She writes:

I arrived from the Paragliding Pan-American’s back in LA yesterday
after a long couple of travel days (3 hour drive to Vitoria, 2 hour flight to
Sao Paulo, 6 hour layover there, 10 hour flight to Chicago, then 5 hour flight
to LA).  For about the last 48 hours or so, I’ve had respiratory symptoms.
 While waiting for my flight from Sao Paulo, I felt like I had a low grade fever
and have had a slight burning in my lungs and coughing when I breath deeply.  I
went from LAX straight to the doctor to be tested.

This country's response to the virus is pathetic and frustrating, to put it
mildly.  After three separate telephone consults, the doctor’s office had me
come to the back door of the office where a security guard met me with a mask to
wear and escorted me inside.  The place was completely empty.  I was the only
patient there.

A nurse practitioner with a very poor bedside manner saw me first and quickly
and curtly explained they would not test me.   Without being in direct contact
with someone known to have the virus and having not traveled to a high risk
area, despite my symptoms, I did not fit the criteria.  I pushed to be tested
anyway, because I was supposed to be up in Northern California with my father,
who is healthy, but 73 years old, and I want to protect him.  In response, the
nurse practitioner gave me a flu test, which came back negative.

After continued pushing, I was finally able to see a doctor.  The doctor did a
better job of explaining why they wouldn’t waste a test kit on me (he didn’t use
the word “waste”, but that was his point).  He said that no matter what I have,
I should self-quarantine for 2 weeks anyway because the results would take
between 1 and 3 WEEKS…yes, weeks!

My brother in law is the County Coroner in a northern California county and he
specifically told me to be tested down in southern California because they
didn’t have rapid results in his county and I would not get a result for three
days there.  I told the doctor this and he kind of chuckled and said it didn’t
work that way, that their testing lab is so backlogged that they were getting
results in no less than one week and as long as three weeks.  He claims that you
have to be someone “special like a professional athlete or Tom Hanks" (those
were his words) to get a result in any reasonable time.

So there you have it.  Any claims that "anyone who wants to can get tested” are
beyond false.  And anyone who thinks they can get a test result back quickly,
better hope they’re considered “special.”  I think it’s pretty likely that I
have the virus based on my symptoms.  I’ve informed the organizers of the
PanAm’s and I’m now self-quarantined in Southern California for the next two
weeks.

Again, I hope you are all well there.