Here and there, random thoughts on food, photos, marketing, & customer service

An article from the New York Times about a record breaking chain of 30 kidney transplants

http://t.co/e4ca6AZP

Update 2/1/11: Many Bloggers are looking for swift Internet Blog justice when they write a Blog article on something that happened to them. I’m sure you’ve seen them. The Barista at Starbucks has a bad day, looks at the customer the wrong way, forgets to put whipped cream on his carmel flavored hot drinky drink coffee and BAM! Later that morning, the Blogger pens a snarky Blog post (quite possibly while working for someone else at his crappy dead end job) about how upset he is that some other bastard in another dead end job wronged him and skunked up his normally quite tasty $5 morning coffee. The world’s a horrible place, we know (stop drinking corporate coffee and things might be a tad better BTW).

When I wrote this I cited two visits that happened at two different locations, with two different unhappy workers. In the case of the place I went first, I had been there many time before and out of the dozen or so times I was there, I only once talked to someone who I thought was nice to me. I’m not the kindest or friendliest looking guy when I am on my way to get my arm punched full of holes (again). I come in my work clothes, and well yes I do look an INS/ICE agent with my black boots, and work jacket, I am actually a nice guy. I know dealing with unhappy, low-income people all day is most likely a thankless job, so I am ALWAYS super polite when I come in. Don’t forget these folks can make me pay by way of the needle, so I am ALWAYS on my best behavior when I come in. My point here is that while I detailed these two incidents, there were plenty of other times I visited this same center, where I was subjected to less than kind medical services. And while this post is about me, I heard plenty from the loud mouths behind the counter. I’m sorry I have excellent hearing and they are not exactly discreet. I heard the same lady I had issues with tell a nice hispanic couple who were trying to figure out how to have a seaman analysis performed. She told them something along the lines that it could not be done at this office, but a sample could be dropped off at another office. When the poor man asked how a sample should be tendered at the office and if there was a “place” that could be done, She said no there was no place, but if he stopped at the McDonald’s near the other office, he could “produce” a sample there in the bathroom and rush it over so it was fresh to the nearby office. That’s just one thing I heard while waiting, and waiting for my turn to be stabbed. Someone would approach the counter, and she’d stick out her hand and say “PAPERWORK!”. Not cool at all.

I’m telling you, this was not a case of me being a baby, but a real issue with our healthcare system and the people working for Quest. Did the regional manager for Quest reach out to me? Yes he did. Was he extremely nice? He sure was. Did he do something about it, I think he did. From what I understand from the “community” of people that are forced to endure repeated blood draws, the person who gave me so much trouble is no longer with Quest. How does someone that is so upset stay on in a what they must feel is a terrible job without management not knowing about the issue? No clue.

Companies should be on top of this, they should be following up with clients. When a real complaint comes down the line, it should be handled swiftly by people who are able to do something about it. The first response from Quest hould have not been a “canned” form letter, and in my mind should have warranted a phone call to me right away.

In any case, I’m grateful that Quest did take action to ensure this person did not have the chance to do any more damage. If you read the update below, I am now going to a different Quest office with much better results.

What’s should be done with a Blog post now that problem has been solved, the offending company has apologized, and I’ve moved on? Do you delete the post? I don’t know.

Update 1/7/11: I still go visit Quest Diagnostics once a month, however I now go to a different location that is south of Glen Burnie. There I have discovered the polar opposite of the staff that I had so much issue with in the two Glen Burnie centers. I now see a phlebotomist named Theresa who takes wonderful care of me. I’ve been to see her three times already and she always asks how I’m doing and she always wishes me well when I leave. She might be the most wonderful medical service provider I have ever run across. Also the Quest office that I now go to is totally clean, up to date, and looks great.

Because I’m waiting for a kidney transplant, I have to get a blood sample to Johns Hopkins once a month. I also have to be regularly tested so my nephrologist can monitor my kidney function. As a result, I’ve become quite familiar with Quest Diagnostics, as that’s where I go to get my blood drawn.

These centers The centers I have visited recently are staffed by unhappy people, who appear to hate their jobs and seem to relish making my life as difficult as possible. I admit I have some strange issues and because I bring my own blood sample vial for Johns Hopkins, I’ll admit it’s not normal. However, I show up with the the sample vial and it’s shipping box and every time they pretend like they have never seen me before and bitch up a storm about how this is a pain for them.

Since these people stick sharp objects into me, I’ve resisted the urge to complain or post something that is not exactly a compliment here on my Blog.

Here’s the letter that I recently sent Quest to let them know how I feel.

