Well, I have never thought much about surgery other than the abdominal kind (heart, liver, intestines) but I was faced with the opportunity to have vein surgery this week. I have suffered for years with varicose veins in both legs. While carrying babies the veins naturally became worse but unfortunately with this situation, they do not "bounce back" after deliveries. This condition is also considered hereditary and my mom has the same condition. There are many discomforts with varicose veins, after any amount of time standing, the legs begin to ache or burn and swell. The legs feel tired quickly and if I wasn't in tennis shoes the symptoms seemed to come more quickly. There are many days that I come home form work and am ready to go to bed. I decided that this condition was starting to effect my quality of life and could possibly affect my abilities at work. I have health insurance through my work and was very happy to find out that my insurance would cover treatment of varicose veins if the treatment was deemed medically necessary.
So on Tuesday, I had vein surgery. Basically all trouble veins are destroyed or removed. This was not a pleasant experience. You are awake for the procedure. The doctor uses local anesthetic in the areas that are being worked on. I must have a low tolerance for pain and so I needed more than he was giving me. I am also "squeamish" and so the thought of what they were doing to my leg didn't help. The recovery has been ok. Laying in bed with the leg elevated (3days) then bandages come off and a support hose is worn for 7 more days. Total healing time is 6 months but they say I should feel better in about a week or two. I will have to return to have the second leg done in 6 weeks.
So vein surgery is painful, but the long term benefits will be wonderful.
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