By Wally Bennett

My cardiovascular and vascular journey started in January of 2017. While visiting my primary care physician to get prescription refills for my blood pressure and cholesterol medications, she asked me if anyone had ever told me that i had a slight heart murmur.

To which I replied, “No.”

Then she said that i should see a cardiologist to have it checked out.

I made an appointment with Dr. Daniel Evans.

When I went to him for evaluation, he was efficient in doing what The Way To My Heart calls, “C.H.A.T.” where he checked my pulses head to toe.

While he was checking for a pulse in my feet, he said that he got a weak one in my right foot and hardly anything in my left.

He recommended an interventional procedure called an angiogram with the use of balloon angioplasty and placement of a stent in my right leg.

After that, we would go from there to decide what to do with my left leg.

The stent placement went well in my right leg, and blood flow was immediately restored.

We scheduled another procedure to attempt the same thing in my left.

Dr. Evans attempted to reach the blockage in my left leg by going through the artery in my right arm (radial approach).

This was unsuccessful.

Afterwards, he told me that the wire was literally two inches too short.

When i came home from the hospital after that, I had swelling and pain in my right hand.

My hand eventually went numb.

I went back to the E.R. and Dr. Evans came in to check me out.

He determined that I had developed a pseudoaneurysm on the artery in my right arm and it was pressing against a nerve causing the numbness and pain.

It was determined that it was so large that it would have to be surgically removed.

This is when I first met Dr. John Foor(a cadiovascular surgeon with Mount Carmel Vascular Services).

He surgically removed the pseudoaneurysm.

This procedure went well.

Next, I went back to Dr. Evans.

He admitted me back in Mount Carmel West to make another attempt to clear the blockage in my left leg.

He tried to come up through my left foot.

However, due to the reduced blood flow, he was not successful at finding a suitable artery in my foot to perform the procedure.

(editor’s note: Sometimes arteries have blockages that are too difficult to get through with a wire, catheters and balloons).

His next recommendation was that I see Dr. Foor to be evaluated for surgery to get blood flow back to my left foot.

During that appointment, Dr. Foor recommended Fem/pop bypass surgery.

He explained to me that he would make a small incision in my groin area and in my calf area, clamp off my femoral artery(groin area) and popliteal artery(calf area), remove the affected artery and replace it with a synthetic one.

(Editors Note: Typically an artery is not removed, it’s simply bypassed using a vein graft or synthetic graft).

On May 8th 2017, I walked into Mount Carmel Saint Ann’s hospital and the surgery was completed on May 11th.

Immediately following the fem/pop bypass surgery, blood flow was restored to my left leg.

Over the next few days my left leg swelled up and turned red.

After almost a week, the redness increase and the swelling was so bad that the stitches and staples in my leg started popping.

My skin in the affected area was also hot and I was feverish.

My body was rejecting the synthetic graft.

So, surgery was scheduled to remove it and replace it with one made of silicone.

That surgery went ok and I was discharged and sent home with wound vacuums.

After a week at home with a home care nurse stopping by daily to change dressings and check wound vacs, the incision sites continued to worsen.

The flesh was being eaten away where the wound vacs were attached.

I was readmitted to Saint Ann’s hospital where I contracted a bacterial infection (pseudomonas).

I also had 6 surgical debridements perormed.

Dr. Foor determined that I am allergic to polyethylene because that is the material that was common to both he original graft and the black sponges used with the wound vacuums.

My journey to recovery was certainly a long one with the next hospital transfer to Mount Carmel New Albany Surgical Hospital for skin grafts.

Skin was removed from my right leg and placed on the open wounds on my left leg

I then had a transfer to Select Specialty hospital for a continuation with IV antibiotics, three dressing changes per day and transport three days per week to the wound care center at St. Ann’s, for forty hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatments.

Afterwards, the wounds started healing pretty good, I was finally home for just a few days before having to go back to Saint Ann’s for more IV antibiotics.

Then due to insurance restrictions I had to be transferred to a skilled nursing facility.

I wasn’t there for even two weeks when, upon returning from a wound care appointment and a stop at the store for a few items to stock my room refrigerator, I noticed blood running out of my shorts.

A nurse helped me get on the bed and searched for the source.

We discovered that a suture had opened up at the graft incision.

She stuffed the area with gauze and called 911.

On my way in the ambulance to Riverside Hospital, I passed out.

The next thing that I remember, it was three days later and I was being woken up in ICU at Saint Ann’s by Dr. Foor.

He was standing over me, covered with my blood and told me that my femoral artery had opened up on him three more times and that I had to chooe either life or limb!

So I told him to take it off.

Three days later on November 11, 2017 my left leg was gone above the knee.

It is now about eight or nine inches long.

You’d think that would be the end of this nightmare.

But during a follow-up appointment at the wound care center it was discovered that I had contracted a MRSA infection.

I had another surgical debridement at Saint Ann’s.

Then I was transferred to Mount Carmel/Health South therapeutic care hospital for more IV antibiotics and to gain strength enough to dress myself, transfer from bed to wheelchair and from wheelchair to toilet and back to chair.

I was finally discharged from the hospital on December 9, 2017.

A year later I got my prosthetic, and it did not fit very well.

It still doesn’t fit well and I’m told it’s how it is.

So, I just dont use it much.

It is painful to wear it for very long and I am still mostly using my wheelchair.

I hate living this way because I am such a burden on my wife.

She has been working in housekeeping at Altercare of Hilliard so that she can get a paycheck and healthcare insurance to help support us.

Fortunately, I was approved for Social Security Disability and Medicaid, though.

So, for now thank goodness money is not an issue.

But I know that she is tired and hurting after work and i wish I could be more help to her.

Having PAD is certainly a never-ending journey.

I don’t know what’s around the next bend.

But I’m here now and I will keep fighting no matter what PAD will bring.

Disclaimer: This story is written by a patient about their experience. This experience is their own and not necessarily representative of the average or all experiences. Keep in mind that we don’t have access to their medical records to double-check the accuracy of their interpretation of their medical symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and experience. Our editors do make notes when applicable to clarify some aspects of the story. Always check with your own healthcare team if you have any questions about experiences shared here. Know that these experiences are shared for informational and educational purposes only. Do not act on any information offered here without the explicit consent of your own healthcare provider who knows your situation best.