PAD

Sorry to hear about your sister. Has your sister had advice about lifestyle changes? Such as stopping smoking if appropriate, eating more healthy, losing weight, again if appropriate also cutting down on alcohol, I know that these changes are advised for Peripheral arterial disease and they will help.

Thank you, yes she is aware of all those things, we believe the damage was done by smoking although she hasnt smoked for nearly five years now, too late i guess.
She is so distressed which in turn distresses me, she is on blood thinners and waiting to see a vascular consultant. She is currently trying to find a job but with the pain she is in it is making it very difficultfor her as she can only do an unskilled job which means usually standing for periods of time which affects her legs, especially the right one as she has no pulse in that one at all!!! She is currently claiming JSA and doing 6 hours a week with an agency in a factory setting which she can just about survive. I worry about her so much, we are so close and the thought of anything major happening to her fills me with despair.

I'm sorry to hear about your sister and that you are in distress about it. Hopefully the vascular consultant will be able to offer her some relief. Meanwhile on the job front has she considered on line work. I have a friend who cannot work in a conventional way due to anxiety but she works for a company who provide on line moderation for a number of websites from home - its reasonable money too.

Teetime sadly my sister is not into computers so that excludes her from a lot of office/home based work which would be ideal. She has always done shop or bar work which involved being on your feet. She is brilliant at mental arthmetic and can add up a string of numbers so quickly due to bar work and working in a bookies for many years before computerised tills were introduced. The ironic thing is that she will be 60nextyear and if the pension age hadnt changed she would have been able to take early retirement and lived off her savings for a year now she doesn't have that option so i think she will end up being on benefits, for who will employ an unskilled older person with a health issue. She is devestated as like myself she has never been on benefits, doesn't know her way round the system and never dreamed that at her time of life she would be in this situation.

travelsfar your sister is very young still and could get into computers if she is willing to do a course or two. Lots of people much older than that are surprising themselves at how quickly they pick it up

travelsafar I can understand your concerns re your sister but it may not be as difficult for her to manage this condition as you think. Dh has had PVD (same condition, slightly different name) for over 12 years and remains very active. Apart from medication he has found exercise to be very helpful as this has created a collateral blood supply. He no longer wears socks unless he goes out and has switched to wearing footwear such Skechers, Merrell

Oops-fat finger syndrome. Posted too soon

Less restriction around his feet has improved the blood supply. He walks a good distance but paces himself and stops to look in shop windows etc if his calves become uncomfortable, then carries on. Vascular people don’t want to see him anymore but he has had discussions with them re bypass surgery. Unfortunately, one of his blockages is behind his knee which makes for a very difficult surgery and healing process so he’s not going forward with that. It is still an option in time to come if it proves necessary. There are new procedures in the pipeline as well for clearing clots and removing the debris safely so we’re keeping an eye on that.

I hope your sister finds her way forward in dealing with this once the shock of the diagnosis has passed. It can be managed quite well.

Has your sister thought of working at M&S food? They have people sitting down at tills, and seem to have a reasonable staffing policy - I'm sure given her health issues she could say she needed to be in that role...

Just had a message from my sister she has an interview tomorrow for a shop in our area on the tills!!! Fingers and toes crossed for her.

My DH had PAD diagnosed years ago. Advice was to walk until it hurt and then walk a little further which would improve the pain over time. He now walk miles with no pain at all. Hope the vascular surgeon can help.

Doodle i will pass this info on to my sister. If she gets the job she is being interviewed for today she will have a 30min walk to get there each day so i will defo tell her that walking is the best thing she can do.Thank you.

Sitting for long periods is not the best for your sister’s circulation, she will need to make sure she moves regularly - much as if she were on a long flight. If dh sits for too long in same position-long car journey for instance-his feet will start to swell. As doodle says, walking is the best thing for her.

Yay she got the job . It will be as a till leader, so will be sorting out problems at tills as well as odd occasions of sitting at a check out. It will be perfect as chances to sit to help pain but moving around as well.