No Pouchoscopy Without Covid 19 Test

Give us a report afterward, so we know what to expect if it has to happen to anyone else here. Good luck. 

I will definitely report back after the Covid test and my pouchoscopy. I am not really looking forward to it but we have to do what we have to do. 

On a separate note - a good personal friend of mine told me that his brother-in-law needs surgery since severing a nerve in his hand while cutting an avocado, but is refusing to proceed with his surgery because he can't do the Covid Test which his surgeon is requiring. One of my coworkers just had surgery and she too was required to do a Covid Test. So I don't think it's just pouchoscopies, it's a variety of medical procedures now where you either take the Covid Test or there is no procedure done for you. It's non-negotiable.

I had the Covid test when I was recently admitted for a SBO.  It is not that bad folks.  10 seconds of feeling like you are coughing up a hairball and it’s all done.  We have been through far worse with our j pouches.  We need to do our party protect our Heath care workers, and fellow patients.

So, noses up, take a deep breath, and count to 10.

Gah, I'd dislike it as well.  Perhaps you can wrangle a lollipop afterwards.  

Girlunky I am with you, I am not looking forward to this. I may have a few drinks before I go in for the test. 

Jaypea, why did it make you feel as though coughing up a hairball?  Did it make you gag?  

Pretty funny that people who have had all kinds of equipment up their butt are concerned about a stick up the nose.  

I am used to having things stuck up my butt. My nostrils on the other hand are very very narrow and sensitive. When they put the NG tube down my nose, which is the last horrifying invasive nasal penetration I had, it was 1992 and they only had a "one size fits all" NG tube which appeared to the naked eye to be unable to fit in my very small nostrils. I realize the swab they use is much thinner than the 1992 model, "one size fits all" NG tubes, but the penetration is much deeper and more invasive.

I join in the winterberry question to jaypea- why would it make you cough or gag if it's not in your throat but deep in the nasal cavity?

The swab for Covid goes in the posterior pharynx...waaay down deep.  It tickles and annoys the top part of the back of your throat for the 10 seconds and the body's natural reaction is to try to sneeze, cough it out.  They don't go deep enough to cause a gag reflex.  I would take a million Covid swabs over one NG tube any day (and I have had many of the dreaded nose hoses).

I think my girlfriend did mention something to me about the Covid swab wanting to make her sneeze now that you mention it. I think she said she was sneezing after the swab as well.

I just had the Covid Test done at Yale. Apparently they are no longer doing the deep nasopharyngeal swab. The Covid technician told me the new test was easy and "I was in luck." She took a cotton swab and stuck it into each nostril about a half inch and then swirled it around the walls of the nostrils as if she was mixing a drink. Kind of tickled actually. Not painful and not even uncomfortable. Ticklish. I will get results tomorrow.

I was impressed with how well organized the drive through "Covid Specimen Collection Station" is at Yale. I was in and out in 3 minutes. No wait, no line. Very efficient.

That’s good to know that Yale is doing this type of testing,  My daughter works in physical therapy in a skilled nursing facility and has to be tested every week now and it is the more uncomfortable up the nostril testing.  The second time she had it done, she did a breathing exercise that helped relax her and made it more tolerable.

Just got my test result back, NEGATIVE.  My pouchoscopy will proceed as scheduled on Monday!

@CTB23 posted:

That’s good to know that Yale is doing this type of testing,  My daughter works in physical therapy in a skilled nursing facility and has to be tested every week now and it is the more uncomfortable up the nostril testing.  The second time she had it done, she did a breathing exercise that helped relax her and made it more tolerable.

CTB23,

It's not clear to me why I got off the hook with the easier and much less invasive "double nostril swirl test."  I questioned the technician about this and she said the test she gave me is just as accurate as the deep nasopharyngeal swab.  If that's true though, why wouldn't the much less invasive "double nostril swirl test" be the industry standard?  Maybe they save it for the sick people, I was just going for a pouch scope and reported no symptoms.  Maybe if I was sick they would have given me the more invasive swab test?

My girlfriend and I will have to be tested again (possibly) if Maine still has it's 14 day quarantine rule in place when our August trip to Maine rolls around.  I am hoping not, but we have agreed we will both do it and go to Maine if we both test negative again.  She also tested negative recently after the deep nasopharyngeal swab test, which she said reminded her of when she stuffed beads up her nose as a young girl, on a dare by another young girl. She said it was very uncomfortable but unlike the beads, the swab came right out of her nose.

I wanted to give you guys an update on Covid 19 testing. I posted earlier in this thread that I had the noninvasive Covid test done on June 29 and was tested negative. Results were back in a little over 8 hours. I am advised that the non invasive test now has become standardized at other facilities and rapid results can be obtained in 20 minutes. My ladyfriend and I decided we are going to go and get tested later this week. There is a place locally that does it on a walk in basis (Doc's in East Haven, CT) and I texted them today and they confirmed they do the noninvasive test.  Patients are seen on a walk in basis and no appointments can be made.

My ladyfriend just got back from a trip with her GF to California, and we will be leaving for a trip to Maine later in the week.  Although the tests are not necessary for us to vacation in Maine as Connecticut is one of the so called "Sensational 6" States (NY, CT, NJ, ME, NH, VT) that are exempted from Maine's quarantine rules, we are doing it so we can be comfortable with each other on our vacation.

I must caution that the non invasive test tickles. The swab is swirled around the walls of both of your nostrils in a rapid clockwise motion - it's like the motion with which you would stir a drink with a stirrer. It does tickle a bit. Anyway we are to get tested together. Hopefully we will both be negative or it will be a major bummer.