So, I'm either COVID negative or not pregnant....

[brooklynite]

[ProfessorGAC]

1. Same Here

My test card looks different but I got a negative today.
I have a slight fever (99°) & a slight sore throat. Given the world we live in, of course I was worried about COVID.
I tested negative.
I'm pretty sure I'm not pregnant.

[Ms. Toad]

2. Three negative antigen tests -

Since Sunday AM:

scratchy throat
cough
runny nose
slight fever

PCR pending

(I was supposed to have my 3-month, 1-year check-ups tomorrow for the aggressive cancer I was diagnosed with a year ago - I was hoping the symptoms would vanish and I'd get a negative test and not have to cancel them. No such luck fever is too high today to be 24 hours without a fever. Not positive - but still symptoms consistent with COVID)

Definitely not pregnant:

A decade past menopause
Monagamous
Spouse is female
Not raped in the last few decades

But i still have to pee on a stick before surgery . . .

[LisaL]

3. Might be a common cold.

Tis the season.

[Ms. Toad]

4. Fever and early cough pretty much rule out a cold for me.

The cough is like the coughs I had with every cold before I discovered zinc (or if I stopped it to early). All of my colds used to last a month or longer, with multiple threats from parents, spouse, daughter, college roommates to drag me to the ER because of my cough. 10-20% of the time they turned into bronchitis. Until, I decided to try zinc lozenges just for the heck of it (I figured it couldn't hurt - and it might help). My colds are 3-4 days long now, virtually no cough - as long as I start on zinc within about 12 hours of the first scratchy throat. The lozenges seem to act like a physical barrier to prevent it from moving to my chest.

I started on zinc right away Sunday - and the cough started the first day (not typical for a cold).

For me, fevers are pretty much limited to flu or the start of a c diff flare-up. c diff flare up fevers are no more than 6 hours (for me). This is a bit low for influenza (usually 101+ for a few days, and this has only hit 100.8 - mostly hanging out at arround 99.8.

My bet is either COVID that isn't being detected by the antigen tests or perhaps my second (IIRC) case of the flu since 2009.

Whatever it is, it seems to be on slowing down (although the cough is already making people worry about me).

[BlackSkimmer]

5. Really?

I’ve never had to do that before surgery.

How weird.

[Ms. Toad]

6. Standard in every hospital for two cities around here.

I can think of 5 surgeries off the top of my head and four for my spouse in one major, one medium-sized city and 5 hospitals. At least 4 post-menopausal surgeries for either me or my spouse. They all ask if there is any chance the person undergoing surgery could be pregnant. I tell them no. They make me give them a urine sample anyway. The last one was December 29 a year ago, age 64, a decade after my last period.

[BlackSkimmer]

9. Unreal.

I had major surgery in my late 50s, and again in my early 60s. No stick peeing lol.

Sounds like an excuse to pad the insurance bill to me. Completely unnecessary.

[Ms. Toad]

10. I agree it's completely unnecessary,

But given its prevalence, it's almost certainly required by insurance (to ensure there is no fetus to be damaged which might later sue for negligence on the hospital'spart).

I had surgery in the 60s - but was only 7. Pretty sure they didn't do a pregnancy test then, but I don't remember the details.

I left out one of my recent surgeries (2.5 years ago) (in a different hospital from the most recent surgery (1 year ago)) - they did a pregnancy test then, as well.

[Takket]

7. what do "C" and "T" stand for?

[Trekologer]

8. control and test

The control line indicates that the test strip worked properly. If the control line doesn't appear, it indicates that the strip was faulty, even if the test line appears. A test is only positive if both control and test lines appear.