the case of the disappearing veins

according to emedicinehealth.com:

Veins are blood vessels that return deoxygenated blood from the outer parts of the body back to the heart and lungs. When veins become abnormally thick, full of twists and turns, or enlarged, they are called varicose veins. Generally, the veins in the legs and thighs have a tendency to become varicosed.

• Varicose veins can form anywhere in the body, but they are most often located in the legs.
  
  
• In the United States alone, about 19% of men and 36% of women have varicose veins.
  
  
• Varicose veins tend to become more prominent as the person ages.

this being said: cade has varicose veins.

it was no secret, nor was it anything cade was embarassed about. since i have known cade, he has had these protruding veins in his leg and i wasn't too worried about it. then one day i learned that blood clots in veins can sometimes get loose, travel to the heart and cause a stroke. this was enough for me to start to worry... and keep worrying... until we had solved the problem. plus, cade was ready to get rid of the beasts.

so last month, cade braved the surgery and had them cauterized. twice. the healing process is still going on, but i thought a few "before and after" pictures would be appropriate.

BEFORE:



AFTER:





they are looking much better and feeling better too! the only drawback was the lace-topped stocking he had to wear for a few weeks for recovery... i had a few people ask me if he had shaved a leg. who just shaves one leg? anyway, he may have to go in for a few follow up surgeries but overall we think the whole process has been a huge success.

here's to a vein-free day!