Apparently, one is not supposed to have the cankles.
(If you don’t know what cankles are, please do yourself a favor: when you Google it, DON’T LOOK AT THE PICTURES.)
Anywho, if you remember from my last post, I came back from Balloon Manor with swollen, painful legs. Edema of the legs (the medical term for swelling is edema). It was so bad, and the fallout was so scary, I finally got myself a primary care physician and followed up and did everything one is supposed to do when they have what might be a life threatening illness. Blah blah blah.
(Note: It’s OK.)
What it could’ve been: congestive heart failure, diabetes, lipedema, a thyroid issue.
What it is: Superficial Venous Reflux Disease.
My Great Saphenous Vein is not so Great!
What that means: The Great Saphenous veins are SUPPOSED to bring the blood from my legs back toward my heart. But MY Great Saphenous veins are punking out, instead pooling the blood at the bottom of my legs. Gross, huh? This can (and has) caused ulcers to form. Very icky.
What have I done for the last 2 months? Wrapped my legs, wore sexay compression stockings, took lasix, elevated my legs, and took it easy. I’d have to come home from work and put my feet up. Which was easy because I’ve been exhausted.
But here is the best thing about this: It can be fixed.
And that’s what I am doing tomorrow: taking care of my Great Saphenous Veins (GSVs). Taking them OUT! Well, one of them.
The Fix: I am going to have an Ablation! A thin catheter is going to be inserted into my GSV and it will cauterize the vein. Woo!
It’s an in-office procedure. Done in an hour. And the rumor is, once it’s done, no more cankle! (Oh, God, I hope so.)
I have to wait until the end of the month to get the other cankle abluated.
Now, I have had cankles off and on for a while. It will be weird without them, but I can certainly get used to it.
TLDR: I have cankles. I shouldn’t. And the fix looks to be easy (and hopefully permanent).
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