Initial reading.
– – Let me just take your blood pressure again, Ralph.
– – How high was it?
– – It was a little high… Let’s just recheck it… In fact, why don’t you relax for a few minutes.
– – Don’t get me wrong, Dr. Fruman … I like you a lot. It’s just that…
– – Sometimes you get a little nervous?
– – Yeah… I guess sometimes when I’m being checked out I get tense.

Diagnosis.
– – Don’t worry about it, Ralph… It happens.
– – I know it’s happened to me before… Don’t take it personally, Dr. Fruman.
– – I don’t… It’s sometimes referred to as whitecoat hypertension.
– – How’s that?
– – Well, just being examined can drive up someone’s blood pressure… I mean the anxiety about being examined.
– – What’s it called again?

Frequency.
– – Whitecoat hypertension.
– – That makes me feel a little better already… I mean, to know that other people have it.
– – Lots, Ralph… Lots of people.
– – How about you, Dr. Fruman?
– – Me?
– – Maybe I shouldn’t have asked.
– – Ralph, if I were in your shoes, and then having me as the doctor… I guess there’s no telling how high my blood pressure might go…