My name is Peggy Brumfield. I work as a Speech Pathologist – in a nursing home right now. I started out working in schools and I worked there for, I think, 18 years. And then I was getting kind of… wanting something else, and got the idea to go into the nursing home situation and I really enjoy it a lot. I’m a mother, a grandmother, and a great grandmother now. And I enjoy my family a lot. I’m very busy with my family, and work, and church activities, and all of those kind of things.
What were your symptoms? How did they affect your daily life?
I have had symptoms of vein problems for a very long time. But I also have fibromyalgia, and I attributed most of my problems to the fibromyalgia because I have different issues with pain. And, so, my legs were often… they hurt quite a bit. Any pressure on them was uncomfortable. And, even like, I quit wearing hose a long time ago. I just wore pants to cover up my legs and not have to go through the discomfort of putting on pantyhose.
I was having terrible cramps in the tops of my legs, and it would wake me up at night. And I’m not having those anymore. I had a lot of edema, and I don’t have as much problem with that anymore. It’s helped that a lot. Also, I had a lot sensitivity in my legs; um, the pressure; the pain of that, so, it’s been… and the tiredness in my legs, just feeling heavy and tired, and difficult to walk and move around. Those were the kind of things that I was dealing with as far as pain.
I also had… as far as symptoms, I had cellulitis often, and that was really bad. I ended up having to go to the doctor and get some antibiotics to take care of it. It made my legs uncomfortable and discolored. As I said, I attributed most of these things to my fibromyalgia, or to whatever. I also had concerns about my legs because my father had a lot of problems with his legs. He retired early from the Post Office because he couldn’t be on his feet all the time. And his were so bad that, at one point, he had terrible sores and had to be in a special hospital for wound care. And, so, I always kind of had a concern, you know: ‘could that happen to me later?’, but I didn’t know what to do about it.
How did you hear about Alsara Vein Clinic?
The reason that I came to Alsara, originally, was that my daughter had been to the doctor. She had some veins that were uncomfortable and did not look well. They were kind of bulging and stuff. And her Nurse Practitioner recommended that she come to Alsara. I came along with her to give her moral support. And, so, we actually went into the room together, and the doctor started talking to her about the treatment, about… just all of the general information about everything. And as he was presenting the information and we were looking at materials, I thought ‘oh my gosh, this is what I need! I should probably have this even more than she should, especially at this point in my life’. And, so, we went ahead and brought that up, and he said ‘Yes, let’s check it out’. And, so, he did, and it was the best thing, I mean, I had no idea about coming to the vein clinic. It’s been very helpful for me. I am thankful that I had the treatments. My legs feel so much better now. And, I haven’t had cellulitis in quite some time. I hope that’s in the past now. I hope that’s not going to happen to me. The cellulitis; I had never really known what to do about that beyond… well, I also have diabetes, and, so, I had attributed some of my problems to the diabetes, and to the fibromyalgia, and maybe even to my weight, or, you know, whatever. I had no idea that cellulitis was making things even worse, and, so, that was a wonderful side effect of all of this, because I didn’t realize I didn’t have to have cellulitis and have those problems. As a matter of fact, we were here, she had had her consultation, they’d done the scan on her and everything, and when they were out of the room, my daughter looked at me and said ‘I think you need this,’ and I said ‘I’m afraid I do, too’.
And, I was a little apprehensive, ‘cause I just didn’t know… like I said, I’m very sensitive: anything to do with my legs really hurt, and I didn’t know how it was going to be for them to work on my legs to make them better. But they suggested, you know, ‘You’re here. Do you want to go ahead and check it out?’ And I said ‘yes, let’s do it’.
How did you feel during and after your treatment?
They did the scan that day, and explained to me what they saw and how it could be helped with the treatments. And, so, we set up appointments, coming up. I came. They treated both legs, so I came different times; came for one leg, and then for the other. Once again, they told me they were going to put on a stocking, and I was like ‘Oh no!’. Ha ha! ‘Kati’s going to put a stocking on my leg’ and I can’t say I was very excited about that either, ha ha! But, in the long run, yes, it was a very good thing!
