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Home › Money

Question of the Day | 04/05/2009 11:00 pm

What medical tests would you like to have the option of doing in the privacy of your own home?

The makers of the First Response pregnancy test just released the first nationally advertised at-home fertility test. Candice Bergen, Joan Ganz Cooney and Liz Smith reveal the tests they would like to self-administer.
© iStock
Joan Ganz Cooney

Joan Ganz Cooney | 04/06/2009 12:00 am

Joan Ganz Cooney's Stipulation

A colonoscopy without the prep.

comments6 Comments
Liz Smith

Liz Smith | 04/05/2009 11:00 pm

Liz Smith to Play Doctor?

I’d like to be able to do all of them.

comments4 Comments
Candice Bergen

Candice Bergen | 04/05/2009 11:00 pm

Candice Bergen Keeps Her Feet on the Ground at Home

Forgive me, but is this not a tad too princess-like when millions can’t even afford health care? I am so goddamned grateful to get in to see the best doctors. Having my feet in the stirrups at home doesn’t speed that one up.

comments13 Comments
Read more about: Doctors, First Response, Health, Money, Pregnancy Test, Science

53 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Dona Howlett

I’m like Candice,

Take me to the Doctors office or the hospital for my tests.

I prefer to leave the memories of those things there…….

By the way anyone reading my comments might wonder about my new Avatar………..My husband and Me when I was a young woman of 38…taken in 1970

By Dona Howlett on 04/06/2009 1:12 am
phyllis Doyle Pepe
I guessed right, Dona, thought that be you and him in your salad days––lovely.
By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 04/06/2009 5:46 pm
Dona Howlett

Phyllis,

Oh! to be that young again………..Not just the youth but how I was still able to be very active in my life.

Dancing……Water ski-ing………Love to do all those things again.

By Dona Howlett on 04/06/2009 8:14 pm
Bonnie Oliver

I am more in agreement with Liz Smith.  "All of them".

A few years ago I underwent what was thought to be a simple out-patient surgery.  The surgery went find but the recovery was a ordeal.  I ended up having a home health nurse come out to the house very day for almost 2 months;  55 days.  After I started feeling a bit better, I really enjoyed the ease with which normal monitoring and testing can be done in the home.  It is amazing the amount of equipment that can be dragged into the house and then out again when no longer necessary.

If only they could figure out a way to get that huge mammogram machine through the front door …. due for another exam on the 16th.  

By Bonnie Oliver on 04/06/2009 3:41 am
phyllis Doyle Pepe
Bonnie: and good luck with that!
By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 04/06/2009 5:47 pm
Bonnie Oliver
Thanks Phyllis.   I very much appreciate your comment.
By Bonnie Oliver on 04/06/2009 7:54 pm
Z ****
I don’t care about having medical tests done in the privacy of my home.  But, I would sure like to see doctors make house calls when one has the flu or some illness which makes it overwhelmingly difficult to get to the doctor’s office.  
By Z **** on 04/06/2009 6:14 am
phyllis Doyle Pepe
When I was a young thing, doctors still came to the house with their black cases. We had a wonderful doctor who was also a friend of the family. This man not only treated every one in the household, but he lingered awhile and had coffee and cake. Once, when I had a case of the mumps, he brought me a Raggedy Ann doll to cheer me up. I’ve never forgotten that nor have forgotten his kindness and generous spirit. 
By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 04/06/2009 5:54 pm
Z ****
Although it may seem a small thing — a kind gesture can be remembered for a lifetime.
By Z **** on 04/06/2009 6:32 pm
C Hardy

Tests in your own home, No Thanks.  If I need an MRI; how would all that equipment get to my house? 

But I do agree with Mrs. Z****, housecalls would be nice especially if you have the flu b/c you dont want to go to the Dr and spread the germs, after you have to drag yourself out of the house…

By C Hardy on 04/06/2009 6:55 am
Z ****
Wow C Hardy — calling me Mrs. Z***** you made me look around to see if my mother-in-law was in the room.  =)
By Z **** on 04/06/2009 6:33 pm
C Hardy
Oh Im sorry! 
By C Hardy on 04/06/2009 9:20 pm
Z ****
Don’t be sorry — it was just funny to me.   =)   Even after all these years — I just never have gotten used to being called "Mrs."…..but, I took right to being called grandma. 
By Z **** on 04/07/2009 8:07 am
Chris Glass`
It would depend on how accurate they are. Tests that give false readings could cause more angst and issues than those done by a reliable physician. Then there is the question of medical security. Would the makers of these tests share our results with others without our knowledge?
By Chris Glass` on 04/06/2009 7:19 am
joan larsen

When our own health is at stake, hopefully we all would want to go to the best facilities, wouldn’t we?  Certainly, the sterile conditions alone that we would hope such a facility to provide would make the drive worth it.  And nowadays, at least in the university hospitals you would have the latest equipment, the latest expertise of those reading your tests, and - as I have found out - the mental comfort of having your doctor call in very quickly another specialist when tests show complications that must be immediately addressed by their very top expert - and right now!

Frankly, and you may not agree, but in all health issues, the one most comforting to you is the relieving of the mental stress by believing you are in the best hands.  My own life was saved by a "bile duct specialist" called in in 15 minutes — and where do you find one of those in your suburb? 

Just as in life, we really don’t know what lies around the next corner, do we?  And no matter the test, I would rather be safe than sorry.  How about you?

By joan larsen on 04/06/2009 7:40 am
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