Anyone else have a problem with size limits on hospital equipment

[Tracyarts]

I'm not able to do a stress test on a treadmill or stationary bicycle due to mobility limitations. If a patient can't use a treadmill or stationary bicycle, they put them in a state of exertion using a drug/chemical instead. I've heard it called a chemical stress test.

The first time I had it done I was then seated on a strange bench contraption with my arms raised, that rotated in front of a scanner. But I am above the weight limit for that piece of equipment at that clinic now.

The second time I had it done, was at a very large hospital. I was laying on a narrow table with my arms above my head and was passed through a ring shaped scanner. But the table for the device like that at the hospital my doctor wanted to send me to this week won't accommodate my weight.

My doctor will just have to find a different hospital in my insurance network with the equipment that can accommodate my current weight. The hospital I had it done at before and know can accommodate me has limited outpatient scheduling due to the pandemic.

It's frustrating. I know there is diagnostic imaging equipment in the Houston area that can accommodate my body. But the problems are whether the facility accepts my medical insurance, if they are currently scheduling outpatient appointments, and if my doctor is in some way affiliated with the facility.

I had stress test in different EU countries and it is on a bicycle. My much older cousin lives overseas she had hers on a threadmill.
AHA stress test for folks who do not know what it i

https://www.heart.org/-/media/files/health-topics/answers-by-heart/what-is-a-stress-test.pdf

 

[Tracyarts]

I finally got booked for a stress test at a hospital that can accommodate my weight this week. Unfortunately it's almost 2 hours away and I have to go twice. But, it needs to be done so I'll just have to go where I have to.

Yeah, it's not as much an accessibility problem as a pandemic problem. There are easily 4 hospitals in the TX medical center in downtown Houston that are bariatric accessible. And an hour closer to me. But, these huge central hospitals are still in pandemic mode and where the sickest Covid patients are being treated. Patients are being diverted to satellite hospitals, especially for outpatient services. Unfortunately the smaller satellite hospitals aren't as well funded and up to date and may have some bariatric accessible pieces of equipment but not others.

I just found out that one of the central hospitals I could have used has identified the new Indian Covid variant in a couple of patients in the Covid ward, so yeah...it's not a place for chronically ill outpatients, even fully vaccinated ones, to go for diagnostic tests right now.

 

[op user]

I hope you manage to get the test done rapidly Tracyarts

 

[Tracyarts]

I hope you manage to get the test done rapidly Tracyarts

I had it done in two parts Monday and Tuesday. Everything went fine. The stress part wasn't as bad as when I had it done before. It made me feel uncomfortable but it wasn't really bad. Obviously they didn't find anything really abnormal because my doctor would have let me know today. So the next step is to have the cardiologist go over the results with me and see what comes next in the diagnosis process.

 

[Tracyarts]

So I go for another CT scan this week. Thankfully there is a 450 lb weight capacity CT scan table at a hospital a half hour from my home. So no all day road trip this time. I may have to take a day trip for another diagnostic procedure next month because there's no hospital closer than 2.5 hours away that is both accepting outpatients and can accommodate my body on the exam table in the room used for this procedure.

I have been taking notes of which hospitals can accommodate me for which specific scans and procedures. It's getting to be a pain in the ass.

 

[Tracyarts]

Well the latest scan went smoothly, only took about 10 minutes, just on the table and through the scanner ring. Nothing super concerning showed up, so I'm waiting to find out what comes next. Looks like this may all be autoimmune related after all, but there are a few things left to rule out first. I may not be getting the angiogram because nothing concerning showed up on the stress test and my current insurance company won't approve a cardiac catheterization on a medically high risk patient without a documented problem to investigate. So no "this is the gold standard test, it will rule out everything, let's go for it". Not for someone in my overall poor health at least.