VNUS Closure Procedure - My Experience

So this Friday, I got a procedure done called VNUS closure. If you haven't heard of it, it's a way to go into the veins in your leg where the valves have stopped working and suck them closed with a lot of heat (you can get a medical description online :)). For the past couple years, my legs have been hurting more and more and standing in one place for more than 20 minutes pretty much sucked... plus I had some ugly veins that made me uncomfortable wearing skirts, dresses, bathing suits, which isn't cool when you're still in your 20s. Anyway, this year I finally paid the extra money to get the better insurance from my company (which still isn't good), just so I could get this procedure done. I started on this vein journey in January and thought it'd be done and over and I'd have pretty, pain free legs by the summer, but no, this stuff takes FOREVER!

I went in for my first appointment to the vein people in February and they gave me an ultrasound and confirmed that veins in both legs were acting like a 70 or 80 year old woman and that something needed to be done. This was when she told me that for insurance to pay for the VNUS procedure, I would have to wear compression stockings for 3 months, and then at that point, if I wasn't satisfied with the results, I could get the procedure done. I'm like, awesome... sounds very sexy. At this point I'm like, I don't care IF the stockings help me... I'm not wearing those for the rest of my life. I'm sure they'd look really cool with a bikini. I actually purchased them probably 2 months later. I figured I should give them a chance, and that I should be able to tell the doctor at least how they felt. This helped with some of the pain or "heavy" feeling of the legs, but not completely, and totally not for me. I went back in for my second appointment probably around May. The doctor asked if the stockings worked for me, I said no, and she said ok we'll make an appointment for the VNUS closure procedure. That was really worth the second $30 copay... haha. She told me that the receptionist would call me when she started scheduling appointments for the month I could come in. I'm like damnit... I wanted pretty legs for the 6 weddings I had during the summer :(. The receptionist finally called and scheduled my appointment for August (after all the weddings... sigh). In August, I was training for an off-road triathlon, and realized the procedure was scheduled a week before it. I called the office and they told me I wouldn't be able to train for a week... I had to re-schedule. Which brings me to October... the next opening they had. Little did I know this whole process would go for 9 months.

My procedure was scheduled for the day before my birthday on October 16 (fun). Before I got to the office, I had to take 2 Valium, 3 ibuprofen, and 1 benedryl. I also had to buy a NEW pair of compression stockings because the first time they told me to buy them, they just said knee high, and now I needed thigh high. I searched forever and finally found them for like $25. A lot of the ones they listed out were around $50-$70 and insurance doesn't pay for them. I got to the office and they let me in the room. I had to get nekked from the waist down and put a towel over the rest. I don't know the purpose of the towel because after the nurse did an ultrasound on both legs, they took the towel off and put a little blue towel on my area that was like 3"x5"... I don't even know why they bothered... The doctor then put about a gallon of iodine on my legs / groin / no point of the towel again. At this point I wasn't very happy that the Valium hadn't kicked in yet... I was hoping to not feel much or at least be kind of loopy.

For the next 45 minutes or so, the nurse used an ultrasound from my groin down and the doctor would shove a big vile of local anesthetic with a needle about 4 inches long every few inches... and I felt every single one. The dentist was looking soooo good at this point; that tiny needle they use on your gums feels like nothing. Ok, it wasn't horrible but it was definitely worse than getting the 2 tattoos I have and most of my piercings, or maybe it was because I wasn't used to being jabbed 24 times on my inner legs. In the process of the anesthetic, the doctor shoved a plastic tube thing in my mid calf where he was going to use the long, hot radiofrequency thing to suck my veins closed. At least for this part I didn't feel anything, and they shoved the long thing up to my groin (I think) and they would wait for it to heat up, then pull it out a little, wait for it to heat up, pull it out a little more. This part only took a couple minutes for each leg and then it was over in about an hour total. They put a couple bandages on the 2 hole things but all the injection areas from the anesthesia were still leaking some... really hot. The nurse gave me 2 warm, wet towels and said I could clean up all the iodine stuff. I'm glad they didn't let me wear underwear because that stuff was ALL OVER. Definitely took those 2 towels to get it all off. I put my sexy compression stockings on, and my boy took me home.

This is when I realized the Valium kicked in because I don't remember much of the drive home but I do remember bitching about wanting things to eat, then not wanting things to eat, I'm sure he was happy about that. I spent most of the rest of the day sleeping on and off in bed and then went to an AFI concert for my birthday that we had gotten tickets for. I looked like a complete idiot because to not be in a lot of pain, I had to keep walking around... probably a bad idea to go to a concert right after getting that done. O well. Anyway, 2 days later, they're not too painful unless I stand still. It pretty much just feels like the legs are bruised (which they are a little). I can't do aerobic activity or weight lifting for 3 days so I'm freaking out a bit but I'll get over it. I'm going to shut up now... long post. If you're getting this procedure done soon, at least you know what to expect. Maybe I made it sound worse than it was but it really wasn't bad at all... it was much easier to deal with than 4 cracked ribs. I'm sure the results will be awesome and it has totally been worth it so far.