Dear Quest Diagnostics,

I went to the Quest Diagnostics Oakwood Road center in Glen Burnie, MD on Monday (8/2/10) near the end of the day, and the person who was staffing that office was there alone and not happy about it. She was busy. I tried to make an appointment on-line, but the Quest website was down, so I did not know this office closed at 3:00 PM. She slammed things around, made lots of bad body language cues, and was just generally not helpful or friendly. Because I had a priority draw, she would not do it because it was so late and that office does not do those anyways. There is no way I could have known that. When I noticed her body language and was made aware that the office was closing soon by her stomping across the office and locking the door, I offered to leave. She did offer to take care of me, “because I was there”, but I soon found out she could not. She then was like “I can do this one, but not this one,” (I had two orders) I told her I would rather just do the blood draw thing one time and left. This was not the first time I’ve run into this person, and every time I come to visit (once a month), I get the same attitude.

I then went the next day (Tuesday 8/3/10) to the Hospital Drive office, also in Glen Burnie, MD where it was not much better. I made an appointment on-line for 12:00 Noon. I arrived 15 minutes early to a clogged waiting room, and a huge line of people. I signed in and then waited for about 5 minutes, when nothing happened, I left to use the bathroom and made a quick phone call, but was back by 11:55. I went up to the counter and the lady was like “I called you three times, and you did not answer”. “See this”, pointing to the clipboard “I wrote no answer because you were NOT here!” I told her that I was sorry and that I was indeed there for the 12:00 Noon appointment. I waited over 30 minutes until I was put in a room, where I then waited another 5 minutes or so. I’m sure she was punishing me for not being there when she called my name, but I was indeed there in time for my appointment. She had the same bad attitude and body language as the other center. While I waited around the corner, out of sight of the window, I could hear her doing her work. She would pick up a rubber stamp, and stamp something so hard the entire room could hear the crash it made as she slammed it down. Same thing held true for her stapler. She’d bang down on that so hard it sounded as if she was causing harm to herself. She talked loudly, had no respect for anyone, not even for clients who addressed her with respect.

I’m sick and waiting for a kidney transplant. I’m sure many of the other people waiting here in your offices are also sick or not feeling well. These paying “customers” often have no choice but come to your lab to have a blood sample drawn. All of them deserve your employee’s respect as they try to comply with all of the rules and regulations that they must endure in order to meet the requirements. Many have never been to your office before, and they have no idea what’s going on, but that’s no reason not to treat these folks with respect.

If your workers are unhappy, then they should seek employment elsewhere, and your management should take steps to ensure your paying customers are not berated by your employees.

Update 8/9/10: Here is their response. I have not included the personal contact info that was included with the letter:

Thank you for your inquiry regarding the service you received during
your recent visit to the Patient Service Centers (PSC)located in Glen
Burnie, Md. We strive for excellence in our PSCs and feedback from our
patients is crucial in providing us with direction for improvement. I
personally get involved with the investigation and the implementation of
any training that we may need to do for areas that are in need of
improvement.

When visiting one of our PSCs our patients should always be treated with
a high degree of quality service. I apologize that you did not
experience this with us on your visit. I will promptly work with the
staff at this location(s).

Thank you again for taking the time to send to me the comments. I hope
that we will have the opportunity to service you in the future. Please
feel free to contact me directly, in the future, if you should have any
further questions or concerns.

Update 8/9/10: I continue to have to have my blood drawn, so I decided to try a different Quest office in Crofton, Maryland. I’m happy to report it was nothing like my prior issues with the two Glen Burnie offices that I had been going to. The person who was in the office was cheerful, happy to see me, figured out my weird paperwork in about 2 minutes, and performed my blood draw quickly with no pain or discomfort. Also, if you read the comments, someone else from Quest is looking into the situation. I will let you know what happens regarding that.

Update 4/15/11 I am happy to report that a kidney donor came forward for me and I am scheduled for a transplant early this summer. I want to thank all the people who were tested, those who supported me, the friends, family, doctors, transplant coordinators, MacMedics employees, 4H folks, and people I don’t even know who sent well wishes and good vibes my way and helped spread the word about the need for a donor (A special shout out to Mario Armstrong who did all he could to help get the word out). Most importantly, I’d like to thank my donor, who found me on the Internets and wanted to help. I’m very grateful to her and her willingness to donate one of her kidneys so that I can get my life back.

I plan to leave this page up, as it still attracts a good deal of traffic from my Vegan and Macintosh related posts. Perhaps, it will help someone else get the lifesaving donation that they have been waiting for. After I have my surgery, I’ll try to find a way to make this domain and it’s SEO score work for others who are waiting.

