Surgery Time (or so I thought)

On October 3rd, we arrived at the hospital for my ultrasound. The technician began the ultrasound on my legs, starting with my right leg. Here is where things get rocky. I felt like I was in the room for the longest time, and the ultrasound did take about an hour and she had only ultra-sounded my right leg.

She kept leaving the room and making faces at the screen – that is when I knew something wasn’t right. After the ultrasound I was directed to admitting to prepare for surgery. By this time is was about 8:20am, surgery was at 9:30am. I was successfully admitted and was sitting in the waiting room when we got the call. My mom was talking to my ortho surgeon’s assistant and when she hung up she said “They found something on your ultrasound, your surgery is cancelled, we have to go meet your surgeon in the clinic.” I was bummed to say the least. I had waited for this surgery. But turns out I did have a vascular problem.

We got down to the clinic and met with my surgeon. He described to us what they found on the ultrasound. In his own words, he said that my calf muscle is compressing my popliteal artery which causes my blood supply to be cut off when I run. I do not have compartment syndrome, but rather a vascular problem in  my calves.

I am so thankful that he did the ultrasound and found this out before he went through with the surgery; which, would not have fixed my pain. Although this vascular problem will also require surgery, it will be a surgery that will actually allow me to be pain free. Now I am headed onto a new journey. He referred me to a Vascular Surgeon, who I will meet with next week and start a new batch of testing to determine the exact diagnosis. While this new journey means a delay in recovery, I understand that patience and a positive attitude go a long way. I am NOW on the road to recovery, and weeks away from a correct diagnosis.