Flaming Legs

Yesterday I had the most unusual experience. I went for my follow up visit at the Palomar wound clinic. originally went there about three weeks ago when I returned from our European trip in June. It was all about a nasty sore. I have been nursing for over a month on my lower right leg. I have mentioned that the CARE and medical advice I received at the wound clinic was perhaps the best medical experience I can recall ever having. Not only was the advice very direct and understandable, but it proved to be highly effective, which is the ultimate test of any professional service. It was also strangely enough, a very pleasant experience with very caring and focused nurses and doctors. Well, whatever I thought about the Palomar wound clinic after my first visit, I am now prepared to proselytize for them with even more flowery testimonials.

It is no secret that I am very pleased with the progress I have made with my edema over the last month. Now I have a basis for knowing that my reaction has been completely objective. The Palomar wound clinic declared my transformation in three weeks to be a “medical miracle“. Having suffered from edema for almost a decade and now feeling like I can say that I really have little or no edema or cause for edema, I’m prepared to accept the miraculous definition. When I entered the clinic yesterday, I was assigned to a different nurse than the one who handled my admission several weeks ago. She was equally pleasant and professional and treated my situation with total objectivity. It only took her a few minutes of looking at my leg and looking at my records to stop and ask me exactly what had occurred over the past few weeks. I explained the impact of the new diuretic (Bumetanide), the ensuing extreme weight loss (28 pounds), the purchase and consistent use of the prescribed 20-30 mg/Hg compression socks (Newzill brand), and the resultant complete healing of the leg sore. The nurse took my blood pressure, which has been running much better lately and came up with 123/80, which is pretty spot on perfect. She then looked at my two recent venous capacity ultrasound tests. The venous ultrasound did not indicate any “reflux” and arterial ultrasound did not show any blockages, so it seems the circulation in my legs is also pretty much perfectly normal. She then measured the circumference of both my ankle and my calf and found significant 4-5 cm differences from when I first came in. In other words, the edema which was visibly apparent in my calf, ankle and foot was completely gone and the lymphatic system seemed to operating as it was supposed to and not storing excess fluid in my lower legs anymore.

This all really surprised the nurse so she called over the attending physician, who went through all the same data she had reviewed and brought in several other physicians and nurse practitioners who seemed to have a sincere interest in the case all of a sudden. What the physician explained to me was that they rarely see this degree of reversal in edema and they have NEVER seem this sort of reversal in such a quick period of time. They ended by taking pictures of my leg and ankle and then asked me to pose for one last picture. It seems that they have a tradition of doing what cancer clinics often do, They have a big brass bell that they have the patient ring when they are declared cured. They asked me to ring the bell and then told me that I was the first patient they had had that had been able to ring the bell after only two visits. That all is what qualified me for medical miracle status. Of course, this is about when the story usually would have me step out the door waving and get hit by a bus, but instead I just put on my compression socks and jauntily walked out of the clinic door into the California sunshine and jumped into my truck to call Kim and tell her the good news.

When I retired almost six years ago, I lost about forty pounds due to the changes to my lifestyle (mostly, more daily exercise around the property). I gradually put some of that back on and have now taken that and more off and gotten down to the same weight as I carried when I entered college in 1971. Now, as they say, that is still only a few bags off the Queen Mary, so I will not be appearing on the cover of GQ any time soon, but I do feel pretty good. If you polled my family and friends they would probably ably all say that I have lost a step or two over the past decade (that is probably the kindest thing any of them would say). I noticeably lag in my walking speed and am forever asking Kim (even with her two replacement knees) to slow down when we are walking somewhere. My specialty has been finding a bench to sit on while others walk here or there. Now, suddenly, I have regained that pep in my step and when we walk here or there, I am more often in the lead. Last night we went to Rady Shell on San Diego Bay to watch Top Gun / Maverick on the big outdoor screen accompanied by the San Diego Symphony. It was a wonderful event and where we would usually take the shuttle bus from the convention parking center to the venue, we walked and I took the lead both going and coming home. It really reminded me of the positive impact this edema solution has had on me since our walking tours in Malta a month ago did not happen in any similar way.

In addition to the elimination of the edema, I also think the benefits of these new compression socks has also been a great boon to my stride. Compression socks have become a Mellenial article of clothing with the benefits of quality controlled leg compression being deemed to significantly improve leg muscle performance. Compression socks can provide several benefits for leg performance, though the effects vary depending on the activity and individual. During exercise they can improve blood flow and oxygen delivery to muscles, reduce muscle vibration and fatigue during prolonged activities and improve support and stability. There are also recovery benefits like helping to reduce swelling and fluid buildup after intense exercise (hence my edema improvement), speeding up removal of metabolic waste products from muscles and reducing post-exercise soreness and stiffness. The research shows mixed results for actual performance enhancement during exercise, so while compression socks don’t dramatically boost speed or strength, they may help with endurance activities and reduce perceived exertion. The recovery benefits tend to be more consistently documented than direct performance improvements. But proper fit appears to be crucial. Socks that are too tight can restrict circulation and become uncomfortable. they key seems to be a combination of graduated compression (tighter at ankle, looser at calf) and thin enough so that putting them on and off is not an ordeal unto itself. While its true that healthier people get less dramatic benefits, for the rest of us, I can testify that the benefits have been enormous.

I have now bought a dozen pairs of Newzill XXL socks in various colors and patterns. So far my favorite is the one with the flames going up the back of my calf. They remind me that I have markedly more leg energy than I did a few weeks ago and at this age, flaming legs is where its at.