I’m 52 and they made me do a pregnancy test

[Anonymous]

I went for a procedure today and they made me do a pregnancy test beforehand bc I am still menstruating, even though I am 52. What are the odds lol.

[Anonymous]

My friend is a nurse, it's mandatory for many procedures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend is a nurse, it's mandatory for many procedures.

+1. They do the same for non-sexually active young teens too. I am 56 and haven’t had my period in six months and I needed a test before my colonoscopy.

[Anonymous]

I’m 54 and had to take one. I actually had to buy it at the drug store. I was so embarrassed. I’m sure she was thinking, “okay, lady…” <eye roll>

[Anonymous]

Cutoff is 54 for medical procedures

[Anonymous]

They made my good friend, who had a hysterectomy almost 10 years ago, do a pregnancy test before her recent surgery because she still has her ovaries. Yeah...

Sometimes, following the "script" defies logic. A few cases:

-- Josh Sundquist lost his leg to osteosarcoma when he was a child. As an adult man, his insurance flagged him because his body weight seemed low for his height. When he said, "Don't you think there's a good reason for that?", the medical professionals responded, "What do you kean?"

-- Josh Sundquist lost his leg to osteosarcoma when he was a child. As an adult man, he was being interviewed by his doctor's assistant or nurse (I'm not sure which) regarding recent health changes. When he said that he recently had knee surgery, the medical professional responded, "Which knee?" (He had only had one leg since childhood, and he rarely wears a prosthesis, so it's pretty clear that he only has one leg.

-- I can't remember which former contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race it was, but one of them was talking about their friend who is a transgender woman, who has been grilled at doctors' offices about when her last menstrual cycle was. When she explains that she transgender and doesn't have a uterus, they still don't flag her chart so she won't keep getting asked.

[Anonymous]

Contrary to PP's legitimately irrational examples, requiring a pregnancy test at 52 IS legitimate.

It happens extremely rarely for women to be pregnant at that age, but it does happen, and it's hard to recognize when cycles are highly irregular, like they are at that age. If you menstruate, by definition there is a chance you can get pregnant. Nowadays, there are also more women who try to conceive with donor eggs and who might forget to tell their doctor before the procedure that they may be pregnant.

LOTS of people forget to tell their doctors very important things before dangerous or laborious procedures, which is why the team insists. It's like asking whether you're allergic to certain drugs before anesthesia, or whether you have any metal on you before an MRI, etc. People forget, because they're nervous and they can't think of everything! The medical team is here to do the thinking for them.

Don't take it personally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They made my good friend, who had a hysterectomy almost 10 years ago, do a pregnancy test before her recent surgery because she still has her ovaries. Yeah...

Ectopic pregnancy. Pregnancies in the abdominal cavity, without a uterus, have happened before. They don't lead to viable babies, but they can lead to severe injury or death for the mother, and it's important to know before surgery in case there's a bleed-out. Pregnant women respond differently to anesthesia and hemorrhage.

[Anonymous]

better to be safe than sorry. you don't want to inject radioactive isotopes into your body by mistake if you are carrying a baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cutoff is 54 for medical procedures

Er, no. Did you look that up on Quora?

I administer pregnancy tests for pre-op. There’s not a divine rule from above about the age. It varies by facility. My surgical department requires one for every woman who is not more than 24 months out from her last period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cutoff is 54 for medical procedures

Er, no. Did you look that up on Quora?

I administer pregnancy tests for pre-op. There’s not a divine rule from above about the age. It varies by facility. My surgical department requires one for every woman who is not more than 24 months out from her last period.

My cardiology floor uses 54

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My friend is a nurse, it's mandatory for many procedures.

+1. They do the same for non-sexually active young teens too. I am 56 and haven’t had my period in six months and I needed a test before my colonoscopy.

They made me take one at 54 and I haven’t had sex in years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:better to be safe than sorry. you don't want to inject radioactive isotopes into your body by mistake if you are carrying a baby.

When I was 18 I had a bone scan and a gallium scan (involving radioactive isotopes) and they did NOT do a pregnancy test on me. Yay for shitty healthcare! (I knew I wasn't pregnant.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Contrary to PP's legitimately irrational examples, requiring a pregnancy test at 52 IS legitimate.

It happens extremely rarely for women to be pregnant at that age, but it does happen, and it's hard to recognize when cycles are highly irregular, like they are at that age. If you menstruate, by definition there is a chance you can get pregnant. Nowadays, there are also more women who try to conceive with donor eggs and who might forget to tell their doctor before the procedure that they may be pregnant.

LOTS of people forget to tell their doctors very important things before dangerous or laborious procedures, which is why the team insists. It's like asking whether you're allergic to certain drugs before anesthesia, or whether you have any metal on you before an MRI, etc. People forget, because they're nervous and they can't think of everything! The medical team is here to do the thinking for them.

Don't take it personally.

I do take it personally because it's paternalistic sexist bs. I refused to do it before a surgery. I was so angry I had to go to the hospital a day early and wait for 2 hours for them to give me a pregnancy test post menopause. I told them to f themselves and left. They still did the surgery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They made my good friend, who had a hysterectomy almost 10 years ago, do a pregnancy test before her recent surgery because she still has her ovaries. Yeah...

Ectopic pregnancy. Pregnancies in the abdominal cavity, without a uterus, have happened before. They don't lead to viable babies, but they can lead to severe injury or death for the mother, and it's important to know before surgery in case there's a bleed-out. Pregnant women respond differently to anesthesia and hemorrhage.

This is so rare as to be asinine as a basis for forcing women to have pregnancy tests.