I know for a fact that you can step forward as an altruistic kidney and contact Johns Hopkins (you can call my donor coordinator listed below) and they will test you for free and if you pass the tests, they will match you to someone who needs a new lease on life. My donor and many others have come to donate via Johns Hopkins, as they are known world-wide for their amazing kidney program.

There are over 80,000 people waiting for a kidney transplant, so if this is something you’ve thought about, don’t delay.

Hi,

If you’ve found this page on my Blog, it might be because you’ve been invited to join the “A Kidney For Dana” Facebook page. I have been spreading the word about my kidney search via Facebook, Twitter, and my Blog since September ’09. At the suggestion of a friend I went ahead and created a Facebook “Group” to support my search.

Even if you’re NOT thinking about being a donor, please consider joining my groupanyways and posting something on your Facebook page about it. Someone you know might want to be a donor. Lots of organ donations occur because a friend of a friend passed on the word. There might be someone in your “network” that would like to be tested. If they turn out to be a match for me, imagine how good that would feel if you were able to make that connection?

For all the people (friends, family, AND people I don’t even know) who have posted something on their Facebook Wall about my situation – THANKS!

To all of my friends, family, employees, MacMedics clients, and colleagues, thank you so much for your support so far.

There are thousands of people waiting for a life saving kidney transplant, so if you’re willing to become a fan of “Can this poodle wearing a tinfoil hat get more fans than Glenn Beck?” (261,337 Fans) or the fan page for “Can the Baltimore Ravens get 1000000 fans before the Pittsburgh Steelers” (39,384 Fans), maybe you’d be willing to help spread the word about a life saving kidney donation by joining my page here.

BTW: The Facebook group for the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland only has 177 Fans, so if you’re supporting me or someone else with kidney issues here in the great state of Maryland, then please consider becoming a “Fan” of their page as well.

Since my kidney doctors have now charted my kidney decline based on the data from the last 2 years of blood tests, they are encouraging me to ramp up my donor search. Based on that recent “push” from them, I’m trying to let everyone in my network know. Maybe you would consider being tested? If so, that’s way more than I could ever ask. But really my goal here is just to get the message to as many people as possible to even up my odds as much as I can.

Update 12/24/10 My creatinine levels (what they use to judge kidney function) have pretty much doubled since last year. Also my phosphorus levels are also now out of whack as well. I’m now taking 800 MG phosphorus binder with every meal in order to push the phosphorus out of my system since my kidneys can’t fully regulate it any longer.

I’m extremely lucky to have the luxury of trying to find a “perfect match” since I’m not so sick, that they will just cram in any old kidney in order to save my life. They want me get a transplant now, while I’m healthy and try to avoid having to take a “deceased donor” kidney. I’ve been feeling pretty good, but I do get a little tired from time to time, but better take care of this issue before I have to go on dialysis. 

For those of you who know me well, you know asking for help is not easy for me. but, this is a case where I could really use some. By becoming a member of my Facebook group, you won’t get a knock on your door for a kidney in the middle of the night, but you can help spread the word about my story. The more folks that hear about it, the better my chances of someone taking action on it.

All of the recent kidney transplant “chains” have been started by one altruistic donor who read about a person in need of a kidney transplant in a newsletter or a church bulletin or something. One altruistic donor can save as many as 16 lives at once! Short of putting an ad in the paper (I’ve thought about it!), the more people who hear about my issue the better. A new variation in kidney paired donation (KPD) — pioneered and developed at Johns Hopkins — could theoretically generate an endless number of transplants.

There’s more info on this topic on my main page (which can be found here), but I often get asked what blood type are you? I’m extremely lucky to be able to accept a kidney from any blood type as I’m a “universal recipient” and I have the blood type AB-. So if you’ve been wondering if YOU can donate a kidney to me based on blood type, the answer is yes. Also, the testing is quick and FREE, but the paperwork and screening takes awhile. If you’ve thought about getting tested for me or someone else, please don’t put it off. The more time and data Johns hopkins has to work with, the better. It’s quick, and it’s free. Johns Hopkins will pay for all testing.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Dana 

You can join my Facebook group here.

You can read my whole story and get more information at http://www.AKidneyForDana.org

I recently was a guest on Mario Armstrong’s Digital Cafe segment that airs on WYPR 88.1 FM in Baltimore. Mario was nice enough to interview me about my quest for a new kidney and my use of social media to aid in my search. This is a deeply personal topic, and I thank Mario for inviting me on his show to talk about my story. You can visit Mario’s Blog to hear the full show via a MP3 you can download here.

