I went to Wake Medical Center ER because my speech was slurred and with a history of a series of strokes in 2018, i was worried that i was having another stroke. My left side was weak with my face also having some drooping, and i had some cognitive deficits. It was obvious this had nothing to do with covid. The nurse kept saying that they needed to do a covid test, even though i had zero covid symptoms. I told them no numerous times, and explained that I had been traumatized by a flu test years ago.

My husband and daughter were in the room with me. The nurse held me down with me yelling no, and proceeded to shove that long stick up my nose, against my will!!! They had already run all their tests, to determine that i was having some kind of stroke symptoms, but hospital protocol for admission to the hospital where i was having to be transferred to, was to have a covid test first. Surprise, it was negative, but I think they admitted me to a covid wing for observation, anyway. I didn’t know if i should be ticked off at the nurse for violating me, or at my family for watching, and not stopping them.

By the next day, I was better and was discharged with a diagnosis of slurred speech. When i followed up with my neurologist, he felt I had had a trans-ischemic attack, or TIA.