The Vein Truth
I don't know what is going on with Picassa!! For some reason it isn't letting me type and it republished an old post at the top. Before that, pictures weren't showing up. I have blogged for a couple of years with no problems so I am not sure how to correct this.
The last 2 weeks have seemed very crazy! I have only been home for three days. The month has been filled with errands, appointments, meetings, and overnight conferences besides the usual all day out for church, a few fun days thrown in, and of course a little extra time spent at my parents. While I do occasionally experience cabin fever, I find being home so important for my ability to be keeper of my home, especially with such a young crew in tow! Routines are established, chores are more apt to be completed, schooling gets done, meals get on the table, and training my little ones is more in focus when I am actually at home to do it!!
And now...the Vein Truth! Fortunately, with Picassa being so weird, I won't feel the need to post pictures of the events I am about to describe. This should keep stomachs from turning. I came through my pregnancy with Sawyer fairly unscathed besides a few stretch marks to the belly. With Jubilee, I noticed a puffy spot behind my left leg. I knew it was the beginning of varicose veins. It was barely visible and caused no discomfort so I didn't worry too much about it. By the time I got to Evi, behind my knee was discolored, lumpy, and occasionally painful. I knew these wouldn't be going away after the baby and I knew I wouldn't be wearing shorts again. Then along came Brighton, and with him, more lumps, lots of swelling from my knee down, spots that looked like bruising, spider veins..my leg was a real mess and downright painful throughout the day. So, that puts me to where I am now, with a sweet precious little girl in waiting, and a leg that looks truly broken at this point! Every physical symptom is magnified, the second leg is now on its way out, and I experience chronic discomfort and pain throughout the day. I am not vain (ha ha ha) but my legs are not something I would ever show in public nor would I even wear shorts around the home anymore.
It had gotten so bad that my midwives sent me to a specialist. Who, by the way, is wonderful!!! My first appointment was an ultrasound of the blood flow in my legs. Indeed, the second major vein that supplies 10% of the blood flow in the legs is now "incontinent", meaning the valves no longer stop gravity and the blood pools in my legs. There are risks of infections, ulcers, and even blood clots if nothing is done. The follow up appointment was such good news. A simple, 20 minute, in office, "procedure" can fix everything - no more pain, no more lumps, no more discoloration, no more heinous legs! Basically, a catheter is inserted into the leg and shuts the vein down so it is no longer having blood flow through it. Other veins have already compensated for this one and will fully take over within 2 weeks after the procedure. AND insurance will cover the cost (at least partially)!
First things first, I have to have a baby. She won't be able to nurse for 24 hours so the medication doesn't get in her system. I will have to plan timing around this. In theory, I could have the procedure done in September but I am not sure I want to do this to a baby who will be nursing 10 plus times a day. Maybe wait until November/December. Insurance requires alternative treatment plans to be done 6-10 weeks in advance in hopes of "solving the problem". Well, that is clearly not going to happen in my case but the treatments could help with the chronic pain.
Treatment 1: Elevate the foot of your bed 4-12 inches. This may not seem like that big of a deal, but let me tell you...while Phil channeled his inner bat and slept like a rock, I didn't sleep a wink. I tossed and turned all night and it felt like I had a baby wedged up under my rib cage while hanging upside down and having my head continuously mash into the wall at the head of the bed. You may not think that 4 1/2 inches of elevation would be that much of a decline but it felt like a 50 % grade to me!! I may try a 1" block for a week and work my way up to 4". Phil loved it and wanted to keep our bed like that forever....weird!
Treatment 2: Yesterday's experience.. So, the next fun torture er treatment is to use support hose all.day.long. These are specialty items not your run of the mill panty hose. I had to make an appointment at a orthotic/prosthetic business to be fitted for these and have lessons in how to put them on. First, I am not trying to be mean, but the waiting room was not a picture of healthy people. There was one lady who excused herself to go to the bathroom while she hocked up phlegm so loudly the receptionist even looked concerned. Then there was the man who sat down next to me and ripped a big fart while the rest of us pretended not to notice. Then there was the other couple in ill fitting clothing who reeked of cigarette smoke. I was glad to be put in a room.
