Success Stories

“Even just sitting in school and studying, my varicose veins were painful.”

San Antonio patient P.M. was referred to Veintec’s Robert Thompson, M.D., a certified vascular surgeon, for treatment of her painful varicose veins. “I’m in school right now,” P.M. said, “and I could only do a limited amount of sitting at my desk to do my homework because of the pain.”

During her initial meeting with Dr. Thompson, P.M.’s first question was whether she would be able to travel by air the day after the procedure. The answer was yes, so P.M. was sold on the treatment sessions.

“The procedure was only about 45 minutes in the morning, and then I could go to work or to school in the afternoon,” P.M. said. “If I had the procedure on a Thursday, I could do a 3K walk or run on the weekend.”

“The whole idea is to keep you ambulatory after the procedure and thus reduce risk,” said Dr. Thompson. “With large varicose veins, which are big bulging veins you can see underneath skin, we can remove the vein with a laser. For medium-sized varicose veins, we perform a phlebectomy, which is what P.M. had. We create tiny pinpoint holes with a small needle and remove the veins. For the smallest veins, such as spider veins, we do sclerotherapy treatment, which involves injecting the spider veins with a scarring solution that causes an irritation in the inner wall of the vein and then the vein collapses. Spider veins are more of a cosmetic concern than a medical issue and can be treated in a few sessions.”

P.M. said that within three days of her varicose vein treatment, she felt a huge difference. “You’re pain free, it doesn’t hurt and it doesn’t burn,” she said. “You can do what you want to do and it’s excellent. I recommend it to everybody.”

“I was scuba diving in the Bahamas not long after the procedure.”

R.C., a patient of Dr. Robert Thompson, said the varicose veins in his leg were the result of three different operations he’d had over the years. The varicose veins were very painful, causing him to wake up in the middle of the night.

“My leg would be throbbing. It would be itching. It would feel like it had a fever on it. It was one-and-a-half inches larger than the other leg because of the bulging veins. My wife kept asking me to seek treatment and I finally realized I couldn’t deal with the pain anymore,” R.C. said.

Dr. Thompson explained that a combination of procedures was performed on R.C.’s leg to treat different issues. Laser ablation was used to remove the vein that was causing the problem. “It’s the large vein inside the thigh that supplies the bulging vein,” he said. “The procedure can be done in the office in an hour with local anesthetic.” The smaller vein was removed later in a secondary procedure.

“I have my sexy legs back again,” R.C. joked. “And I was scuba diving in the Bahamas not long after the procedure.”

Dr. Thompson said 40 percent of women and 15 to 20 percent of men will get varicose veins in their lifetime. “With men, it’s lifestyle issues and heredity that cause varicose veins. Salesmen, doctors, nurses and retail workers are susceptible. For women, pregnancy and heredity both play a part.”

“Our procedures do not have any downtime,” Dr. Thompson said. “You can be in and out of the office in an hour or less and back to work the same day or the next day.”

Patients who do not seek treatment for varicose veins may experience chronic pain, bleeding, blood clots and skin ulcers. Dr. Thompson urges individuals, men and women, to contact Veintec if they are experiencing discomfort from varicose veins and discuss a solution with one of the board certified vascular surgeons.

Below is an interview with R.C. and Dr. Thompson.

“I had the procedure done on a Friday and was back at my construction job on Monday.”

Greater Saphenous vein laser ablation, left Hunter’s perforator ligation, and miniphlebectomy on 10/24/2012

Growing up, B.C. noticed that his grandmother had varicose veins in her legs and assumes that his were hereditary. He is in his early 40s and works in construction—asphalt and concrete—and spends most of his time on his feet. He describes himself as a big guy, being 6 ft. 5 inches tall and weighing 230 pounds.

“I have a few varicose veins,” B.C. says, “but one of them made me very self-conscious about my appearance. I always tried to wear long shorts to cover it up and make it less noticeable, but it snaked across my leg from my inner thigh to the knee and down the front of my leg.”

B.C.’s primary care physician referred him to Dr. Robert Thompson at Veintec. B.C.’s stepmother had been treated at Veintec, so B.C. was familiar with the clinic. Dr. Thompson closed the vein in the thigh to stop the reverse flow of blood (greater Saphenous vein laser ablation), removed all the bulging veins (miniphlebectomy) and tied off another vein that was not functioning properly (left Hunter’s perforator ligation). B.C. said the procedures took less than two hours total and required only local anesthesia. He wore a special stocking for a few days after the treatment as the areas healed.

He said he experienced some bruising, but was looking great by the time he and his wife and daughter left three weeks later for a Caribbean cruise. Now, he’s referred his sister-in-law to Veintec.

“I had no apprehension about the procedures because I wanted to get them done. I probably should have gone to Veintec a lot sooner.”

• The three procedures were performed at the Veintec clinic.
• Received the treatment on Friday and was back at work—in construction—on Monday.
• No longer self-conscious about the way his leg looks when he wears shorts.

Below is an interview with B.C. and Dr. Thompson.

“You have the procedure, then you get up and go!”

Right greater saphenous vein laser ablation on Nov. 9, 2012 and shin miniphlebectomy on Dec. 3, 2012

R.F., age 68, moved to the United States when she was 22 from Milan, Italy, where she had been born and raised. Even though she taught herself to read and write English, and speaks the language well, she could not come up with the right word to describe Veintec’s Dr. Robert K. Thompson and staff.

“So precise, so excellent,” R.F. begins. “No, excellent would not be the right word to say. Outstanding is not going to be enough. I don’t know what word in English means best of the best.”

Dr. Thompson performed a right greater saphenous vein laser ablation and shin miniphlebectomy on Rinalda after she was referred to him by her primary care physician.

R.F. says she had no apprehension about having the procedures, which took less than one hour. “I just went in and trusted my doctor. I had been told he was the best, and I was thrilled with the results.”

She previously ran a cleaning service business and R.F. keeps busy now with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. “I stay very active. I do whatever I can to help people,” she says. “I like to do things for others. When they call, I go!”

“I was very fortunate to have an outstanding doctor.”

• Referred by primary care physician to Veintec for varicose vein treatments
• Procedure took less than one hour
• Veintec treatments allowed her to resume her active lifestyle