jflorance wrote:
I just met with my surgeon today. I am so thrilled that I found him. He has never done this surgery before although he has 27 years experience. However he called Dr. Cherry and talked to him extensively about the surgery and what to expect. I have talked with my surgeon on the phone several times. He is so personable and wants to do what is best for me. My ABI in the left leg was .7 after exercise but had been 1.02 at rest. My CT scan showed a narrowing of the external iliac artery. Also, Dr Cherry and my doctor both agree that my problem is probably because my exteral iliac artery is a lot longer than most people. I hope to schedule my surgery in the next few weeks. The sooner the better.
I was getting back to you again because my doctor says I will be pretty sore. He is using a mid line incision which means I will be very sore. I believe that is what you had also. Do you remember how long you were really sore. I'm wanting to travel (by car) about 4 weeks out and I was wondering if you thought I would be okay to do that. My doctor feels I may not want to do that yet. It will be a 9 hour drive. Also, how long were you off from work. My doctor says 6 - 8 weeks. Just wondering. He is going to be very conservative about letting me run. Probably 2 months before I can run but he did say I could walk. Hoping to be ready for racing next spring!
I'm suprised that they would do the surgery with an ABI of .7. I've had the surgery done twice. My ABI was .35 in the left leg and .78 in the right. The norm is around .7-.85. What was the ABI in the non-affected leg? If the EIA is long it will likely get worse, so maybe that's the reason for the surgery.
At any rate you should be fine in four weeks. Hopefully your doc will do a muscle splitting incision (not sure if that's the right term) that really improves recovery. Most surgeons will just cut straight through all the muscle fibers in one line. This makes recovery much longer.
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