A Big thank you to all those that reached out when I posted There Was a Plan. It didn’t feel exactly like James Bond strapped to the table in Goldfinger, but it was close. Seriously, what’s more impressive than an operation conducted by laser? I do have something directed to the Guys out there. Don’t be afraid to go to the Doctor if something isn’t feeling right. We are taught growing up that we need to be tough and never ask for help. If it hadn’t been for @savannahjessie I would not have gone to the Doctor and I would never have discovered the issue with my veins. I would be at risk for further blood clots and a greater risk for heart attack or stroke. Don’t be proud, get things checked out.
How I Was Feeling
Being honest, I was nervous. There were lots of discussions and research about the operation and we had a good handle about what was involved. Still, I have had enough procedures in my time to be a bit nervous. You try not to read about what might go wrong, but you know there’s always a chance. Even if everything goes well there are risks during recovery. They were outweighed by the potential long-term risk of not having it done though. @savannahjessie kept me level and we really worked on having a positive outlook about the procedure and the process.
The Operation
Check in, go to the room and strip down. Loosely attach the breezy blue hospital gown and get onto the bed. The nurse marked up my leg (above) and then the Doctor came in and got ready to work. Thank goodness I wasn’t wearing my favorite underwear, because the iodine scrub got everywhere. I got a stress ball to squeeze and we got rolling. A couple of injections to numb the area and then a tube was inserted into both legs near the knee.
Don’t worry, that wasn’t too bad. The pain came when they had to use an ultrasound to insert needle into the secondary veins at points. That got spicy. They injected a solution to push the blood out in preparation for sealing. The laser probe goes into the tube and is fed to the groin area. The Doctor said, “Fire the Laser” and they slowly withdrew the probe, sealing and collapsing the vein behind it. Super cool and pretty painless.
Recovering
As I write this Saturday morning at 6am, I’ve been up for the last two hours with the discomfort that comes with surgery. Nothing terrible, but you can feel the pulling of incisions if I move too fast. I have been dosing with Advil to knock the edge off and used the prescribed meds to sleep last night. I’m on blood thinners to prevent clotting and should be able to hobble around today (and hopefully get 10,000 steps).
The worst part though is these compression stockings. 48hrs wearing these things to reduce swelling and help the body recover. These things are TERRIBLE. They don’t stay where you need them to, the dance to put them on is silly and I literally cannot bend over. On behalf of all Men, I would like apologize to Women for for a man inventing something so dumb and claiming they were fashion. You Ladies are ROCKSTARS for wearing them, because I want to light these stupid things on fire.
7 days until my follow-up and some extra CO2 injections to try and reduce the varicose veins even further. Not sure if I’m looking forward to anymore needles or not, but hopefully everything else will be good.
Beez
