Those initial test results from the CVT came back. The good news is, there are no obstructions in my abdomen or pelvis. The less good news is that I have a partial renal artery stenosis to one kidney, which means I may eventually need a permanent stent to open that up for more blood flow.

The ultrasound revealed that I also have some leaky vein walls, and the doctor started pushing me to undergo sclerotherapy, which involves injecting a chemical into affected veins that causes inflammation and irritation in the vein walls and eventually leads to closure and absorption of the veins by the body. The blood then reroutes into other veins and theoretically causes a reduction in lymphedema.

I made an appointment, but as the day approached I got increasingly hinky about doing this without that much consideration—I really dislike it when the word “theoretically” is involved! So I did some research and decided, ultimately, to wait and see while pursuing other less drastic remedies.

The doctor said that leaky veins cause 80 percent of edema, with the rest resulting from the kidneys and maybe some from my lipoedema. But when I looked all this up online, some of the big medical schools said things like only 10 percent of patients need radical intervention and the rest can accomplish healing with a consistent/persistent regime of hydration, compression, and exercise.

Since I have just begun the wrapping regime with Fabrifoam and have already had success with a significant decrease in swelling (as long as the legs are constantly wrapped), I’m thinking I’m going to get more proactive with both hydration and exercise and see if I can’t effect change on my own without procedures that may or may not help and may also be painful and/or make things worse (which is listed among the possibilities). After all, my new mentor Carol did it; it took her almost two years, but the transformation is truly amazing, and she’s now out of wraps for about 16 hours in 24, wearing leggings to keep things contained during the day and wrapping them for when she sleeps.

I also made this decision because I looked up the listings for my doctor on various ratings platforms, both medical and on Yelp, and discovered that his best scores are three stars out of five and he has lots of complaints—some about the procedures themselves (he also does cosmetic stuff like lip plumping), others about the bait-and-switch of saying insurance will cover and then trying to collect cash when it doesn’t. My experience so far has been pretty positive, but you can’t discount all those reviews….

So: I am backing off of intervention for now. I am going back to my regular doctor with the results of the various tests from this one, to see what she has to say about all of this. I may continue to see this doctor because of his philosophy of treating such issues as hormonal imbalances (which no one else is offering and which I persist in believing is a big part of my problems), but I’m not having venous ablation or sclerotherapy unless and until I get a second (and maybe a third) opinion that tells me that’s my only solution.

Meanwhile, using my pumps, climbing on my vibration platform, wrapping with the Fabrifoam, and trying to move more and also choke down more water!