To read more about my story please see my kidney webpage at http://www.akidneyfordana.org.

Update 1/18/12 This was recently posted in the comments. I have yet to verify on my own yet, but this does appear to be legit. -Dana

Thank you for contacting Panera Bread. With the exception of our Jalapeño Cheddar Bagel, we have recently introduced a new natural bagel base in our bagels that does not use l-cysteine or cysteine. Please note that neither was ever an ingredient in our Artisan breads.

Thank you again for contacting us. We appreciate your interest in our menu items.

Sincerely,
Casey
Customer Comments Coordinator

–

Orignal Post:

Everyone like bagels, and I sure do. I eat one almost everyday. By way of an awesome business arrangement we end up with a nice cache of Panera gift cards from time to time. I had been getting the Mediterranean veggie sandwich – hold the feta. By all accounts, totally tasty and all vegan. The only problem is a veggie sandwich is not very manly, and thus not very filling. The free pickle (I hope that’s vegan) is a nice added bonus!

I had taken to ordering an extra plain bagel “to go” in order to top off my appetite later if the veggie sandwich did not completely do the job.

Panera does a good job of listing all of their ingredients on their website, so we knew for instance that the “French Toast” bagel was not suitable for vegans. No biggie, I can deal with a good old plain bagel.

I wrote to Panera a few days ago to ask about more clearly labeling the bagels so people would know that some were NOT vegan. I also wished for some sort of bakery item, as none of the baked goods at Panera are vegan. Sad, they look so good! Damn!

Here’s my e-mail to Panera:

Dear Panera,

You should more clearly label the items that are on your menu as vegan. Some of the bagels are and some are not. Also, it would be super cool if you offered just one vegan bakery item, a tart, a cookie, a brownie, or a cake. If you did, I would buy one every single time I stopped in for lunch or dinner. While I don’t care if it’s gluten free or not, it might be possible to have a gluten free, vegan treat and solve two problems at once.

Dana

Here’s the super friendly Panera response:

Dear Dana,

Thank you for contacting Panera Bread. The mono & diglycerides in our breads and bagels are all vegetable-sourced. Our cheeses, except for Asiago, Feta and Gorgonzola, are processed with non-animal enzymes (Dana says: I assume this is in reference to Casein a protein that is found in milk. It is often found in cheese, and it’s almost always in cheese alternatives).  Please note, that our current ingredients’ vendor has informed us that the amino acid l-cysteine used in our bagels is derived from an animal source.

L-Cysteine is a minor constituent of the bagel base commonly and widely used in the baking industry as a dough conditioner.  It is an amino acid obtained from a number of sources by means of hydrolysis (a lengthy refining process).  The end product is extremely remote from its natural or synthetic origin.

There are many choices on our menu for vegetarians or for those who watch their diet for religious reasons. However, if it is a serious concern for you, or you are a vegan, rather than a vegetarian, you will always want to check ingredients before you order. I have also noted your request to our product development team for future consideration.

By definition, “Vegan” means foods with NO animal products: NO meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy (including whey and casein) nor their by-products. Some strict “Vegans” may even avoid honey, white sugar, beer, vinegar and yeast.  So we do not label any of our products as specifically Vegan because of these various differences of opinion.  We do list all the ingredients of all our menu items on our website (and in notebooks in our bakery-cafés, which are available for viewing on request), so we leave it up to you to check on specific items to see if they fit your own definition of “Vegan.”

Thank you again for contacting us. We appreciate your business and value your thoughts on our menu.

Sincerely,
Alice
Customer Comment Coordinator

Sadly, NONE of the bagels at Panera, are vegan. What? That’s crazy. What’s in a bagel that’s not egg and that’s NOT vegan. The answer is L-Cysteine. It’s a tiny part, but it’s used as a dough conditioner, and apparently it’s pretty widely used. You can read the sicking details on it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cysteine

The non vegan and also the non vegetarian forms are most commonly made from duck feathers. Yeah, you heard me, duck feathers. I suppose that’s better then the other non-delightful version that’s made from human hair (there’s some question if this qualifies a cannibalism. Wow!). Now they do process this stuff to extremes, so as Panera mentions in their e-mail to me, the source is far, far removed from the end product, but it’s still not vegan.

Update 11/10/09: Dunkin’ Donuts’ bagels are not vegan either. See this link for a letter that reads like the the one above from Panera. Sad.

This post gets quite a bit of attention from folks searching for info on bagels being vegan or not (BTW some bagels ARE vegan).