOgymrat]

I'm going for a blood draw tomorrow at my primary care physician's office. I don't think I've had labs done since February. My doctor does an examination, they draw the blood and he calls me about a week with the results. About a month later I get the $200 bill from the lab.

[aztecan]

I usually have my labs done two to three weeks prior to my doctor visit.

I have to go to the local hospital to have the blood drawn because we have dolts at the other locations who don't know the difference between a viral load and an HIV test.

I get the results from the doc, who also gives me a copy of all the labs for my records at home.

I have done this since 1992.

OK, I'm anal.

HUGS,

Mark

[beefbud]

Kaiser Permanente's policy is to not give HIV related results online or on the phone. That said, I'm sure that after the relationship is made with the doctor and the nurses that they would give the results on the phone. I told my ID doc that they should have a system where the doctor checks a box when he believes that the patient can get the results as they come.

Milker.

Hey Milker
I have Kaiser as my insurance provider and get every test result online.  The only one they didn't release first was my initial HIV test when it was positive, they made me come in for that news (not that I didn't know if they wouldn't tell me on the phone.)  Maybe its a state by state situation I am in Georgia.   I love having every lab test available to me online (normally within 2 days of blood drawn) cept for the VL, they have to send that off and it takes about 10 days.  I have a follow up next week and now all my numbers and pretty much know im gonna get nailed (not in the good way) for my cholesterol levels.  Just wanted to clarify that Kaiser does in some circumstances release all test results to you online.

[vegaslocal39]

I always request that the doctor make a copy of the results for me to take home after my visit.  I have every test since I began meds in 2004.  This really comes in handy when I have to go to a new doctor.  I just moved from Nevada to Florida and will be seeing a new doctor.  I feel good about being able to show my new doctor any historical results he might want to see.  My time is just as valuable as the doctor's.  I don't feel like wasting it trying to chase records around.

But I see no reason to see them before the doctor does.  It's his job to interpret the results.  Seeing them beforehand won't do me any good.

As an aside, I also go to my appointment with a list of everything I want to discuss, a list of to-do's (like get refills on any prescriptions that might have run their course), and I take notes while we talk so I can remember what we discussed.  If nothing else, the doctor will know that I am serious about my healthcare and will not have the opportunity to run to his next appointment before we have discussed all my concerns.

Guess I'm anal too.

[David_CA]

I think it must depend on a lot of variables, including the state where you reside.  I called Labcorp and asked for a copy of my labs.  They asked which Dr. I wanted them sent, and that they said they weren't allowed to give them directly to me due to NC's laws.  This seems strange, as I am the one paying for the labs (through my insurance - I don't actually pay anything for them)!  A day or two after the results are back, my Dr's office sends me the results.  They'll also send (or fax) them when I ask.  I'll also be curious to see if you actually receive them directly from Labcorp.

David

[bear60]

Dont worry David, I'll let you guys know. Boy ....was I jolted into reality!!!

[Robert]

Well, I'm also with Kaiser.  I get my blood drawn 2 weeks prior to my Dr's appointment but I get the results via email the next day.  But they don't send me my CD4 or VL results.  Through an agreement with my Dr. she sends them to me herself, again via email.

robert

[milker]

Well, I'm also with Kaiser.  I get my blood drawn 2 weeks prior to my Dr's appointment but I get the results via email the next day.  But they don't send me my CD4 or VL results.  Through an agreement with my Dr. she sends them to me herself, again via email.

robert

yup i get non-hiv related blood work on their website. But CD4 and VL is blocked.

[leatherman]

Last thurs. I had blood drawn at the local hospital (where I didn't die from PCP; but is located next to the old. mean. hateful. never-on-time ID doctor that I used to have). Since I've been pretty lucky to be fairly healthy (except for this pesky AIDS thing), my lab results get sent to the really great, concerned, helpful ID doc that got me onto the right regimen.

Next Thurs (2 weeks after the draw), I'll be going to see the Doc with my little pill box (to prove I know what I'm taking. LOL He does tend to harp on compliance, and rightfully so, since that's been a big bad problem of mine throughout the yrs), a piece of paper (with my last lab results, and current questions, symptoms, or concerns listed), and a pen (to jot down the new results).

As soon as I get back home, I add those numbers into that nifty AidsMeds Cool Tools (I should put in that trademark thingie here) graph and, viola! I get that nice chart you see in my sig line.

I just hate the two week wait though.  I try not to fret; but I've gotten more bad news than good through the yrs. so it's hard not to worry about it some.

mikie
(who still has to wait 6 days to see if that "blip" in the VL that worried his doctor is going to be more bad news)

[bear60]

Hey
Well today ...exactly ONE WEEK to the day........I got my blood results from LabCorp.  I think this is really great. I probably saw them before my doctor.
Not going into a whole lot of stuff but my blood sugar is a little high ( 103). ......... my CD4 is 800 and my Cd4/cd8 percentage is 0.83.  My CD8 count is like 960. Is that wierd?

[milker]

cd4 800 woohoo !

I think you mean the CD4/CD8 ratio, which is rarely over 1.0 with HIV positive people. 800/960 = 0.83, that's the CD4/CD8 ratio

Those numbers are very good for an infected person. Did you get your CD4 percentage too?

Milker.

[BT65]

Hey Bear:
  My CD8s are up also.  I remember reading eons ago it seems, something about the "killer" cells vs. "helper" cells.  I can't remember exactly what I read, but just something about dr.'s not wanting the CD8 ("killer") cells to go way up because they gobble up the CD4 cells.  It seems like that was what I read anyway.  Do you remember ever hearing about anything like that?  It seems like I read about it in the early 90's at the local ASO. 

[milker]

Hey Bear:
  My CD8s are up also.  I remember reading eons ago it seems, something about the "killer" cells vs. "helper" cells.  I can't remember exactly what I read, but just something about dr.'s not wanting the CD8 ("killer") cells to go way up because they gobble up the CD4 cells.  It seems like that was what I read anyway.  Do you remember ever hearing about anything like that?  It seems like I read about it in the early 90's at the local ASO. 

In HIV infected people we see a sudden rise of CD8 (cytotoxic cells), they are commonly called killer cells, although there are many other ones that "kill". It is good to have killer cells increasing because they will kill infected cells, HOWEVER the problem is that in the case of HIV infection there seems to be too many of them, and the reason for this is not completely understood yet. There are many studies that try to understand the effect of this rising of CD8, and how that could be related to premature non-infected CD4 death.

Milker.

[BT65]

Thanks, Milkie.  You're a regular encyclopedia of knowledge.

[bear60]

Oh Betty I dont know....its always been Greek to me....but here are the % s.Milky......................
CD 8 suppre4ssor:      960 ...........High
% CD19 + Lymphs:     9.5
% CD3 pos Lymph      83.5
% CD4 pos Lymph      40.0
% CD 8 pos Lymph      48.0           High
CD4/CD8 Ratio:             0.83          Low

[milker]

Oh Betty I dont know....its always been Greek to me....but here are the % s.Milky......................
CD 8 suppre4ssor:      960 ...........High
% CD19 + Lymphs:     9.5
% CD3 pos Lymph      83.5
% CD4 pos Lymph      40.0
% CD 8 pos Lymph      48.0           High
CD4/CD8 Ratio:             0.83          Low

CD19 is checking your B-Cells, very simply said the ones that are making antibodies. CD3 is a marker that is found on CD4s and CD8, and differentiates B cells from T cells, so the CD3 percent will be very close to CD8+CD4 percent. Your numbers are very good. Aren't you a long term progressor? That may be why they're doing B-Cell numbers. Seems that you're doing well so far. An immune system has CD19, CD4, CD8, and NK (Natural Killer) cells. I don't know what the "normal" CD19 percentage is though.

Milker.

Milker.