help me, obi-wan flist

[mickeym]

Question for those who might know:

Character A goes to the local free (or not, but in this case it is) clinic for a persistant cough/fever. The doctor wants to do xrays to rule out pneumonia, but Character A can't remember when she last had her period, so she orders a pregnancy test. Would it be a blood test, or something on the order of a pee-on-a-stick test? If it's a blood test, how quickly do the results come back?

Thank you!

Comments

[rainbow.livejournal.com]

pee test, and it only takes an hour or 2i think.

are chest xrays common now to r/o pneux? the body used tohave something in the pneux, pneumonitis, bronchitis range at least once a year and i dont think any of the drs ever ordered x rays even when the first bout of antibx didnt work, they just did cultures and then rxed whatever worked on the culture.

[mickeym.livejournal.com]

I don't know if they're common or not, but this doctor's being thorough (and MY doctor always does an xray *shrug*), and it's kind of a plot device to get to the next thing :)

[rainbow.livejournal.com]

wow, even our regular drs never did, and the clinics always just wrote a rx (had to go to a regular dr to even get a culture). that is so neat that your clinic does!

[janissa11.livejournal.com]

In the US it's hard to find docs who will not do a chest radiograph if pneumonia is suspected. In fact (if their clinic is equipped for it) they might do a CT as well.

In a free clinic they often don't have access to radiology facilities. They'll often write a prescription for an x-ray to be done at a different facility. For ex, I work with folks coming in from our community health clinic for x-rays. Most have Medicaid; some are self-pay. Because we are not associated with the comm health clinic, we do charge for self-pays, but it's a flat $25, and folks who absolutely cannot pay may be allowed to have the x-ray anyway (we also aren't the county hospital -- there, there is a blue-card program that allows for various kinds of coverage on a charity basis).

When I was uninsured (well, Cobra, same diff) and had pneumonia, it was dxed by the sound of my chest. The doc said, "I'd do an x-ray, but your insurance won't cover it. But I can hear the pneumonia. Take these drugs, come back if it doesn't get better."