They did a wonderful job of explanations. It was interesting for me because they have the screen that you can see, and you can see what they’re seeing on their [ultrasonic] doppler or whatever you call their screen. And, so, it was a little uncomfortable for me but it wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t really bad. Like I said, I was just so sensitive. I don’t know if other people… my daughter didn’t seem to be bothered by it much at all. And, so, they did the scans and showed me what was going on. And then, when we came back and they did the treatment, it was very interesting. And it’s very interesting when the doctor explains it to you, and he tells you ‘well, you can see this on here’. And, his descriptions… I just can’t say enough about his descriptions, and his analogies of what everything is like ‘leaky pipes in the walls’. Ha ha, I really like that, ha ha!
Right after those treatments on my legs, the first ones, it was a little uncomfortable. I had to wear those [compression] stockings, and I think I hated messing with the stockings on my legs more than I did anything else. My legs were not very uncomfortable at all as far as what treatment they had done. And that was just for a few days, and then the leg would get better, and then I came for the other one. And, now, I’ve recently came and had other treatments done, and those have been… nothing; it was no big deal at all. And, I have taken to wearing some compression stockings all the time. That’s one of the things the doctor pointed out to me, and that’s been very helpful. And, so, I wear those all the time, and that’s good. And I believe that it has really saved me from what could have been a really bad series of conditions with my legs.
As I mentioned before, I work in a nursing home, and I see patients there that are in some pretty bad conditions with their legs, and I think, you know, if they could have known or they could have had treatment, they might not end up with those kind of problems, too… it’s really hard.
What are you able to do after treatment that you couldn’t do before?
Things that I can do now that I couldn’t do before is, for one thing, just being more comfortable in my life, day-to-day. I am able to walk. In my work, I spend periods of time sitting and then getting up and walking, you know, going up and down the halls and that kind of stuff, and I used to think that that was some exercise – I suppose it is a little bit, but not like ‘exercise’ exercise. But, um, I am able to walk more easily now and more comfortably. And, I can rest better at night because my legs don’t hurt. They used to often throb and feel just enough discomfort that it would disturb me, especially as I was trying to go off to sleep. Sometimes they would disturb me through the night; I would be uncomfortable. So, I could say that I’m able to do my day-to-day things better now, and also to rest better than I did before.
How would you describe Dr. Gupta?
I like Dr. Gupta because he’s very gentle. He seems like a very gentle, caring person. And I like the way that he makes you comfortable by explaining what’s going on, by telling you what to expect, and by telling you what to do next, and, you know, just… I don’t know, he’s just a very comfortable, very genuine, very caring doctor. And, I just remembered that he said ‘I decided that I wanted to help people so that they could treated and be taken care of, and not have to have these conditions later’. And, so, that’s why he specialized, I guess, in taking care of vein treatment. And I think that was a blessing. He was really led to do that. Because I believe it is going to make a difference instead of causing me to end up in those serious conditions. I really enjoy Dr. Gupta’s descriptions. He is just… he does a great job of explaining what’s going on and whit’s going on. It’s just very, very comfortable with him.
What is your impression of the staff at Alsara Vein Clinic?
And, Kati, working with him is great. She makes me feel comfortable when she’s there doing, you know, the prepping, and talking to me, and checking out everything. So, the staff has always been really good to me. I really enjoy that. I really like the staff here. From the people that you talk to when you call in on the phone, they’re very helpful. Everyone took good care of checking out the insurance things for me.
How was your insurance coverage?
Unfortunately, my insurance said at the beginning that they would pay for it, however, I had an insurance with a large deductible, and so I ended up paying quite a bit of money at the beginning. But, you know, even at the time, I didn’t doubt that I should go ahead and do that because it seemed like it was what I was going to need. And, so, that wasn’t as painless as it could have been. But that was not anything to do with the staff – that was about my insurance. And, so, I was glad for their help to check out the insurance and what they were going to pay, and then they explained to me what it was going to be, and I was able to take care of that.
