Requirements for travel clarification

[Rain]

I don't know if I"m tired or stressed or I just don't want anything to go wrong.
This summer I'm travelling for the first time in 5 years outside my province.  I got some info on some test that has to be completed before I go, and i was wondering if you would see if we get the same meaning out of sentence.

"MRSA and VRE tests should be taken within three weeks of the patient's first dialysis run here."

Does that mean it cannot be taken before 3 weeks say 4 weeks? So it could be done any where between 3 weeks and 1 day before my first run?  Or does it mean it has to be done before 3 weeks.?

If I fail to met any of their requirements my appointments could get cancelled and I've already bought expensive non refundable plane tickets.

[monrein]

Within three weeks means that the test cannot be older than 21 days before your first run...so if you dialyse out of province on the 22nd of the month, the test must be done after the 1st of the month.

[Simon Dog]

The purpose of this test is to protect the other clinic patients from exposure to these resistant strains and compromising on the time limit would be a shortcut that any other patient who picked up MRSA or VRE could have their contingency fee attorney find about via the discovery process.

Would you want to be dialyzed by a clinic that took shortcuts on requirements imposed on other patients to protect you from infection?

[Riki]

You just have to have swabs done before you go.  It's not really that big of a deal.  We have the same ones done every 6 months here anyway..  I know, when I was going to NYC, they wanted those done, plus a chest x-ray and ECG.. I usually have it all set up and done in the month before I go..

out of curiosity, where are you going?