SPRINGFIELD, Va. — A mother's agonizing wait for life-sustaining medical equipment for her son dragged on five days. Every day, Teresa Elder was told the pulse oximeter was on it's way. But she learned later, the device was not even in stock.
For every day it failed to arrive, it developed into more of a life-or-death issue for Tommy Elder, 26. He has a severe form of epilepsy which causes seizure and can leave his blood with dangerously low oxygen.
They use a pulse oximeter to monitor his heart rate and oxygen level.
"If he has a seizure, you would see those numbers change drastically--really quick." said Teresa Elder.
A tank of oxygen sits next to Tommy's bed because he suffers seizures about twice a month requiring oxygen.
Without the pulse oximeter, they would not know if he needs oxygen, and he could wind up in the hospital or die.
They rent the machine from Apria Healthcare. Thursday night, the machine stopped working. Teresa called Apria on Friday to arrange an exchange with a working machine.
That's when the empty promises started.
"Friday night they promised it to me by midnight. The next morning I started calling. And not only did they say they were going to bring it, but several times on Saturday they told me it was on a truck and we were the next stop," said Teresa. "And it wasn't. Finally on Saturday night I demanded to speak to a manager."
But it still didn't come. Monday, she got another runaround with customer service reps giving her numerous delivery times.
"They told me several times that the machine was on the truck and that I was their next stop," said Teresa. She said they gave her at least seven different delivery times over four days.
Then, on Tuesday, she was told by an Apria representative that the reason they could not deliver a pulse oximeter is because it was not in stock at the local branch.
A company representative left a message on Teresa's cell phone that said "I see you were having some issues with being told incorrect ETAs as far as delivery is concerned for your exchange...unfortunately customer service is outsourced and they do not have direct dealings with a branch... However, our branch is out of stock of that item and it has been ordered."
An Apria customer service representative who said his name was Brad G. gave WUSA9 the same information - that Teresa had been given multiple ETAs "incorrectly" because the machine was out of stock.
"We apologize to the mother, that she was given that kind of information that was incorrect," said Brad G.
Teresa Elder said she would've preferred to know the truth.
"It was more frustrating and infuriating was being told it was coming, and it wasn't," said Teresa.
A new pulse oximeter was delivered Wednesday morning after an agonizing five-day wait. Teresa is hoping the machine lasts a long time.