I had a Covid-19 antibody test and a nasal swab test this week. Here’s what it was like.
Antibody Test
This week, I read that there was a Covid-19 antibody test available from Labcorp that I could get for $10.
Since I had a cluster of severe headaches/chills/exhaustion a few months ago while in pandemic lockdown, I decided to get the antibody test to see if I had been infected with Covid-19 and was one of the asymptomatic cases.
The test at Labcorp was simple. I completed the questions online, paid $10 and visited my local Labcorp. Once there, I checked in and within 5 minutes had my blood drawn. The next day the results were sent to my Labcorp account.
Negative. I have no sign of Covid-19 antibodies. Damn.
Nasal Swab
As part of my surgery pre-op, I had to get a nasal swab test for active Covid-19.
I drove to a drive by testing tent in the hospital parking lot.
I never got out of the car. The lab techs handled everything through my window.
The first tech took my temperature and pulse ox. A second tech said, “I will insert this swab in your nostril pretty far up and hold it there for 5 seconds. It will be slightly uncomfortable.”
He stuck it up my nostril and counted out loud to five. The only real discomfort I felt was when he pulled it out. It felt like he had stuck a long finger nail up my nose and twirled it around as it was coming out.My eye watered and it felt like I had something up my nose for about 10 minutes afterward. Overall it was slightly uncomfortable, but not a big deal.
I am assuming this will be negative since I have absolutely no symptoms and have been in near total lockdown for the past two months.
I hope it is negative, because if it is positive, then my surgery will be postponed until the virus has run its course while I quarantine.
We’ll see what happens. I suspect I’ll have my surgery next week and will be getting Covid-19 later this year.
(*Note- I received my nasal swab results a few days later. No detectable virus.)