I gave the number to a friend of mine that got deer blood mixed with his for Igenex labs to get the ticks tested that was on the deer and his own blood tested.
He did not notice the ticks on the deer until after he had guted the deer.
I was just told by my friend when he called Igenex about having the ticks tested that the gal that answered the phone told him he did not have Lyme if he has not had any syptoms in 24 hours.
Can this be true?
I thought Lyme syptoms may not happen for months or even years?
Am I missing something?
Why would someone from a well trusted lab of Lyme disease say this?
If an emolyee of Igenex is giving out informnation like this no wonder Lyme is so over looked.
JEEZ!
Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :
A friend of a friend of a friend of mine once told me that he said this but the other guy said he didn't, he said that.
My point?
Before you share a part of a conversation that you didn't hear with others and which you got second or third hand, please first check it out for yourself.
Otherwise it simply causes confusion and problems... and it may be totally false.
Thanks!
Posted by SForsgren (Member # 7686) on :
Agree with TC. If you have a name of the person, then it is worth more of a look. If not, it sounds highly unlikely.
Posted by Lymeorsomething (Member # 16359) on :
Generally, clerical lab employees are not allowed to discuss results or offer opinions about medical issues so I would be inclined not to believe this happened. If it did, the employee made a big ole mistake.
My doctor's secretary once volunteered info from a blood test to me over the phone and she later got reprimanded for this. It's not a common practice as clerical staff do not have the medical background to discuss results with patients.
Posted by Pinelady (Member # 18524) on :
Maybe she is a temp? I wonder what biohazard level
they have to work at? They may not even ever see
the people who answer the phone. I would assume it
may even be hard to find someone to work at a lab
like theirs.
Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :
I'd love to work there so I could see all the postives and hopefully some negatives too. `
Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :
I'd first verify whether it happened. IGeneX is pretty much on top of things usually.
Posted by Pinelady (Member # 18524) on :
Me too seek. Posted by sapphire101 (Member # 6638) on :
Seek and Pinelady, a friend of mine was tested at Igenex and was negative. He had no symptoms but was bitten by a tick. I have to say I was kind of surprised.
Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
quote:Originally posted by bugbite: I gave the number to a friend of mine that got deer blood mixed with his for Igenex labs to get the ticks tested that was on the deer and his own blood tested
So he had ticks tested and he also had himself tested is that right?
What did the ticks test say? Also how long after he was bitten did he have blood drawn and tested?
I highly doubt if he had his blood drawn even a week after his bite that it would show up in his blood. Especially if he wasnt on abxs.
But the ticks he had tested is another thing they are destroyed and put through pcr which looks for lyme dna.
Posted by Kathryn (Member # 17034) on :
Seek - I was "negative" at Igenex, but had a ++++
on the 41 kda band, with a couple of IND on
Lyme-specific bands. So - yes - there is such a
thing as a negative Igenex result.... I don't
have gum disease or syphilis so shouldn't have
such a hugely positive 41 band. I've herxed
heavily on antibiotics over the last year of
treatment and am gradually improving. I plan to
re-test with Igenex in a couple of months to see
if any bands have converted to positive results.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
quote:Originally posted by seekhelp: I'd love to work there so I could see all the postives and hopefully some negatives too. [/QB]
There are plenty of people who had negative tests and we see them HERE all the time. ALL the time.
Mine was negative too.
Posted by Stacyb (Member # 13084) on :
I had a negative test too and so did my hubby. We were both very sick with Lyme and co-infections. We were diag. based on symptoms and herxed and improved on abx. So many folks are tested and have neg. results. In fact some of the most sickest have neg. results.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
quote:Originally posted by Stacyb: In fact some of the most sickest have neg. results.
Very true. Too sick for the body to make an adequate immune response.
Posted by Pinelady (Member # 18524) on :
Add that to the 3 weeks it may take to make antibodies after the bite. Good idea Kathryn.
Posted by bugbite (Member # 23028) on :
I don't know why some of you think "This could NEVER happen" or "Very Unlikely" that the guy may not be telling the truth?
Man, why on earth would he make it up when he was looking for help?
I got the number for Igenex directly off my lab report. They also quoted him $65 for each tick to be tested.
I find it very rude that some of you would suggest it to be a lie.
Maybe a new person at the phone? Ok, I can see that but to say he may have or I may have given out wrong info is mean.
We were looking for help. Not to be Criticized.
I got some really good info from allot of you so thank you for that!
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Sounds like the person answering the phone at Igenex knew absolutely NOTHING about Lyme and should have kept their mouth shut.
Posted by Lymeorsomething (Member # 16359) on :
Bug, what we're saying is insignificant compared to what she was supposedly saying. I think many were simply very surprised that this kind of info was being volunteered by lab support staff.
I don't think anyone meant to offend.
Whenever I've called Igenex with questions, a doctor from Igenex was always more than willing to answer my questions. Perhaps you should run this scenario by an Igenex doc.
I can't imagine anyone in a lab keeping their job for very long when they're attempting to diagnose people over the phone.
Posted by bugbite (Member # 23028) on :
Lymeorsomething, exactly! I was not only surprised but very confused as I thought this would be one of the top places to ask a question about testing weather it be about a tick that someone has in a bottle or about how to get ones own blood tested.
I was told that the Igenex test was the best. I was told I needed to be tested for co-infections.
I was directed to this web site for information and to Igenex for testing.
I was told I could get the best information available by the kind people of this board.
That is why I am here and why I directed my friend to Igenex. I wanted him to get the best help possible.
You yourself said "I would be inclined not to believe this happened"
How incrediably insane is this? Do you really think someone would make this up?
Just because I do not have a name at this moment and call the lab to ask "By the way do you have an employee there by the name of so and so that would have given my much scared friend at the time asking a question wrong information?"
