Patient Success Stories

Bakery owner back on her feet following vein procedure

As Nielsen's Bakery owner Helen Ehlebracht lightly swept the floor of her Homewood business one day last December, she was startled to see blood pouring from the inside of her right ankle onto the floor.

Even more alarming was that Ehlebracht couldn't figure out why. Other than a patch of dry skin she had scratched, there were no visible cuts or injuries to the area.

"I remember thinking, 'Am I going to bleed to death?'," Ehlebracht, 72, recalled. "My son put pressure on it and taped it, and I propped my leg up." The bleeding stopped, but a concerned Ehlebracht scheduled an appointment with her doctor, internal medicine specialist Michael Peck, M.D.

"Dr. Peck examined my leg and referred me to the Vein Clinic at Ingalls Family Care Center in Tinley Park," she said. Experts there diagnosed a common condition known as venous insufficiency and recommended Ehlebracht undergo a minimally invasive laser procedure to repair the faulty veins in her leg.

"Venous insufficiency is a common disorder in which the veins that carry blood from the legs back to the heart are unable to channel blood normally," explains Kevin Keele, M.D., board-certified interventional radiologist at Ingalls, who performed a laser vein procedure on Ehlebracht in January. “Normal veins have a series of valves in them that open and close to control blood flow from the superficial tissues of the legs to the deep veins and back to the heart. If the valves within the veins fail to work properly, blood can flow backwards in the veins and pool in the legs."

In Ehlebracht's case, venous insufficiency led to the formation of an ulcer, which ruptured while she swept the floor.

Minimally invasive treatment at Ingalls using the VenaCure™ Laser Venous System, a specially trained team of interventional radiologists are treating patients with venous insufficiency and varicose veins on an outpatient basis with a minimal amount of discomfort.

"This is a vein treatment that's perfect for today's busy lifestyles," Dr. Keele explained. "There's very little discomfort and it represents a vast improvement over the traditional option of vein stripping and ligation surgery that was often painful and required up to six weeks of recovery. After the procedure, a patient can literally walk out of the office and resume normal activities after a short time period — usually a few days to a week. And, it has a 95 percent success rate."

Here's how it works: The process begins by mapping out the location of the affected veins with ultrasound. Then, using the VenaCure^™ system, an Ingalls interventional radiologist inserts a laser fiber (comparable in size to a piece of angel hair pasta) into the vein through a tiny puncture site. The laser energizes the fiber as it is withdrawn from the vein. Energy emitted from the tip of the fiber causes only the treated vein to close, while the body automatically routes the blood to other healthy veins.

"The entire procedure takes only 45 minutes and requires just local anesthesia," Dr. Keele added.

After the laser vein procedure at Ingalls, Ehlebracht rested at home for just one day before getting back to what she really enjoys: running a busy bakery with her family. "My leg is so much better," she added. "I highly recommend the laser treatment at Ingalls. There was no pain during the procedure, and afterward, the discomfort was minimal. I went back to work the very next day."

To assist patients considering laser treatment for varicose veins or venous insufficiency, Ingalls employs the services of a specially trained program coordinator.

"This is what makes our program unique from others in the area," explains Kathy Wallace, R.N. "I'm the first point of contact for patients, and I see them through the process every step of the way — from pre-testing through recovery. We've received very positive feedback from our patients who appreciate this important, special touch."

The laser treatment is available at the Vein Clinic at Ingalls Family Care Center in Tinley Park, with future plans of expanding it to Ingalls Family Care Center in Flossmoor. For patient convenience, the ultrasound vein mapping procedure is also available at the main hospital campus in Harvey, as well as the Tinley Park and Flossmoor Family Care Centers.

For more information, please call 708.915.4721

 

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