Profile
Photos
Comments
I go see my vascular
surgeon Oct. 28 and I know he will bring up the subject of surgery on
my legs--angioplasty has already been mentioned BUT I am not sure I
want to tackle this yet or, at least, until I feel a lot better!!!
surgeon Oct. 28 and I know he will bring up the subject of surgery on
my legs--angioplasty has already been mentioned BUT I am not sure I
want to tackle this yet or, at least, until I feel a lot better!!!
This is for those of you who didn't know what I was talking about when I mentioned P. A. D. and claudication.
Peripheral artery disease is treatable
Dear Dr. Donohue: One of my favorite daily pastimes has
been taken from me. It is walking. Until last July, I walked three miles a
day.
My husband and I enjoyed traveling to New York and walking around
the neighborhoods. Those are a thing of the past, apparently, because I develop
severe pain after a quarter-mile of walking.
You wrote about peripheral
artery disease, and the symptoms matched mine exactly. I "ran" with it to a
vascular surgeon, who said I had claudication and not PAD, and that nothing
could be done for it.
Can you explain why I should hobble through life
while others can be treated and be pain-free?
Claudication isn't an illness. It's the No.1 symptom of peripheral
artery disease.
It's leg pain, quite often calf pain, that comes on
while walking and stops upon resting. It's a sign that one of the leg arteries
is clogged.
I can't explain why you should hobble through life with it.
There's plenty to do for it. You can continue to walk, and are encouraged to do
so. Stop when the pain hits. Start again when it leaves. Work toward 30 minutes
of walking every day, not counting the rest stops.
Medicines can be a
big help. Pletal, Plavix and Trental are the names of some of those used for
PAD.
The same procedures used to unclog clogged heart arteries are used
for leg arteries. Bypass surgery — substituting a graft for the obstructed
artery segment — is one technique.
Angioplasty is another. Angioplasty
entails squashing the buildup with a balloon-tipped catheter. A catheter is a
soft, flexible tube snaked to the obstruction through a surface blood vessel.
I don't know why the doctor said what he did. A second opinion is worth
your time.
The booklet on peripheral vascular disease describes this
common problem and its treatment.
