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New shoes, left leg falling asleep

Last Post 03/19/2015 11:19 AM by thinline .. 36 Replies.

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Posts:340

03/16/2015 06:43 PM
Posted By Evan Solida on 03/16/2015 08:47 AM As a little follow-up on this topic for anyone that's interested, I had surgery this past Friday at Univ. of Virginia. My vascular surgeon here in Asheville sent me a specialist there. The issue ended up being Popliteal Artery Entrapment Syndrome. I have a 6-7" long incision in the shape of an "S" behind my knee where they released the artery from the muscle. Lots of pain as one would expect. Probably 5-6 weeks off the bike. At first I was thinking "whatever" when they said that long for recovery but now that I know how much pain there is, I understand. When I would push down on the pedals before surgery, the pulse would disappear at my foot but that's been fixed. Surgery was a success! Now I just have to deal with recovery and doing nothing while the weather is beautiful outside. Bad timing of my last post. I take it they did not alter the artery but released it from a muscle that was blocking it? I had to keep my activity down just to prevent bursting the artery. Almost 6 weeks off the bike and 4 at home.

Posts:2886

03/16/2015 06:57 PM
Good news 6ix. Smart and honorable move by your honest local doc to send you to UVa. What says even more to me is that Asheville has a lot of very, very good docs, mostly trained at top programs at UNC and Duke. They want to live in Asheville. The groups there get the cream of the crop when hiring. There are several types of popliteal entrapment and some are trickier than others to fix. So getting referred to UVa says a lot about all concerned. (UVa only got a 2 seed but I think they'll go far!) General medical advice: Operations go best where the specific procedure is done a lot. Practice makes perfect. Try to find out to whom the MDs go and take their family members. That's the doc for you, too. As for the OP's numb leg, it's got to be more than just the shoes.

Posts:511

03/16/2015 11:55 PM
Good to hear you are on the road to recovery. In the grand scheme of things 6 weeks is nothing. I have had two blown ACL's each of which resulted in five or six months off from real riding, crutches and lots of rehab. You key on the progression of the rehab and healing and see the results. That kept me happy, kept me working the rehab.

Posts:485

03/17/2015 04:14 PM
Thanks to everyone for the kind words and support. Leg is extremely swollen and is pretty painful but that's to be expected. Trying to stretch it, apply ice and keep it elevated as much as possible. Definitely helps to have an occupational therapist for a wife!! She won't let me mess this up. Yeah, I give my local vascular surgeon a lot of credit for simply saying the procedure wasn't really his thing. Far better than experimenting. Can't be a specialist at everything! The 6-hour drive to UVA wasn't fun but I'm sure worth it in the end. As Master50 mentioned, they didn't perform a bypass of the artery so that will reduce recovery time and the inherent risk. So, my guess is 5-6 weeks off the bike so that puts me back in the saddle in late April. Probably take 6-8 weeks to get most of my fitness and strength back but once I do, look out! The artery was obviously sapping me of power so I should come back stronger. Heck, maybe I'll even hop in a race this summer. French Broad Classic perhaps? I ride the TT course nearly every single day. Just need to find a TT bike!

Posts:781

03/18/2015 12:52 PM
Glad you got a good diagnosis and outcome bro!

----- It is his word versus ours. We like our word. We like where we stand and we like our credibility."--Lance Armstrong.