I Was Tested For COVID-19 This Weekend, And It Wasn’t That Bad
It was a call I wasn't expecting to get. It was from my physician asking me to come in to get tested for COVID-19 before my scheduled appointment later this week. I get why they want to have me tested, for the safety of the nurses, doctors, and other patients in the building. I came out of my test Saturday morning no worse for wear and to be honest, it wasn't painful at all.
Let's go back for a second. I had surgery on my sinuses March 20, pretty much the last day elective surgeries were allowed in March due to COVID-19. Since then I've had some follow-ups with my ear/nose/throat doctor, but they weren't able to go back and check how I was healing, without a test.
Since I wasn't having any issues, and I still am not having issues, the medical staff didn't feel it was necessary for me to get tested. They told me it could be painful and uncomfortable.
Well, now that I have another follow up with another physician they are requiring all of their patients to be tested before coming in. That's why I was called to be tested.
The process of being tested was pretty straight forward, I arrived at the hospital, checked-in, and then after a short wait was called back to give a blood sample and to be 'swabbed'.
The blood sample was for an antibodies test to see if I had had COVID-19 already, and the swab was to see if I currently had COVID-19. The 'swabbing' was really painless and more awkward/uncomfortable. I had a medical professional come in the room I was in, full PPE, and take a wire with a soft end and pushed it up into my nose to the back of my throat.
Some people might find it painful to have something go that far up their sinuses, but for me, it wasn't bad at all, plus I was in and out in about 10 minutes. I got my results in 12 hours and was negative. My antibodies test results should be later this week to tell me if I have already had COVID-19.
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