My personal horror story

Have you ever experienced something so nasty that you wish you could permanently remove the haunting images from your mind? If not, consider yourself lucky, because today I was a witness to something I never want to experience again….EVER!

So, this afternoon I headed down to Quest Diagnostics in Herndon, VA (stay away, please!) for a urine and blood test (I live a glamorous life, I know). Now, for those of you who don’t know the area, Herndon is known as one of the "ghettos" of Northern Virginia, but it's close to my work so I thought, "can’t beat the convenience…how bad can it be?" Heh. Let me tell you, pretty bad.

I was one of the only patients there (besides a lady with a screaming child), so I didn’t think the wait would be very long. Apparently the phlebotomist-on-call was inadequate because I was there for an hour and was the 2nd person in line. I had my blood drawn (which was an experience for another post), was then given “the cup,” and headed into the bathroom. Every doctor's office I have been to (and I've been to many) has a cupboard in the bathroom, where the urine samples are placed. They are then (supposedly) immediately taken by the lab staff to ensure privacy and safety. So, you can imagine my horror when I walked in and saw this:

I nearly lost my lunch. Here they were, lined up... Everyone's urine samples on display like a trophy collection. The thing that disturbed me the most was that I was the only patient in the clinic at the time, which means the samples in the red box had been there for over an hour. I wonder how accurate the results will be after sitting there that long?! Although, there are deeper questions in this situation that deserve answers...

The whole bathroom smelled like pee and the floor was sticky and had not been mopped in what seemed like weeks. I proceeded to do my business and when I began writing my name on my sample cup, my fingers seemed to stick to the marker that was in there. You can only imagine what was on the marker, and now, my fingers…! I wrote my name quickly, left my sample with the trophy samples, vigorously washed my hands and left that white trash clinic before I could barf. I just hope some druggie didn't switch their sample with mine. That would be an interesting situation to explain to my boss (and husband)!

Anyway, I thought I would share the visuals so that I wouldn’t have to suffer alone. Aren’t you glad you checked in with the Milepost today?