Bertha Perry’s Life Was Put on Hold: Painful Symptoms of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)

Once she got treatment for her Peripheral Artery Disease, Bertha found that her pain had stopped and she could resume her normal life again. 

Bertha Ann Reynolds Perry is 68 years old living in Birmingham, Alabama and was living with severe pain. Every time she would have to walk it was painful enough to bring her to tears. Her pain so was bad that even walking from the parking lot to the building she worked in became a painful daily experience. She felt lucky that her building had a handrail because she would have to clutch it as she walked to help mitigate the pain. Additionally, her pain was so strong that she couldn’t make it up or down steps of stairs.

Trying to Find Some Answers

As her leg pain really began to hinder her lifestyle, Bertha asked herself, “What is wrong with my leg? What’s wrong with my foot?” When looking at her legs she noticed that one was significantly darker than the other. However, when she asked her doctor about how she can end her leg pain, he simply told her that it was never going to improve and there was nothing she can do.

“What is wrong with my leg?  What's wrong with my foot?”

Finally, A Diagnosis: Peripheral Artery Disease

Bertha didn’t take no for an answer and kept seeing new doctors. She saw from test results that her blood flow had severely decreased, but she didn’t understand what was going on. It was so bad that she had to constantly remind herself, “Stop trying to diagnose yourself.” She knew that whatever she had, she needed a specialist to diagnose her and finally give her some answers.

Finally, after searching she found Dr. Heidepriem who started to provide her with answers to her mysterious leg pain. He told her that she had Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) which causes the arteries to harder as they become full of plaque that obstructs healthy blood flow. When there is a lack of blood flow to the legs it can cause leg cramping, non-healing sores and even gangrene.

Dr. Heidepriem did an arteriogram on her and found the source of her pain was that her arteries in her legs were almost totally obstructed which caused her such severe pain when walking. At this point Bertha could only walk for about 10 feet without needing to sit down and massage her foot. Dr. Heidepriem said, “She was even contemplating just cutting her legs off it was so severe.”

Finally, a Real Solution

Dr. Heidepriem suggested that they use the Lumivascular atherectomy in order to remove the plaque and open up the artery in her Bertha’s legs. The benefits of the Lumivascular technology is that it allows a physician to see inside the artery in real-time as they remove the plaque due to a camera-like imaging fiber attached to the end of the catheter. Because of the breakthrough technology, Dr. Heidepriem could now remove the diseased tissue from Bertha’s arteries without harming any of the healthy tissue.

Better Than Ever Before

By restoring a healthy blood flow, the doctor was able to return a healthy blood flow through her legs to her feet. For the first time in years Bertha finally had a palpable pulse on her right and left foot again.

After the Lumivascular atherectomy, Bertha was a new woman. Dr. Heidepriem said, “Now she’s walking like you wouldn’t believe. She doesn’t have to stop and rest.”

Bertha was overjoyed with the outcome because she is not able to walk pain free and avoided needed a surgical intervention such as a bypass and avoided a potentially dangerous limb amputation. 

Bertha says, “I feel so good…I thought they had implanted some new legs in me, I’m so much better!” Now Bertha has the freedom of mobility back in her life that she thought she has lost forever.

If you are suffering the symptoms of Peripheral Artery Disease or are told you need an amputation, a minimally invasive Lumivascular atherectomy procedure can help establish blood flow to your legs and feet.  To find a Lumivascular doctor near you, click here to find a doctor.

“I feel so good…I thought they had implanted some new legs in me, I’m so much better!”

Helpful resources:

• PAD Patient Guide – our eBook will explain what PAD is and how to treat it.
• PAD Patient Webinar – In depth presentation from Dr. Jaafer Golzar
• Find a Doctor – Find a Lumivascular Doctor near you.

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