Hello everyone,
This is about the problems of my mother, who was always above average fit for her age (almost 82). She never smoked and always ate quite healthily, although she has a tendency to be overweight. She always enjoyed being active and did a lot of exercise, but recently that hasn’t been possible anymore.
A year or two ago, she suddenly started to experience pain in her leg when walking (known as window shopping disease) and further diagnostics revealed a superficial thrombosis. After this had subsided, she still had considerable pain when walking, so that she can now hardly walk 20 meters without pain. The active woman has become someone who hardly dares to take a few steps outside the house.
After she went to her GP with these complaints, she was referred to a vascular specialist again. After an ultrasound scan of her leg, she was sent home with the statement that there was blood flow. They did not know where the leg pain was coming from. They advised her “when the pain comes, just keep walking!” But that is impossible, as the pain in her leg becomes unbearable after a few metres.
As she was now having breathing difficulties/shortness of breath in addition to the pain in her leg, she went back to her GP. The GP referred her to radiology, where a CT scan of her lungs was done. Again, no findings. Nevertheless, she was now sent to a lung specialist, and according to my mother, although the breathing difficulties were bad, the pain in her leg was worse, as this led to a significant loss of quality of life.
I don’t know which doctor I could turn to who might put these symptoms into context and treat my mother accordingly? I’m a layperson, but I could imagine that a progressive narrowing of the blood vessels due to age means that the body (muscles, lungs) is not supplied with enough oxygen and that this is where the symptoms come from. According to my mother, oxygen saturation has not yet been measured.
I’m at a loss. My mother, who was fit and full of life until recently, is a miserable heap and I feel very sorry for her. Does anyone have any idea what it could be or which specialist could take a look at it? I’m grateful for any advice!
