After I dropped the hoover on my foot last year I developed a paronychia on my big toe that wouldn't heal and started experiencing severe burning pain in the toe when I laid down. This led to an MRI showing a partial blockage in my femoral artery and a diagnosis of Peripheral artery disease.At my first visit to the vascular surgeon he straightaway told me I needed surgery and he recommended a full arterial bypass. But the NHS guidelines recommend that medication and lifestyle changes should be the first line of treatment and surgery should be a last resort. When I asked the surgeon about Supervised Exercise Therapy, which is the NICE standard of care, the surgeon laughed and told me hardly any NHS trusts fund this treatment. I refused what I felt was the nuclear option of a femoral bypass and we compromised on an angioplasty.
While I was on the waiting list for surgery I bought an exercise bike for £70 and started cycling for 5 minutes at a time, once an hour because it was painful after so many years of inactivity, so short frequent bursts were easier to manage. Within a fortnight of starting to cycle the paronychia was healing and the night time burning pain started to get better.
I increased the time gradually each week until I was able to cycle for an hour a day and started adding a few minutes of aerobics a day, again building it up slowly to improve my stamina. It was harder than cycling because of the impact but when I got aching calves I stopped, stretched and started again. By the time I got to the top of the waiting list and arrived at the hospital for my angioplasty my toe was completely healed, my burning pain was down to an occasional mild tingling and after asking to speak with the senior surgeon he told me I no longer needed surgery at all due to the massive improvements that daily exercise had made.
So I'm incredibly happy and relieved that I was able to manage this but I also feel quite angry that the NHS is so blinkered, short-term penny pinching and downright stupid. They don't bother to follow their own guidelines, the surgeon leapt immediately to the worst case scenario and they don't provide a proven effective treatment that could not only help patients avoid major surgery but would save them god knows how much money in expensive surgical interventions, just for the sake of saving a few pounds on an exercise programme.
I've lost 3 stone and my BMI has dropped 7 points from healthy eating and exercising. Because I've never had such a powerful motivation before as avoiding substandard NHS medical care, by any means possible. I hope my story at least shows that making lifestyle changes really does work, exercise is a manageable and effective treatment and that you should always insist on a second opinion.
How often should i have Follow up appointments after CABG X3 surgery?
Angiogram, Angioplasty / Stent
angioplasty 
upcoming Angioplasty
PAD
