Well, that sounds better than expected. Good show.

Really glad to hear you are getting through this, Joe. Could see it as misfortune that you got it or as a lucky break that it wasn’t worse I guess. Good luck -

joekc6nlx wrote:

Spoke with my primary care manager yesterday.  The hospital had sent him an 81 page "book" of my stay in their facility.  Because the leg is still swollen, hot, and is painful to walk on it, he was concerned there might be blood clots in my veins.  So, he sent me back to the emergency room and had an ultrasound done on me.  Results were: no clots, the ER doctor said it looked fine, blood flow was good through the veins.  Treatment, warm compresses, exercises, and walk.....

The way my lower leg looked, I thought maybe I had cellulitis, but my PCM didn't think so.  He referred me to a vascular surgeon and I've seen a vascular surgeon, starting about 5 weeks after I posted the above.  He did an ultrasound on my left leg, and determined that when the blood was rushing to my lower leg, it overwhelmed the valves in the veins and popped them inside out.  They will never recover from that, so a couple of weeks later, he gave me a series of injections into each valve which irritate the walls of the vein, causing them to thicken and seal up.  I had to wear a compression stocking for 5 days, and that was irritating enough.  (Did you know a bout of claustrophobia can set in if you're wearing one of those things?  I didn't and it happened several times.)  There is one more valve that needs to be sealed off, but it's up near the pelvic veins and the injections would possibly irritate those veins, closing them off, and creating more problems.  So, he will use a small fiber optic line snaked up through the vein (like a catheter), and then zap the valve with a laser.  All of this is under local anesthesia and in his office.  I am scheduled for tomorrow morning.  Downside, I have to wear that damned compression stocking for SEVEN days, and cannot take it off at all.  With the injections, I could take it off to take a shower, but not this procedure.  They said if I wrap a plastic bag around my leg, I can take a shower.  Um, no, it rains down my leg, it leaks through the top of the plastic bag, and ends up soaking the stocking.  So, it'll be sponge baths for the week.  But yes, I am serious about the claustrophobia, when it squeezes my foot, makes me feel like my shoes are too tight, and drives me up the wall.  I didn't sleep that well the last time, I know it's going to be worse this time.  Yuck!!!!

Last edited by joekc6nlx (12/01/2020 7:08 pm)

All done.  A little bit of discomfort when he injected the anesthetic, and then there was a short period of a few
seconds when he slipped the guide sleeve into the vein, but the laser treatment itself went without any feeling.
 
So, I wear the compression sock for 7 days, then I can take it off during the day, they would like me to wear it at
night, though.
 
One thing he wants me to do is walk, walk, walk.  They’ve found that the pain and discomfort is eased by walking.
 
I went down to a local shopping center and walked there for a while, as I had to stop at the fabric store and
pick  up some felt.
 

What's been happening is that venous blood has not been getting returned to the heart properly, and has collected at the lower leg.  The valves in the greater saphonous vein were severely damaged when I fell in August.  This latest procedure should reroute the blood through other veins.