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.