Pfeiffer appointment

[AustinsMom]

Just wanted to fill you all in on our Pfeiffer appointment. We were there 3.5 hours, and only about 10 minutes of that time was spent just waiting, so it was a very thorough appointment. The nurse takes your history, and this took over an hour and a half. It was a very detailed history, amazing that they wanted to know so much. After having physicians in general not seem very interested in our nutrition, they wanted to know alot about what he eats, food and drink preferences, what vitamins he takes including specific mg and what time of day he takes them.

They also are interested in what you think the child's issues are and that plays a role also in what tests they perform. They took blood--6 vials, urine, and hair samples. They sent me home kits to take a different urine test and a stool collection kit. There are 26 different tests that will be performed on those samples.

They did a physical exam then looking for physical signs. They sent me home with a multi vit to use as maintenance till they get results back. They don't want him to have anything with copper and some other trace minerals in it. I am to continue my Vit. E and C and magnesium I have been using. I'm to fax in the specifics of my B vit and they'll tell me if I can use it in the interim. I'm to continue my omegas; they love Nordic Naturales too and highly recommend them. It will take 2-3 weeks for them to get all labs back. Then another 2-3 weeks for the doctor to review and write up program and get the vitamins shipped to me. They will compound it to get it in as few pills as possible, which my ds will greatly appreciate.

The cost was $1400, which I will file with my insurance and see how much they cover. My nurse said she thinks that digestive issues and heavy metal toxicity is the thing they do best, so I found that encouraging. It sounds like they will want to address that issue first and get it better before addressing any other issues we might find. After we start using the vitamins, we do monthly reports to them with phone contact after they get the report.

So, now I wait for the report, etc....But at least I'll be continuing a very similar routine to what we have been using, so I'll still have the benefit of what has been working fairly well. I'll keep you posted as we go along.

[catatonic]

I'll be curious to see how much of your visit the insurance company will cover. Did you try to get pre-approval at all? It doesn't sound like too outrageous a total for all the lab work and time involved, but $1400 is still a lot of money.

Do you know what they are testing for with the various samples they're taking?

I think the fact that they didn't change your present routine too much while waiting for results says a LOT about what a great job you've done so far, on your own. How can you stand to wait 4 weeks for results? (I'm dying of curiosity here, you see...)

[AustinsMom]

I am VERY anxious to get results...and 4 weeks may be too short of an estimate. One of the M.D.'s had a child who died this past year, and she stopped working for awhile. They said that since no one is really trained in this, they have to do alot of training with new physicians. So even though they have replaced the M.D., the new one is still not fully trained, so things are taking longer.

I didn't try for preapproval. My experience with my insurance is that they say no to everything they can, and I have better luck not flagging things or calling attention to them. At Pfeiffer they suggested appealing if it gets turned down because it is not uncommon for people to get approval if they stay with it.

As far as what tests, they explained them all to me and I have the superbill with them listed. Some of them are testing the blood for copper, zinc, histamine, T4, lead, TSH, Ferritin, etc. Also hair for alluminum, lead, mercury, nickel, etc. They are testing stools/urine for bacteria, aerobic and anaerobic, parasites, yeast, and others I need to look up cause the names on the superbill aren't ringing a bell, like kryptopyrrole, cryptosporidium, etc. Many of them are to rule out the presence of things affecting digestion. On his last test, Austins zinc and copper were very high, so obviously that whole zinc/copper ratio thing will be a big focus too.

Regarding the cost, I didn't feel too bad about it either. When you look at what you spend at the dentist for 30 minutes ($380 for my daughter over Christmas) and consider the time that was and will be spent on this by them, it is not that outrageous. Yes, it is expensive but I felt like I got my money's worth as far as what they did for the initial visit. So now I just have to sit back and wait......never the easy part.

[ohmama]

Austins mom,
I'm glad to hear you were pleased with the clinic. Now you will know what needs to be targeted. It must be quite a relief! Let us know how it goes.

It warms my heart to see a parent that loves their child and is willing to take the effort and spend the money to get some real answers.

I can't help but think things will get better now. Good job mom!

[kim]

I have heard alot of great things about the pfiefer clinic.I have thought very seriously about taking my son. I know a lady in my town that took her son and they did wonders for him. He was austic...
When you mentioned a doctor had a child die was it there patient ,,and if so lwhat happened??
Do you also have their email address,I may check into geeting an appointment agian, How long did it take you to get an appt'
Thanks,
kim

[AustinsMom]

kim, The Dr.'s own child died--I'm not sure of the circumstances--not a child she was treating. My previous post may have been unclear on this. We got our appointment at Pfeiffer very quickly. If you go to their web site www.hriptc.org you can print a screening form. You just fill that out and fax it in. They called me within an hour after I had faxed it. I wanted an appointment when my child was out of school and was able to get one for the next off day (it was within 4 weeks of my call). I obviously don't know the outcome of the tests or how the treatment will go, but I can say I was pleased with the attention to detail in the evaluation, and the staff was very easy to deal with. I don't know where you live, but they do go to different parts of the country for clinics if you live very far from Chicago. You can find that info on their web site also. Good luck in your search.