After I was measured and fitted for these lovely thigh high support hose. The assistant checked the back room for stock on hand and wanted to know if I preffered beige or black. I asked for fishnet but I don't think she was amused. Beige is what she had on hand so beige is what she attempted to wrestle onto my legs. Seriously, it took 10 minutes a leg to get these things on. They are so tight, they have to be turned inside out and rolled on to the leg with tugging, and rolling, wrinkle smoothing, and starting over! I wondered if they would stay in place - don't people who wear thigh high stockings have little clips that help hold them up? No worries here! Even if they thought about becoming loose enough to slip the little rubber suction cup type things at the top would prevent that! I am not going to lie...I laughed most of the time it was so ridiculous (again, she didn't seem amused). So, finally they are on. If the point is to eliminate the puffiness and keep the blood from pooling then they sure work since I am not sure I get blood flow to my legs. I felt like those animals that are castrated with rubber bands (only its my legs!). It took awhile to be comfortable walking and I am actually surprised that my legs didn't fall asleep. And the best part is, I look like I am wearing doll legs. These are not "natural" looking, see through kind of hosing. They are thick stretchy fabric like the kind you might see on high quality waldorf dolls. Yes, I won't be showing even my ankles in these babies!!! I did order a black pair. I could potentially wear a skirt and look like I am wearing black tights. So....what do you suppose some sort of torture device like this would run? I guessed 50 bucks, try 150.00!! GASP. Thankfully, insurance covers a good chunk of it.
Now, for all the uncomfortableness of wearing these, I will say, I didn't have any vein discomfort yesterday. Perhaps because I was distracted by wearing boa constrictors.
The real concern here is what is going to happen when the weather warms up. Will I swelter to my demise? Will my legs attempt to swell causing an emergency room visit and the jaws of life? I just don't know.
Treatment 3: Exercise: I don't regularly exercise but I am fairly active chasing around 4 little ones. This, I can do!!!!
The last 2 weeks have seemed very crazy! I have only been home for three days. The month has been filled with errands, appointments, meetings, and overnight conferences besides the usual all day out for church, a few fun days thrown in, and of course a little extra time spent at my parents. While I do occasionally experience cabin fever, I find being home so important for my ability to be keeper of my home, especially with such a young crew in tow! Routines are established, chores are more apt to be completed, schooling gets done, meals get on the table, and training my little ones is more in focus when I am actually at home to do it!!
And now...the Vein Truth! Fortunately, with Picassa being so weird, I won't feel the need to post pictures of the events I am about to describe. This should keep stomachs from turning. I came through my pregnancy with Sawyer fairly unscathed besides a few stretch marks to the belly. With Jubilee, I noticed a puffy spot behind my left leg. I knew it was the beginning of varicose veins. It was barely visible and caused no discomfort so I didn't worry too much about it. By the time I got to Evi, behind my knee was discolored, lumpy, and occasionally painful. I knew these wouldn't be going away after the baby and I knew I wouldn't be wearing shorts again. Then along came Brighton, and with him, more lumps, lots of swelling from my knee down, spots that looked like bruising, spider veins..my leg was a real mess and downright painful throughout the day. So, that puts me to where I am now, with a sweet precious little girl in waiting, and a leg that looks truly broken at this point! Every physical symptom is magnified, the second leg is now on its way out, and I experience chronic discomfort and pain throughout the day. I am not vain (ha ha ha) but my legs are not something I would ever show in public nor would I even wear shorts around the home anymore.
It had gotten so bad that my midwives sent me to a specialist. Who, by the way, is wonderful!!! My first appointment was an ultrasound of the blood flow in my legs. Indeed, the second major vein that supplies 10% of the blood flow in the legs is now "incontinent", meaning the valves no longer stop gravity and the blood pools in my legs. There are risks of infections, ulcers, and even blood clots if nothing is done. The follow up appointment was such good news. A simple, 20 minute, in office, "procedure" can fix everything - no more pain, no more lumps, no more discoloration, no more heinous legs! Basically, a catheter is inserted into the leg and shuts the vein down so it is no longer having blood flow through it. Other veins have already compensated for this one and will fully take over within 2 weeks after the procedure. AND insurance will cover the cost (at least partially)!
