Share this comment
This exact issue led to my most recent traumatic health care experience. The next appointment I had after that, I had to bring my best friend with me tas an advocate because I had a panic attack when I thought about returning to the facility. Which sounds extreme, but I'm autistic and often struggle to be heard by strangers and end up cr…
This exact issue led to my most recent traumatic health care experience. The next appointment I had after that, I had to bring my best friend with me tas an advocate because I had a panic attack when I thought about returning to the facility. Which sounds extreme, but I'm autistic and often struggle to be heard by strangers and end up crying out of frustration/anger rather than being able to get results.
I had a nurse take my blood pressure last year on the forearm, after I mentioned that the blood pressure cuff always hurts my upper arm. She was the first person (in my mid thirties!) to inform me that a forearm reading was an option. Every time I had a reading taken after that, I told the provider that an upper arm reading hurts and that I would like a forearm reading. Every. Single. Time. I was told something dismissive like 'let's just try' or 'sorry, but that won't give an accurate reading' or 'oh, well, this cuff won't fit that way' and they pushed forward with the upper arm anyway.
Fast forward to earlier this year, when my blood pressure check before a urology procedure read as high. It was rechecked after the procedure and still read as high, so the woman taking it scheduled me for a standalone appointment in the future, just to check again--she told me that if my BP was still high then, it would mean I had hypertension, and they would probably put me on medication. I was kind of baffled by this since nobody had found an issue with my BP before, but she was very insistent about how lots of patients were 'getting away' with cancelling their blood pressure checks during the pandemic, and they 'had' to force follow-ups.
So I arrived for a standalone blood pressure check appointment, which I scheduled right before an appointment to get a foot injury looked at. I was ushered into an alcove with a BP machine rather than an actual room, where I explained to the tech that I had an appt soon after and hoped it wouldn't take long. She told me, much to my surprise, that I could have just gotten my blood pressure taken at that appt instead, but proceeded to check my BP. The reading was high, so she told me to 'relax' and left me sitting there for ten minutes. Rather than relaxing, I was growing more anxious at the idea that I might have to have more readings and miss my appointment.
After a similar second reading, reading number three came back fine, though by then I was deeply irritated at being nearly late for my foot appt. The tech noted that while my BP was fine, my heart rate was high, and left me sitting yet again to consult with the ER doctor on call. She came back many minutes later to say that I would be needing an EKG, and when I reminded her of my foot appt and protested, she said they 'could not let me leave with my heart rate that high' and that the doctor would look at my foot instead.
It took a while longer for the EKG tech to arrive with equipment, and until she did I sat there crying, just wanting to go home. The EKG reading went smoothly--the tech was nice, I knew it wasn't her fault I was stuck there--and then the ER doctor came in to read the results. He referred to me 'requesting' the EKG because of how my heart felt, and I corrected him, explaining that my heart rate read as high (no wonder) but I had no heart issues I was aware of and hadn't wanted an EKG at all.
He assured me that my results were fine, as though I had thought otherwise, and literally used a hand to push me back down against the table where I was laying whenever I tried to sit up a little to talk to him without him looming over me. Kept telling me to 'just relax' when he was the one causing me upset. I reminded him that I'd been told a doctor would look at my foot, since I had been forced to miss my appt, and he didn't even remove my shoe to do so--just told me to get it x-rayed and then follow up with my regular doctor.
Doing so meant waiting until the following week, so no one ever looked at it while it was at its most damaged. The EKG was ultimately a waste of time and medical resources, since it showed no problems. It was only initiated because my heart rate was high, and my heart rate was high after three separate painful BP readings on my upper arm while I watched the clock and worried about being late. And it turns out I never needed that separate special blood pressure check in the first place!
The next day, at home, I realized I had a bunch of small bruises on that upper arm area where the cuff had been. I brought my best friend with me to my 'follow up' the next week with my doctor, and was so glad I did--once again, the nurse tried to ignore me when I asked for a forearm reading, and having 'backup' helped when I insisted that they would either have to do so or use my other arm, because of the bruising.
I've honestly always found BP checks painful, and had no idea the problem could be a too-small cuff because of my size. But two weeks after I was told I probably had hypertension and one week after the hellish experience that skyrocketed my heart rate, I insisted on a forearm reading...and my BP was perfectly normal. (My doctor in THAT appointment was also literally the first person to ever mention that my feet should be flat on the floor during. And my best friend, who had just been diagnosed hypertensive, had never been told that either.)
Sorry for the long-winded rant, but thank you so much for writing specifically about blood pressure cuffs/dismissal of fat patients' needs during readings. It seems like such a small thing compared to other areas of discrimination, but it almost stopped me from being able to return and seek care that I sorely needed, because I no longer felt like I would be safe or listened to even around the most basic elements.
"Getting away with". One of the more paternalistic bits of crap from the medical industry. I am not " getting away with" not being weighed, or not having BP checked, or not getting gyn exams/paps or regular physicals, or any other medical procedure, because I am not required to submit to any of the for any reason. Show me the law where I am mandated to do any of these things. You won't find them. Because they don't exist. You can only "get away with" avoiding things you are legally required to do, not that that stops any medical type who wants to coerce you into unwanted or unnecessary procedures or interventions "for your own good".
I appreciate that you took the time to share your experiences. I relate strongly to how you experienced that awful BP appointment. I’m autistic too and I am always curious whether healthcare providers are awful to me because I’m fat OR because I'm neurodivergent — but assume that it’s usually both!
In any case, I am so sorry that happened to you. Taking an advocate with you is so smart, I’m glad it sounds like it helped.
Thanks, I really appreciate your solidarity--I don't have any fat autistic friends and the combination is uniquely difficult in dealing with healthcare professionals (especially strangers). I'm lucky to have someone I can ask when it's important...though my single mom wasn't diagnosed (and I wasn't until my late twenties) she had some spectrum traits as well so I wasn't raised to self-advocate and am still learning. Before I started gaining exposure to fat activism info, I was oblivious to how my size might affect my healthcare treatment, but I'm so grateful to have a better understanding now so I can try to be prepared to fight it.