More Vein Talk

I'm guilty of not blogging on my summer vacation from work. It's hard to sit in front of a computer when you don't have to (unless I'm watching Netflix while on the elliptical, which isn't really sitting). I didn't have any of my leg vein surgeries over the break because I had to wait 3 months from the time I first went to the vein clinic for insurance to approve my treatments, so I spent the majority of the summer in jeans or yoga pants. I didn't take a vacation (boo) because of personal circumstances and because I had to work to make money. However, at the end of July I did receive my first Endovenous Laser Ablation on my right leg. At that time I was under the impression that I would only have one EVLA on each leg, but when I went for the second surgery I learned that I was going to have 2 on my left leg.
I'm going to try to make this story as short as possible (because I tend to ramble). I took .5mg of Xanax just prior to the surgery & while there they injected numbing medication into my leg. I could still feel the doctor cut the incision and felt pressure where he was inserting a catheter. I was pretty grossed out at the thought of what was going on, so I didn't try to look. Yes, when the laser was applied I could smell something that reminded me of burning plastic. He said there might be an odd taste in my mouth, but I didn't experience that until the second procedure in August. The procedure didn't take very long, less than half an hour once they finally started. Afterwards, they wrapped my knee area near the incision with tight bandages. I put on my compression stocking & was ready to go home. I couldn't really feel anything in the leg for the first few hours, then once the numbing medicine wore off I was very sore. I took some of the 550mg Naproxen Sodium that I had prescribed for PMS and spent the next few days taking it relatively easy. Walking at least 30 minutes a day was suggested, but the doctor said I could use my elliptical as long as I didn't use much resistance. I had to wear a trash bag over my leg while in the shower until the bandages were removed on Monday, which was pretty frustrating and comical. After the bandages were removed I could see the Steri-strip, which I was told to leave until it fell off. (It was almost 3 weeks before that happened.) I was pretty sore and found that wearing the compression stocking helped with the pain some. I know that the effects of vein treatment will take time to show up, so I'm trying not to look at my legs that closely because not seeing improvement is only going to discourage me.