What was your impression of the staff at Alsara Vein Clinic?
Kati is wonderful. She’s called me in-between times to check up on me. And, she’s always just so friendly just easy to talk to. And, it’s great to also know that when I come here, I feel like everybody’s, like, ‘Oh, yes, there’s Peggy. Yes, how are you doing? How is this?’ [They] remember things about me from when I was here before. It’s like a family or a caring group of people that are working together and know about you, and want to make you feel comfortable and at-ease, and all that kind of stuff.
Would you recommend Alsara Vein Clinic to family or friends?
I definitely would recommend someone to Alsara Vein Clinic. I’ve tried to get my mother to come up here. She is 83 years old, and she’s having a lot of discomfort in her legs from varicose veins, and she is reluctant to come. But every time we come up here, we tell her ‘We’re going to the vein clinic, and I’d really wish you’d go and just see what Dr. Gupta can do for you, because I think he could help you’. But she’s afraid to; she’s afraid it would be too uncomfortable. And, we’ve told her ‘It wasn’t that bad for us. We’re glad that we’ve done it,’ but she’s reluctant.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
I definitely wish that I had known about this earlier. I wish that someone had talked to me about vein treatment before. I’m not sure how it’s escaped all this time that I haven’t known about it? And, I feel fortunate – blessed – that the doctor sent my daughter [here], and I came with her, because I don’t know if I would have ever found out. And, it’s frightening to me to think that I could have gone on to what I’ve seen some people go through with the problems that come from the vein problems. I’m feeling much better. I haven’t had cellulitis in quite a while, and edema is much better. Um, I’m feeling a lot better.
Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI) is a medical condition in which the veins in the legs don’t function properly, making it difficult to pump blood back to the heart. This leads to circulation problems and a variety of leg symptoms.
My name is Rodney Dwayne Stephenson. 
I just got married last year on July 29th. It’s been just over a year in July, and I’m happily married. And if it wasn’t for my husband checking this place out [Alsara Vein Clinic], I wouldn’t have been where I’m at right now.
When we are faced with loss, it is sometimes difficult to feel a sense of gratitude in our lives, yet I had another opportunity to recognize the blessings soon after. Upon conclusion of the 10-day trip, as we made our way through the airport security checkpoints, I crossed paths with a security officer who politely asked me to stretch out my arms while he whisked his “magic wand”, checking for any metal items. In doing so, I struck up a casual conversation with him about how busy the airport was and, out of habit, mumbled about the adverse effects of gravity on blood flow in legs. This astute officer was quick to recognize that I was a Physician and appeared eager to know my area of expertise. His eyes lit up when he learned that I specialized in the treatment of venous leg disorders. He shared that his father has severe swelling, tingling sensation, and numbness in his legs that had already caused numerous falls and injuries. I explained how swelling in the legs was the most specific sign of underlying, chronic venous insufficiency. The tingling and numbness experienced in the feet are often caused by the mechanical pressure of the fluid that builds up throughout the day in the legs. I offered him my business card so that he could contact my office for further guidance (and to avoid holding up the security line!). I had never imagined that a 30-second airport security screening could culminate in a varicose vein consultation.
I was born and raised in St. Joseph. I work at Missouri Western State University. I have two children and six grandchildren.
When your heart beats, it pumps blood through arteries to every part of your body carrying oxygen and essential nutrients. Since you have a limited amount of blood (about 5 liters in an adult), the deoxygenated blood returns to the heart via countless veins in your body. The veins in your legs are farthest from the heart and must work against gravity to push blood back to the heart. Compounded by other risk factors, some veins wear out over time and become “varicose”. The pooling of blood in varicose veins may cause symptoms such as heaviness, tiredness, itching, burning, cramping, restlessness and pain. Left untreated, the increased pressure of blood in the leg veins can leak out, causing problems such as edema, skin discoloration, sores in legs that heal poorly, and frequent skin infections. This condition is called Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI).