The first time I saw an interventional cardiologist was in August of 2022. She put a stent in my right iliac artery and told me that’s all she could do for me and if further complications arise, I should see her husband, a vascular surgeon, so I went to him. After an attempted bypass procedure that I was so desparate for due to horrid pain that allowed me only an hour’s sleep at a time, he awoke me from the procedure to inform me that the bypass was a no-go because there was no access and my options were to live with the pain or have an above knee amputation. I’m very glad he stopped the procedure!

That’s when I found an amazing support group for PAD,and Kym McNicholas referred me to Dr. Arthur Lee. I was at Stage 3 PAD – Critical limb ischemia (CLI) with an open wound on my great right toe. He took me on as a patient and my first procedure was December 28, 2023, just 3 days after Christmas.

Since then I’ve had 4 other procedures and the open wound has closed completely, though I still have some blood flow issues, I have a much better level of foot neuropathy that allows me to sleep in 6 hour intervals with proper medication.

I’m due for another procedure in June, and Dr Lee will address another blockage in my thigh, and clean out my carotids, in addition to getting a venogram. Hopefully this procedure does the trick, but if not, I suspect Dr Lee ordered the venogram to possibly consider a deep venous arterialization procedure where they take veins and turn them into arteries. He is being cautious and utilizing the less is more approach to treating my PAD.

I strongly urge everyone to seek a second or third opinion from an interventional cardiologist who is up on all the latest techniques. Why agree to an amputation when there are so many other rather non-invasive procedures that can save your little piggies? It’s not just our toes that these doctors can treat! As Dr Lee often says, we want to treat the entire patient, not just their toes, and all these procedures can save life and limb.