Isn’t it fitting that as soon as I post that there is a plan, the plan absolutely falls apart. Typical. Let me fill you in on the story, because it’s a beauty. I’ve had varicose veins for as long as I can remember. No big deal, they never hurt, itched once in a while and generally just an unsightly afterthought. A few weeks ago a started having pain in my calf, felt like a pulled muscle so I hammered it with our Wattne (think Theragun). After a few nights of this, the area got super itchy and there was some discoloration…hmm (thinking face) not a pulled muscle…
Diagnosis
@savannahjessie insisted I speak to my Doctor and the result was an URGENT appointment for a vascular ultrasound. As someone who has had more x-rays and ultrasounds than most, it’s never a good situation when the technician shows you what’s going on. Keeping my record perfect, the preliminary diagnosis was superficial blood clots. Awesome. A cycle of antibiotics to hopefully clear the issue and a specialist appointment determined that the blood in my secondary veins is moving the wrong direction. Clinical diagnosis, the veins are incompetent. Real world, my blood needs Waze or Apple Maps because it doesn’t know which end is up.
Choices
What are the options to fix the issue and prevent further clots (including the serious DVT which I have managed to avoid). Your choices are the OHIP covered stripping or the out of pocket EVLT. Stripping is basically incisions from groin to ankle removing the veins. EVLT (Endovenous Laser Treatment) is basically inserting a probe into the veins and sealing them with a laser. This is where you picture Dr. Evil saying “Laser” with air quotes. Recovery is quicker with EVLT and it is less invasive, but super $$$$. I’ve got EVLT booked for March 12th…
Why? Well the recovery time between the two is less for EVLT. It’s a much less invasive procedure (outpatient) which only requires a local anesthetic instead of a general one. The downtime after EVLT is almost non-existent. There is also less of a chance of developing complication such as blood clots (again) so that is a definite plus.
I’m cleared to run by the Doctor, but over the last two weeks my legs have been dead. Hips, legs and the whole enchilada have been brutal and I’ve been doing everything to mitigate the pain. There have been a few runs, but they have been a struggle (and slow). The schedule that I had hoped to maintain though was just too intense. I still became a Strava Local Legend and hit 200 consecutive days of 10,000 steps, but what comes next? Running is off the table for the next few weeks. I’m supposed to walk for at least 45 minutes a day after surgery so I can keep my streak alive. I will take it one day at a time.
So what does the plan look like now (I know you were just dying to know). So far it’s been lots of walking with a reduced running cadence. Since the recovery time is much shorter for EVLT, I’m going to focus on walking to start with upper body and core exercises. As soon as I get cleared, I will start back with light, short distance runs. The goal is to start to rebuild my endurance to hit this years goal of a 10K.
Fingers Crossed…
Beez