First things first, I have to have a baby. She won't be able to nurse for 24 hours so the medication doesn't get in her system. I will have to plan timing around this. In theory, I could have the procedure done in September but I am not sure I want to do this to a baby who will be nursing 10 plus times a day. Maybe wait until November/December. Insurance requires alternative treatment plans to be done 6-10 weeks in advance in hopes of "solving the problem". Well, that is clearly not going to happen in my case but the treatments could help with the chronic pain.
Treatment 1: Elevate the foot of your bed 4-12 inches. This may not seem like that big of a deal, but let me tell you...while Phil channeled his inner bat and slept like a rock, I didn't sleep a wink. I tossed and turned all night and it felt like I had a baby wedged up under my rib cage while hanging upside down and having my head continuously mash into the wall at the head of the bed. You may not think that 4 1/2 inches of elevation would be that much of a decline but it felt like a 50 % grade to me!! I may try a 1" block for a week and work my way up to 4". Phil loved it and wanted to keep our bed like that forever....weird!
Treatment 2: Yesterday's experience.. So, the next fun torture er treatment is to use support hose all.day.long. These are specialty items not your run of the mill panty hose. I had to make an appointment at a orthotic/prosthetic business to be fitted for these and have lessons in how to put them on. First, I am not trying to be mean, but the waiting room was not a picture of healthy people. There was one lady who excused herself to go to the bathroom while she hocked up phlegm so loudly the receptionist even looked concerned. Then there was the man who sat down next to me and ripped a big fart while the rest of us pretended not to notice. Then there was the other couple in ill fitting clothing who reeked of cigarette smoke. I was glad to be put in a room.
After I was measured and fitted for these lovely thigh high support hose. The assistant checked the back room for stock on hand and wanted to know if I preffered beige or black. I asked for fishnet but I don't think she was amused. Beige is what she had on hand so beige is what she attempted to wrestle onto my legs. Seriously, it took 10 minutes a leg to get these things on. They are so tight, they have to be turned inside out and rolled on to the leg with tugging, and rolling, wrinkle smoothing, and starting over! I wondered if they would stay in place - don't people who wear thigh high stockings have little clips that help hold them up? No worries here! Even if they thought about becoming loose enough to slip the little rubber suction cup type things at the top would prevent that! I am not going to lie...I laughed most of the time it was so ridiculous (again, she didn't seem amused). So, finally they are on. If the point is to eliminate the puffiness and keep the blood from pooling then they sure work since I am not sure I get blood flow to my legs. I felt like those animals that are castrated with rubber bands (only its my legs!). It took awhile to be comfortable walking and I am actually surprised that my legs didn't fall asleep. And the best part is, I look like I am wearing doll legs. These are not "natural" looking, see through kind of hosing. They are thick stretchy fabric like the kind you might see on high quality waldorf dolls. Yes, I won't be showing even my ankles in these babies!!! I did order a black pair. I could potentially wear a skirt and look like I am wearing black tights. So....what do you suppose some sort of torture device like this would run? I guessed 50 bucks, try 150.00!! GASP. Thankfully, insurance covers a good chunk of it.
Now, for all the uncomfortableness of wearing these, I will say, I didn't have any vein discomfort yesterday. Perhaps because I was distracted by wearing boa constrictors.
The real concern here is what is going to happen when the weather warms up. Will I swelter to my demise? Will my legs attempt to swell causing an emergency room visit and the jaws of life? I just don't know.
Treatment 3: Exercise: I don't regularly exercise but I am fairly active chasing around 4 little ones. This, I can do!!!!
So sorry about your leg problems!
ReplyDeleteAbout the photos, ditch Picassa and just upload them from your computer to blogger. Easy peasy.
My legs hurt for you Em. love you.
ReplyDelete