I can now officially say that I’ve had plastic surgery.
Unfortunately, not the fun kind where I get a cute new nose or skinnier thighs.
Just the ultra- glamorous correction of one useless and very malfunctioning vein in my leg.
Yes, it’s true. I am 31, and had to have varicose vein laser ablation.
Jealous?
You really will be after checking out this picture in some stellar black panty hose taken the day of my surgery.
The procedure I had done was a bit more challenging than I had planned. In my mind, and they way I {mis} understood things, it would be a simple little shot of fluid and local anesthetic to numb the vein, followed by the sliding of a tiny laser all the way up my leg to my groin area. They would then fire up the laser and with pulses of heat it would incinerate the vein as he slowly pulled it back out around a tiny incision in my leg.
Not exactly what happened.
{Day After Surgery}
As you can see in this picture, and all those teeny tiny red dots going up my leg, I had a few more shots than the mere one that I was anticipating.
It was more like 30 shots… of lidocaine no less, which I now know, causes me to shake violently, feel like I may pass out or throw up at any given minute, and feel like I drank a bottle of wine.
Awesome.
Thankfully they tell you ahead of time to have someone drive you the day of your procedure, because I was definitely over the legal limit of lidocaine on our way home.
A big shout out to my sister Adie who kindly drove me, along with her three week old baby boy, and my sister Maggie who sat with the rest of the seven crazy kiddos so I could have this done!
Adie hung out back at Haus of Girls for awhile, reading to several of the cuties, while waiting for me to sober up.
Maggie is such a life saver to hang out with all the kids for a few hours so that I could finally have this done. They now all love her more than they love me. :)
I should have expected that though.
She’s way younger, more energetic and does NOT have varicose veins.
{Two Days After Surgery}
It’s looking so much better.
But now the actual vein that they lasered is what is sore rather than the initial 30 pokes from a giant needle.
It feels like a super sore, hard electrical wire going up my leg.
Even more awesome.
The back view.
Gross.
Despite burdening my sisters, feeling like I might die from an allergic reaction to the anesthetic and some stinging pain for several days, I am so thankful that I did have this done when I did.
It’s over and done with and now I don’t have to worry about it anymore. Just a few more injections in the actual vein that was bulging down in my calf, and I am done.
And I know this second procedure will pale in comparison to having a laser slid up my leg, heat pulses burning it to pieces all while tasting the nastiest burnt toast taste in my mouth. Yuck!
And finally, do you want to know the biggest benefit of having this surgery?
(If you love Saturday Night Live as much as I do you will totally get this…)
Afterwards I was able to say with authority, “I got one leg! Jealous?!” and mean it.
Happy Tuesday!
9 comments:
owwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!
oh my gosh, this gave me the hee-bee jee-bees! *shudder* That is one impressive bruise!!! Glad everything is pretty much taken care of!
Wow...that is terrible!! I'm glad-ish you had it done, if it was needed but ~ oh my GOODNESS ~ that looks so painful! Yikes.
Hope you're on the mend soon. :)
LOVE the new blog layout...love.
Hi!
Your new blog design is super kool! I made party decorations that look a lot like the top of your blog for my girls' upcoming Birthdays :)
Since we are #1 the same age and #2 both 'blessed' with some awesome veins... I HAD to comment on your post!
I recently went to our local vein clinic to find out how they could help me. Since I'm nursing (and pregnant) they wouldn't touch my veins. So I ordered two pairs of these awesome support stockings- they look just like panty hose!
Now that I know what to expect in the future, I'll try not to rush the idea of getting rid of my puffy veins- that laser stuff sounds and looks scary!
Glad it all worked out for you!
Oh my word Marta, ow! I am so glad you are in good spirits and everything worked out well...looks uber painful girl!
Feel better. That looks so painful. I have a nasty vein behind my knee (I'm 32 and I've had it since I was about 13) and after seeing that I think I'll keep mine for as long as possible.
Oh, my!!! I have thought about getting some work done, too, but I hope it won't be anything like that! Yikes! But, wow, I bet you'll have some great legs to wear shorts in this summer!!!
Oh my gosh, that looks *so* painful!
I'm glad it's over with for you sake. A laser slid up your leg? Yikes - makes me shudder!
~Keri
Oh wow! That is a lot to endure! I think my procedure was a lot more gentle. However, I am only done part one of two. The injections for me start in about 4 weeks!
Take care!
A.) OUCH!
B.) Your sisters rock!!
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