Hi Kallie,

You are right in your statement that Buergers Disease is more likely to be found
in men and that it normally presents itself at an early age. I was 23 when I had
my first symptoms, cramp in the calf muscles of the left leg. This was in the
sixties and despite all the early research little was known about the apparent
cause.
I am surprised to read that you were able to have by-pass operations as Buergers
Disease or Thromboangiterrans obliterans means that the smaller more distal
arteries are obliterated.
Because I continued to smoke my health got steadily worse and in 1984 I had a
below knee bilateral amputation and suffered severe damage to the ends of the
fingers of both hands. Because of the strong possibility that I could possibly
lose both hands and the strong message from a knowledgeable consultant vascular
surgeon I stopped smoking. That was more than 20 years ago.
In stopping smoking I saved my hands and have not had a moments pain since then.
I do hope that the present by-pass works and I do understand the pain that you
must be going through. I had my fair share of all that.

James




----- Original Message -----
From: kallie_2
To: beurgersdisease@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 8:25 AM
Subject: [Beurgers Disease] Hi everyone



Im just new to the group. My name is Nancy, Im a 54yr female, living
in Canada. I have lived with Lupus all my life or so I thought. I was
having problems with my hands being dusky, so I checked with a
specialist. He did some blood tests, they confirmed Buergers Disease.
I smoked all my life,its been 4 yrs since I quit. I had Raynauds back
in 91, all my fingers turned black in a two week span. I was
hospitalized for 3 weeks on what they called pulse therapy, a
combination of steriods and chemo. It worked, I did tho lose a tip of
one finger.
About 98 or slightly before I started having pains in my legs and
severe cramps, when I was walking. Have you ever had cramps in the
back of your leg, top of your foot and bottom all at the same time?
It seems impossible to have but I did, the pain was unbearable. In
Jan 01 I had a bypass done on my right leg, in Feb 01 I had another
one done because the first one didnt work. I ended up having to have
my right leg amputated in Jan 02. This past summer I went in the
hospital for another bypass, this time it was on my left leg. So far
so good.
The one thing I did read was that Beurgers Disease is normally
found in men 20-40. Is it a womens disease as well? I look forward
to being part of the group. Bye for now.







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