Xander, don't speak Latin in front of the books!

Giles ,'Lies My Parents Told Me'


Spike's Bitches 41: Thrown together to stand against the forces of darkness  

[NAFDA] Spike-centric discussion. Lusty, lewd (only occasionally crude), risqué (and frisqué), bawdy (Oh, lawdy!), flirty ('cuz we're purty), raunchy talk inside. Caveat lector.


vw bug - May 25, 2008 6:10:09 pm PDT #527 of 10001
Mostly lurking...

My PCP doesn't do it. She knows better. But, every trip to the ER or GYN, I get a pregnancy test.


Laga - May 25, 2008 6:11:47 pm PDT #528 of 10001
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.

that's bizarre. And they charge you for it?


vw bug - May 25, 2008 6:16:11 pm PDT #529 of 10001
Mostly lurking...

Well, I'm sure someone's paying for it, though I have pretty much 100% insurance coverage.

I know at the hospital system I use, they routinely do pregnancy tests on any female who is of "child-bearing age."


ChiKat - May 25, 2008 6:19:17 pm PDT #530 of 10001
That man was going to shank me. Over an omelette. Two eggs and a slice of government cheese. Is that what my life is worth?

I can't tell you how many pregnancy tests I've had to have when there was absolutely no way I could be pregnant. Even when you say, "I haven't had sex in a year," they still test me. It's annoying.

Of course, it also happens to my girlfriend who explains that she's a lesbian and in a relationship with a woman and hasn't had sex with a man in over 10 years.


Steph L. - May 25, 2008 6:26:04 pm PDT #531 of 10001
the hardest to learn / was the least complicated

that's bizarre. And they charge you for it?

I don't know about charging, but the ER really does have to perform a pregnancy test every time. Mostly, it's because of liability. If someone says they're not pregnant -- whether they really believe that or they're lying for whatever reason -- and then they're prescribed a teratogenic drug that harms the fetus, the hospital is FUCKED, legally.

Sadly, a lot of patients to the ER lie about not being pregnant when they really are. Some are women who come in with parents/spouses/SOs and the women don't want their parent/spouse/SO to know they're pregnant, so they lie. Other women really don't know any better and think that if they admit that they're pregnant, they won't get treatment.

And other women show up at the ER because they're trying to get narcotics for a fix, and no doctor will prescribe percocet to a pregnant woman, so in that situation, the woman lies in an attempt to get her fix.

I'm not trying to be snarky or jaded or Republican about this; I have a close friend who's an ER doctor at the university hospital in town, and he said it's just the sad truth about working in an ER in a time in this country when so many people don't have health insurance that they use the ER as their only source of healthcare, even for things like a cold.


vw bug - May 25, 2008 6:31:22 pm PDT #532 of 10001
Mostly lurking...

I'm not trying to be snarky or jaded or Republican about this; I have a close friend who's an ER doctor at the university hospital in town, and he said it's just the sad truth about working in an ER in a time in this country when so many people don't have health insurance that they use the ER as their only source of healthcare, even for things like a cold.

This I do know. And I know why they have to do it and I understand, and usually just laugh it off. It's just weird on the other hand to be asked, yet so blatantly not trusted. I guess, in some ways, I wish that they just wouldn't ask...that they'd just say, "We have to run a pregnancy test." And this was the first time I'd had it happen since I got the IUD, so it was even a bit more striking, I guess.


Laga - May 25, 2008 6:36:16 pm PDT #533 of 10001
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.

maybe I got a pregnancy test when I was admitted to the hospital and I didn't know it.


§ ita § - May 25, 2008 6:48:58 pm PDT #534 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

the ER really does have to perform a pregnancy test every time

They may have to, but in this neck of the woods they thankfully don't. There were a couple of weeks here or there where they wanted one, but let's just call my kidneys efficient. Could easily tack a few hours onto the front end of each visit, waiting for me to pony up. It's been under 10% of the times they've tested me (and under 50% of the time they've asked about my last period) before what was always going to be narcotics.


vw bug - May 25, 2008 7:08:22 pm PDT #535 of 10001
Mostly lurking...

Would someone please tell my brain that it's sleepy-time?


Hil R. - May 25, 2008 7:11:41 pm PDT #536 of 10001
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l

I'm watching Anchors Aweigh now. This is a very weird movie.