I had a venogram and venoplasty yesterday. The did a venogram of the left side. It looks fine, so I shouldn't have to have another surgery.

The technology seems futuristist. They perform a real time x-ray with contrast die that's displayed on a giant TV. I could see most of it. You don't have to go into an MRI tube. There's simply a rectangular thing, about 2'x2' that moves around. They position it 6 inches or so from your head. I had my glasses on the entire time.

Then they did venoplasty on the right. They use the same x-ray technology. For this I received some sedation, but I was still able to watch most of it. Before the procedure they weren't sure that they'd be able to get a wire through the vein. But they managed.

They inserted a wire up my arm to well under my collar bone. Then they expand a balloon and watch the blood flow with the contrast die. They did several expansions in different spots. The procedure opened the subclavian vein up a bit, but not that much. There was less blood going to the collateral veins. The subclavian is still not in great shape, but I should now have less discoloration and swelling when exercising, I hope.

I'm not supposed to do anything vigorous for another week. They don't want the hole in the vein through which they inserted the wire opening up. . . . I didn't see that coming. I've got a big water proof bandage on the inside of my upper arm.

Today, the incision site hurts a bit and my arm is slightly swollen, enough that I notice it, but not big an blue, not even close. I suspect that my arm is just irritated from the procedure. I'll keep an eye on it.

A side note: The IR doc was surprised that they hadn't done thrombolysis in the ER. I would be in so much better shape now had I been treated properly last year.