Had Microphlebectomy Done on 10/27/11! - Rome, GA

I had a microphlebectomy because I had these unsightly varicose veins all over my left leg (I have them on both legs) but, they are more noticeable on my left leg. My insurance is going to cover the cost but they said that the veins on my right leg should be done by sclerotherapy (injections)and they consider that cosmetic surgery, so I will have to pay for that myself.

They called a prescription of Ativan (so that I can feel relaxed). So, when I arrived for my procedure which was @ 11:00am, I had to take an ativan and then I was taken back to a room where I had to get my weight and BP taken and then I was asked to change into thses cute little blue shorts.

A few minutes later my doctor came in and did my markings and he told me take a second ativan because he really wanted me to be relaxed for the procedure.

So finally, I was taken back to the surgical room (which was extremely cold!)After laying on the table and getting hooked up to monitors I was given 2 warm blankets. And then Dr. Kirkland came back in to start the procedure. First his nurse sprayed this cold stuff on my leg and the he proceeded to numb my leg with this numbing agent. The needle that he used was very tiny and so even though she sprayed my leg I could still feel that needle going in and it kind of felt like small bee stings but it was tolerable.

After my leg was good and numb, he started the actual procedure. He ended maing 40 small incisions and he used a "hook" to remove the affected veins. Of course I had to take a peek at it because I wanted to see what the removed vein actually looked like but it doesn't look anything like you would think! It actually looked like a small white worm, I know that sounds crazy but that's the best way that I can describe it! Dr. Kirkland said that the anestetic he used to inject into my leg actually caused the veins to shrivel up and they all looked like lil worms! He had to make 40 incisions in all but I only received about 3 -4 stitches and the rest were covered with steri-strips.

After the procedure was done, his nurses wrapped my leg in this mummy looking dressing (lol) I joked with them that this was going to be my Halloween costume! lol. They wrapped my leg in about three long ace bandages as well. I was instructed to go home and prop my leg up and do nothing for the rest of the day. I took today and tomorrow off from work so that way I can keep my leg elevated as much as possible.

I actually forgot to take "before" pics (I was so nervous) but as soon as the bandages come off with is in 72 hours, I will definately post pics then. I go fo my post-op on November 10th (to get stiches removed-if they hadn't already fallen out by then..lol)

Dr. Kirkland was extremely nice and his staff is wonderful as well!

Well, I had my follow-up visit today. The doctor said that I'm going to have great results! Of course there's still a small amount of brusing and some soreness but its only been two weeks so he said that it could take up to a year for my results to be perfect. There is one area on the front of my thigh that has hardened a little bit but he said not to worry about that and that it should be going away soon.

There's still some veins on my left leg that he said were too small to get and that he would have to treat those as well as my right leg with sclerotherapy. He wants me to wait several weeks before he do anything else to my left leg. He wants to see me back mid January to discuss that procedure next (sclerotherapy), he said that I would probably have to have 2 different sessions to actually get rid of those unsightly spider veins...uggg!!

Well I'll be posting pics soon...thanks for reading!