Stressful Week & Camping Updates!

First, let me say that I got a follow-up call from Bed, Bath & Beyond the other day from one of the District Customer Service reps. She asked when I had visited the store because she was attempting to figure out who the clerk was in order to get her some further training...She apologized profusely & asked if there was anything that she could do for us because she didn't want to lose our business. I definitely could have milked it for all it was worth, but I'm not that kind of person (even I would never want a freebie at someone else's expense)...especially since G & I were laughing about it...but it was really nice to get the call & know that they do care about the quality of service that you receive at their stores!

In other news, this past week has been one of the most stressful ones in a long time, which would explain why there haven't been blog posts updating on things in life, camping, etc. The RE's office called us on Monday night to inform us that while they were incorrect with their call the week prior telling us that we owed for pre-screenings, they still did need to collect for B's required FDA screenings in the amount of ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS. I thought I was going to die. I vented to the billing lady on the phone saying that I know it isn't her fault but how is it possible that these expenses were never outlined to us from the get-go...she was incredulous that we had never been given an itemized list of costs. Then I started crying on the phone telling her that I didn't know if we would be able to remain a part of the study. This "free" study, which was only supposed to cost us a "couple thousand" in screening costs has ended up racking up $6000 in bills when all is said and done. That just does NOT sit well with me. I also vented to a nurse at the office that if we had known it would cost that much, we might as well have gone through an agency. That would have saved me all the hassle of finding a donor & lining up somewhere for her to go for distance monitoring. So I hung up the phone, told G & cried some more. His parents ended up finding out about it and offered to give us some money so that we could finish out what we've started. We are eternally grateful...

THEN, Wednesday, I got an email from the nurse telling me that she received the consents that we signed & sent back in, however the envelope was not addressed specifically TO HER & it ended up getting opened at the front desk & being given to the research team. The research team would not accept it because it is actually supposed to be signed in-office & then witnessed by the nurse...which, of course, I was never told! I ended up having to re-print the paperwork out, get DH's signature & spend $13 to mail it out Express so that it would be there the next day (Thursday, the last day before their long holiday weekend) in order to be able to start meds on Sunday to keep on schedule. Again, I cried and got mad and thought I was going to lose it on someone at the office (specifically the nurse). You can BET that, when all is said and done, we will be sending a letter to the office manager, detailing all of the issues, miscommunications and lack of organization that we have had to deal with over the past few months. Please pray for us!

Last but not least, let's lighten the mood with a list of fun times from camping (the first 9 are due to G & J pretending they were Harry Potter characters pretty much the entire time...let me remind you that they are 29 & 18 years old!!):
British accents
Patronus
Leaky cauldron
Ron, Luna, Professors Lupin and McGonnagal (sp), and Hermione
Hagrid and fang
Dennis creevy aka creepy Joe
chamber of secrets
stupify, lumos, and all the other spells
dark forest
Frisbee golf
screaming in the bathroom (I told Jenna that she had 'sunburn' on her head and she thought I said that she had 'something' on her head and she started screaming like crazy)
fishing
pancake rock
Recycle Bin Ball
"you scared the poop out of me!"
aunt chris yelling at us for saying sucks
cheating at phase 10 (Gregg and Jenna cheated pretty much the entire game so that Jenna could win)
uno
farting
yummy mountain pies
teri's creepy voice-"I like what you're wearing"
popping lids off bottles (pretty much making bottle-rockets out of water-bottle lids)
long johns
crossing the dam
bridge run
Jenna ordering ice cream in a British accent

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