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#LumpyLegs

#1 Click this link to see Blog page --> 11/29/2025

Around the first of last September I noticed a lump on the back of my right calf. I went to the OSF here in Morton a couple weeks later to get it looked at and to do my yearly useless meet & greet. Bupkis. No idea what the lump is. The APRN scheduled a doppler sonogram for the following week. Again. No clear diagnosis. Let us know if it gets worse. It gets worse and also another very similar lump in the same area on my left calf. A month later I’m finally referred to a vascular surgeon. The first thing he says is that it is not vascular, has no idea why I was referred to him and that it is a “soft tissue mass”. Tells me it could be cancer and refers me to get a CT scan and a needle biopsy. CT scheduled in ten days.

(Note: this guy became a practicing physician just this past summer; not much experience and it shows. At least he speaks fairly good English, but he has no clue about my #LumpyLegs.)

Parallel story. We have known for some time I need to get a wheel chair. I just can’t walk very far at all or spend much time on my feet. Trying to find a wheel chair at these facilities can be hit or miss. Tracey took on the task of dealing with what has turned out to be a daunting, frustrating and time consuming combination of tasks. Since I am physically large (obese) I need a large chair. We need a wheel chair ramp, a wider front door, and a van to haul me and the chair around in. Tracey has managed, with many delays and encounters with horrid salespeople, to order all of these shifting puzzle pieces.

I will be chronicling these quests in future and decided to start now that we have a #Wheelchair waiting in a warehouse to be delivered when we get the #Ramp and #WideDoor installed. A Dodge #ProMaster van is on order too.

MjL

#2 Click this link to see Blog page --> 12/10/2025

#LumpyLegs
Yesterday Tracey hauled me to the OSF Cancer Institute in Peoria for a CT scan. I had originally been scheduled to go to the OSF in Morton, but they changed to the Peoria location because they said the scanner there was more modern and would accommodate my weight better. I suspect the mention of cancer by the newbie vascular guy had more to do with it.

Some history before I cut to the chase. These lumps were initially examined by the APRN at the OSF in Morton on Sept. 16th. Her notes as follows:
Lower leg masses:
B/L posterior calf
Soft
Initially purple in color and now more of a red on left side
Not painful, hot etc
Has grown and then aching
Started 4-6 weeks ago

She referred me to OSF Peoria for doplar scans done on Sept. 23rd.

Physicians findings of scan:
No discrete mass or sonographic abnormality demonstrated.
Grayscale images obtained without evidence of discrete subcutaneous mass in the areas of interest.

Morton OSF APRN notes for this scan:
Reassuring ultrasound overall, but no identification of mass which is not what we were hoping for. Essentially means the tissue in that area, assuming the mass is still present, matches the consistency of surrounding tissue. Which is good overall.

So no mass. And no recommendation for treatment except to refer me to vascular surgeon. Referral takes weeks to schedule and finally see the newbie vascular guy on Nov. 24th.

First words out of his mouth are, “I don’t know why you are here, this condition is NOT vascular. You should have been referred to a general surgeon to examine these masses.” Emphasis on “masses”. He says the word “cancer” several times and says he will schedule the CT scan and a needle biopsy for both legs.

So here are the results of the CT scan yesterday:
Bilateral lower extremity varicose veins with more focal varicosities causing localized soft tissue swelling, more prominent on the right. No discrete mass lesion demonstrated.

Extensive superficial varicose veins throughout the bilateral lower extremities, right greater than left. There is a more focally confluent area of varicosities in the posterolateral aspect of the distal right lower extremity, which corresponds to the location of the radiopaque surface marker. There is local skin thickening and superficial soft tissue edema in this area causing asymmetric swelling of the leg. Findings could represent sequela of posttreatment changes. No underlying mass demonstrated.

So we come full circle after four months of runaround. Probably not cancer, probably vascular, but newbie vascular guy is no help. I think I’m done with him and since there is no “mass” I’m not doing a biopsy either. Guess I learn to live with it.

MjL