As sick as I have been, as scared as my friend is of having this dreadful disease I assure you he did not make a false statement.
I will, myself, call the lab and ask why or how did this happen. As I trusted this lab to be the best of the best to send my friend for acurate information.
I "THOUGHT" you guy's may want to know something like this happen to an ordinary, new person to this board like me and my friend.
That Lyme not only is misunderstood at the level of trying to get treatment from a doctor but also misunderstood from the very labs that we get tested at.
I felt horrible that I directed my friend to this lab and he received information such as this when I thought for sure this was the safest place for him to ask how to get his ticks and himself tested.
With that said, I hope I have not offended anyone and I now close this thread.
Posted by Lymeorsomething (Member # 16359) on :
Bug, I can't say I blame you for feeling like you do. I only said what I did because I've talked to Igenex clerical staff before and they've never hinted at what my results were. Generally, they leave that discussion for your doc.
Even so I've seen the secretary for my local doc give out test info and she was quickly reprimanded so it does happen but I suspect very rarely. People do get careless at times.
Like I said, if you call Igenex and ask to talk to their doc, you generally will be allowed to do so. They can clear up the any confusion about info your friend was given.
Lyme-specific labs are sensitive topics on this board because the sick people here depend on them. In addition, Igenex has been fairly reliable procedure wise. This is why your question was met with some resistance.
Don't take it personal. It's a great place to get info
Good luck. Let us know how your friend makes out.
Posted by bugbite (Member # 23028) on :
LS, You still have it wrong.
He has not been tested yet, he was calling the lab for information about being tested. Both himself and the ticks he bottled.
The advice he was given was not to worry about it if he had not experianced any flu like symptoms in 24 hours.
Posted by Lymeorsomething (Member # 16359) on :
Bug, I'm not the lab's spokesperson. I was simply making analogies. Your concerns/your friend's concerns should be addressed with an Igenex doc as I've mentioned twice.
You're going in circles here. To generalize, most people here value Igenex highly. Your friend's one random interaction with Igenex, however inappropriate it may have been, does not mean we should be critical of the lab when collective experience suggests otherwise.
To be honest, your initial info wasn't very clear. Did your friend have a cut while gutting the deer? A gaping wound? How soon did he clean up? There are many variables at work.
How would we know all the info your friend related to the lab?
In short, you really need to hash this out with the lab. An Igenex doc will likely be able to discuss risk potential from deer blood exposure.
Posted by grandmother (Member # 19908) on :
That employee needs to be reinstructed.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Go to the source.
. Ask your friend, again, for exactly what they heard and who told them. A name is good.
Call the mgr. of the lab and let them know, give them a chance to talk as it may not be what it appears.
-
Posted by Pinelady (Member # 18524) on :
I have talked to some of them girls. They don't
seem to be that knowledgeable and one I talked to
was hard to understand, spanish. So I would ask to
speak with a supervisor. Hope it turns out ok.
Posted by linky123 (Member # 19974) on :
Sorry you had a bad experience. Never hurts to go to the top. Many times that's the only way to get things done right. I agree with Pinelady. Call back and ask for a supervisor.
Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
Posted by METALLlC BLUE (Member # 6628) on :
quote: LS, You still have it wrong.
He has not been tested yet, he was calling the lab for information about being tested. Both himself and the ticks he bottled.
The advice he was given was not to worry about it if he had not experianced any flu like symptoms in 24 hours.
I suggest some of us call and ask the same questions to confirm. Call and ask the person who answers the phone and say "If a person was bitten by a tick that was infected with Lyme but the person didn't have any symptoms within 24 hours, could they still be infected? I want to know because I'm interested in possibly getting tested."
It'll solve this inquisition quite fast. I'll call if no one else does by tomorrow. I'll go right to the source.
Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
I wasnt questioning if he lied I was trying see if the info got misconstrude. Anyway heres Igenex's tick test kit each test is $65.00 that is 5 tests performed on a single tick And you can choose which tests to perform when i did it I did all the tests its 5 diseases read in pdf. Heres the link. http://www.igenex.com/files/ticktest.pdf
Tree said... "I wasnt questioning if he lied I was trying see if the info got misconstrude."
Tree LIE?
When pigs fly!
Some one asked me last night if there was a full moon! It seems to me that there has been one for about 3 weeks now!
At least on the Lyme boards.
And next time, Tree... when you post something..
Just ask the person you are responding to what kind of soap you should use to wash out your mouth with and make life simpler for yourself!
If you want, you can use mine! I've been accused of the same thing!
But the way it is going lately... if we had a line-up of genuine Saints here, my bet is they would have to be digging out their bars of soap too!!
Posted by Limping Lily (Member # 5099) on :
guys, i'm on the floor with this repartee! what you have is a comedy of errors,so lighten up already!
Posted by METALLlC BLUE (Member # 6628) on :
Igenex says they don't give medical advice by phone. So apparently who ever did give you advice was in violation of their policy. Unfortunate. If you have a name you can report it to the supervisor.
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
aw shucks, i'll jump in. i was a positive with igenex and called and they wouldn't even talk to me.
they said they only discuss it with the doctor.
wonder who you talked to?
remember -- that dog don't hunt...
Posted by Lymeorsomething (Member # 16359) on :
Thanks MB for clearing that up. I have discussed western blot procedural topics with them before but diagnoses/personal medical issues are generally off limits for labs.
Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :
MB said... "I'll go right to the source."
EXCELLENT idea!
And really, the only sensible one.
Posted by bugbite (Member # 23028) on :
I finally got in touch with my friend that called and got the name of who he spoke to.
Now that I have that I will call Monday and ask for a manager.
I want this to be cleared up as much as anyone else does.
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
`
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[lol]](graemlins/lol.gif)