THE BIG ISSUE
Marie Claire Australia|February 2022
Systemic fat-phobia in medicine has led to poor healthcare for maligned and maltreated overweight women for decades. Now, they are fighting back for their right to quality treatment.
Bek Day
THE BIG ISSUE

Lying flat on her back in the metal tube, a solid, heavy bar bearing down on her chest, Elissa Jenkins tried to remind herself to breathe. It wasn’t her first MRI – a benign pituitary tumour meant she’d seen her fair share over the past two decades – but the setup was different this time. The Brisbane children’s entertainer had gained weight since the last time she had undergone a scan, and this particular machine included a head capsule that needed to fasten down over her chest – something it couldn’t do properly because it was too small.

“I could feel this panic rising inside me,” she recalls. “The radiologist had tried to shuffle me down to get a better fit but she was unable to make it work, so she told me I’d have to put up with the pressure on my chest.”

It became physically impossible to fill her lungs, at which point a distraught Jenkins knew she couldn’t take another 20 minutes like this. Hot tears of humiliation pricked her eyes as she asked the radiologist to stop.

This wasn’t the first time the failure of medical equipment to properly accommodate her body would pitch a barrier to healthcare for Jenkins, and it wouldn’t be the last. Once, she’d been in hospital for a routine treatment and two trainee nurses refused to let her go home because her blood pressure was too high. They’d failed to realise the blood pressure cuff they were using was too small, causing a false high reading.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 2022 من Marie Claire Australia.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 2022 من Marie Claire Australia.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من MARIE CLAIRE AUSTRALIA مشاهدة الكل
SHANNEN DOHERTY
Marie Claire Australia

SHANNEN DOHERTY

The rebellious actor died in July after a nine-year battle with cancer. Zara Wong looks back at the legacy of a woman who always lived on her own terms

time-read
8 mins  |
September 2024
IN THE WILDS OF ALASKA
Marie Claire Australia

IN THE WILDS OF ALASKA

Nature served up a spectacular array of delights, while cruising the majestic waters of the far north.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 2024
Back to EARTH
Marie Claire Australia

Back to EARTH

In its earliest days, the farm bred draught horses for export. Now Tasmania's 1840 cottage Leighton House has been restored as a glorious getaway

time-read
2 mins  |
September 2024
ODE to LIGHT
Marie Claire Australia

ODE to LIGHT

Created by master perfumer Francis Kurkdjian in 2011, Elie Saab's Le Parfum has since gained a cult following and become an industry icon. Here, Sally Hunwick uncovers the origins of the stunning chypre floral scent

time-read
2 mins  |
September 2024
JEN ATKIN
Marie Claire Australia

JEN ATKIN

The Ouai beauty guru is regularly called on by the Kardashians and a host of other A-listers. Here, she talks about hair, her beauty cupboard and how she keeps up her energy levels

time-read
2 mins  |
September 2024
A NEW DIRECTION
Marie Claire Australia

A NEW DIRECTION

When she was 16, Jordan Lambropoulos told her surgeon she'd rather die than wake up with a colostomy bag. Today - 10 years, countless operations and 14,000 Instagram followers later - she's proof that a colostomy bag is not the end. In fact, it can be the beginning of a whole new life

time-read
4 mins  |
September 2024
LADY LUCK
Marie Claire Australia

LADY LUCK

Rosalía takes her accessories as seriously as she takes her art. The Spanish musician spent three years working on her much-lauded album Motomami, finessing the details and perfecting the finishing touches. And when it comes to her outfits, she's no less specific

time-read
3 mins  |
September 2024
Wait... superhero movies are cool now?
Marie Claire Australia

Wait... superhero movies are cool now?

Who had Emma Corrin and Juno Temple as supervillians on their 2024 bingo card?

time-read
2 mins  |
September 2024
CURTAIN CALLING
Marie Claire Australia

CURTAIN CALLING

Brisbane-born star Vidya Makan steps into the shoes of America's founding mother in the long-awaited return of Hamilton

time-read
2 mins  |
September 2024
LEIGH-ANNE
Marie Claire Australia

LEIGH-ANNE

The English singer on colourism, freedom and reuniting Little Mix

time-read
2 mins  |
September 2024