...records did not survive moves and such, and the Drs., by and large, have passed away, or retired and are goodness knows where.

I have just rebuilt them as best I could from my memory. It doesn't replace x-rays and other things, but I can't change it. :-(

I have lost records as recently as 2003. When the 'old' hospital here moved to their new location, ALL records were lost. I had quite a few things from there, such as the cracked cartilage in my knee, blood work, etc. etc.

And, Dh lost an important dental impression that can't be replaced when his dental place decided to purge everything - not things that had been there a long time, because they decided to switch to computers...and they didn't notify the patients so that they had the option to get their records, x-rays, and impressions.

To be blunt, it s*cks. I'm sorry that you're going through this.