Varicose vein relief after 20 years
For two decades, John Laseak, age 64, had been asking his doctor about his varicose veins, to which the doctor always replied, “Don’t worry about it.” Here’s his personal story about what happened when he finally saw a specialist.
For 20 years, John Laseaks’s doctor told him not to worry about his varicose veins. Finally, he saw Dr. Sonja Stiller of Center for Advanced Vein Care. Now, his bulging, ropy veins are gone—and so is the heaviness that was interfering with his love of hiking.
When John Laseak of Concord, Ohio, flew to Las Vegas with his family last year, the long flight aggravated his varicose veins.
“Dad, look at the veins in your legs!” his son exclaimed when he saw his father at the hotel swimming pool. The ropy veins John had suffered with for years had become discolored.
“I had those bulging veins for 20 years,” John, age 64, reveals. “But every time I went in for my physical, my [primary care] doctor just said, ‘If they’re not bothering you, don’t worry about it.’ I should not have listened to him. These were horrendous, big, nasty, ropy veins on my ankle, and he told me to ignore them. I should have gone to see a vein specialist years ago.”
Finally, after that trip to Vegas, John did see a specialist—Dr. Sonja Stiller of the Center for Advanced Vein Care.
“I had read one of Dr. Stiller’s stories in Mimi Magazine and saved a copy of the article,” he recalls. “I just had a feeling I might need it one day.”
Starting Treatment
First, Dr. Stiller did an ultrasound scan of John’s legs to determine whether the flow of blood in the veins in his legs was healthy. It wasn’t. The varicose veins had caused a condition known as “venous insufficiency.”
“We like to do the ultrasound with the patient standing up so the blood flow is fighting gravity,” Dr. Stiller explains. “This way, we can monitor blood flow—both velocity and volume—and watch how fast and how far the blood flows backward. Improper flow usually means a valve problem because the veins have become too wide and cannot efficiently move blood up and out of the lower legs.”
In addition to venous insufficiency, the vein mapping also revealed that John had a blood clot. “Dr. Stiller put me on blood thinners immediately,” he says. “And soon after that, we started treatments.”
Wearing Compression
Most insurance companies have a three month compression stocking requirement before treatments can begin, so John met that requirement first. “The compression was no big deal for me,” he says. “It was just like wearing a pair of long socks, and my legs felt better as soon as I put them on. Even though I’m much better now that the treatments are over, I will always wear compression socks when I fly on an airplane when I cannot move my legs. We’re planning a trip to Italy, and you better believe I’ll be wearing compression socks.”
Leading-Edge Treatments
After the compression stocking requirement, John underwent endovenous laser ablation treatments, which collapse unhealthy veins and allow blood to reroute through healthy veins. It’s one of several leading-edge treatment options that have replaced the painful stripping surgery our parents and grandparents had to endure.
“Both my parents also had varicose veins,” John explains. “And they both went through aggressive and painful surgery. But Dr. Stiller doesn’t do that. Her procedures didn’t hurt at all, but granted, I do have a pretty high pain tolerance.”
“I just thought I was getting older.”
John is a 40-year veteran tool and die maker for an aerospace company and spends all day every day on his feet. “I just didn’t think about my legs,” he says. “I have a job to do so I just powered through. I thought the leg heaviness was related to age. I just thought I was getting older, but that wasn’t it. It was the varicose veins. Now, thanks to Dr. Stiller, that heaviness is gone, and I feel like I’m young again. I keep saying it, but I should have done this 20 years ago. The treatments didn’t bother me at all. There was no downtime. I was back on the job in about an hour.”
John also enjoys hiking. “There are a lot of hills near where we live in Concord, and hiking those hills I could feel the heaviness in my legs,” he adds. “Now all that’s gone and it’s much easier to climb those hills. I learned from Dr. Stiller that it’s important to keep moving—working, walking the dog, mowing the grass.”
When asked about advice he might offer to others with varicose vein symptoms, John says, “Don’t listen to anyone who tells you it’s nothing to worry about. It’s pretty simple. If your legs don’t look right, there is a reason for it. Don’t wait 20 years like I did. Go see a specialist.”
Pay Attention to How Your Legs Feel
Dr. Stiller cautions that venous insufficiency doesn’t always feature “horrendous, big, nasty, ropy veins.”
“It’s not so much about what you see, but how you feel,” she explains. “You could have bulging veins, spider veins or even deep varicose veins invisible on the surface. Instead, pay attention to how your legs feel. Symptoms include achiness, heaviness, swelling, tingling, fatigue and more. And if you just want to sit and put your feet up after a long day, that’s a symptom, too. For healthy legs and healthy circulation, we need to keep moving.”
Dr. Sonja Stiller is a diplomat of both the American Board of Emergency Medicine and the American Board of Venous and Lymphatic Medicine and the UIP 2023 Lead Chair for Scientific Abstracts. She is the founder of the Center for Advanced Vein Care, a Tier 1 provider with Lake Health Hospital System. The center’s offices are at 7200 Mentor Avenue, in Mentor. For an appointment, call 440-710-1140. Visit YourHealthyVeins.com.
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