What's your Yoga Style?

I don't know about you, but when I look at the schedule at my gym for yoga classes, I have no idea what the difference is between the types. I end up going and it's hit or miss on whether or not I'll truly enjoy it. So below I've described some of the most popular yoga styles so you can figure out BEFORE you go to the gym whether or not you'll be happy when you're done.

Hatha - This is probably the most popular when talking about yoga in this country, but it's really very generalized. The class will most likely be gentle, slow moving, and be a pretty good introduction into the basics of yoga moves if you're a newbie.

Ashtanga / Power Yoga (more my type of thing)- This type of yoga is more intense, fast paced, and is more physically demanding than other types of yoga because there is constant movement from pose to pose. In Ashtanga yoga, all poses are done in the same order, but if the class says Power Yoga, it'll include Ashtanga moves but not necessarily in the same order. This type requires strength and balance and will add some fat burning into your yoga, along with all the other benefits of flexibility and stress relief.

Vinyasa- Vinyasa is similar to Hatha in that it's a more generalized term and includes many types of classes, but the difference is that all of the movements are matched to the breath. Vinyasa is also more vigorous than Hatha and includes more intense stretching done near the end of class.

Bikram / Hot Yoga- This type of yoga is done in a room with the heat cranked up to around 100 with a humidity of 40%. Bikram is focused around loosening tight muscles, preventing injury, relieving stress and tension, and is thought to be a cleansing process from all the sweating you'll be doing. Apparently many beginners may experience dizziness and nausea.

Iyengar- This type is mainly based on proper body alignment to avoid injury and to get maximum benefits. The poses are held for a long period of time, there is a great attention to detail with the poses, and props such as blocks and straps are often used to help with alignment. Standing poses are emphasized in this type of yoga.

Forrest- Forrest yoga includes a vigorous sequences of poses, helps you connect to your core to gain strength and purify the body to release toxins. This style will give you an intense workout with an emphasis on ab strengthening.

Sivananda- If you're looking for a yoga style that focuses on overall wellness, this type would be for you. Sivananda focuses on five main principles: proper exercise, proper breathing, proper relaxation, proper diet (vegetarian), and positive thinking and meditation. This style is less vigorous than some of the other styles listed above and focuses more on relaxation and breathing.

Getting Rid of Stubborn Belly Fat

Ok, this is blog request #1, and I'm hoping to get some more to help people learn a little :). I knew mainly what I was going to talk about here, but thought I'd type into Google "How to get rid of stubborn belly fat". Some of the articles I found were filled with a bunch of BS and then tried to sell you some magic drug, others were filled with some more BS and tried to sell some ab machine thing, and some were actually written by people who knew what they're talking about were based on studies, and were helpful.

I guess I'll start off by depressing everyone when I say that there's really not a good way to just target belly fat and make it magically disappear (or other localized fat like those nice deposits on my upper thighs...); that's what liposuction is for. Didn't you ever notice all of those 5'8" 20 something year olds that weigh 120 on Dr. 90210 that have 1 area on their bodies that still has fat? That's proof you can't really spot train well by yourself. Anyway, I degress.

So those expensive ab things on TV, regular ab crunches, crazy amounts of cardio a day, etc are not going to help you. The only thing that the ab machines and crunches are going to do is tone / strengthen your underlying ab muscles which in some cases may even make your abs stick out more. Also, lots of cardio at the same intensity may even burn some of your muscle off, which obviously isn't good since the more muscle you have, the more fat you burn during the day.

The secret to losing "belly fat" or other areas of fat is to reduce the overall fat in your body. By reducing your overall fat, you'll lose it in the problem areas as well. The best way to reduce fat is to get on a healthy diet (i.e. no simple carbs, minimal sugar, none of those pre-packaged food things, and an increase in protein), full body strength training, and interval training. Make yourself get on a plan that you can stick to (no one is going to stick to a super strict diet forever) and just slowly try to take a few things out like sugars and starches and try to replace it with something healthier with some more protein. For example, instead of eating that donut, try a couple lightly salted rice cakes with a couple teaspoons of peanut butter, or even try the protein pudding recipe in my forum (I've found the brand / flavor is really the key here... I've had luck with Designer Whey - Chocolate Peanut Caramel, and Pure Protein - Chocolate). It's good for a post-workout snack. Also, remember to add more lean protein / vegetables instead of that Wendy's cheeseburger.

For your workout, instead of doing so much cardio, try to add some more strength training and try to hit every muscle group at least 2x/week. To really work on your mid-section, do some core training instead of just ab exercises. It will really target all the muscles around the middle of your body including the deeper ones that will help improve your posture, hold your belly in, and make you look slimmer. One trick to make your mid-section look smaller is to work on your shoulders to get them bigger. This will have a visual slimming effect. When you do your cardio, instead of spending 60 minutes at the same intensity, try intervals where you do moderate intensity for 2-3 minutes, then high intensity for 1 minute and repeat. This will keep your body guessing and will help get you in better shape, and you can even cut down your overall cardio time as well to work in that strength training. Good luck!... It's a tough one.