Meet Kelley

Kelley has always had a passion for dancing, but at the young age of 13, she noticed her first visible varicose vein on the back of her leg. Frequent comments from others about her veins made her deeply self-conscious. After overcoming many obstacles, Kelley has now made peace with her condition. Read her story below. *

* This is a personal report of the patient and does not necessarily reflect the views of JOBST or the current state of science. Always seek advice from a Healthcare Professional if you experience any symptoms.

“It's painful if I stand for too long. It's painful if I dance for too long. It's painful when I get off the plane. It's not a continuous pain, so it comes and goes. So, in a way, I feel blessed, [...] because I know my mom's legs are continuously in pain. And I'm preparing for that because I know I'll get more in the future.”

“When I did carnival, I had to ring an ambulance because it was throbbing so much. [...] I was worried that I was going to get a blood clot, because I know you can get deep vein thrombosis from varicose veins. My friend's boyfriend's varicose vein burst, and he was rushed to hospital. I didn't even know that could happen. [...] But they were like, ‘Oh, no, you just didn't wear your socks. You didn't hydrate enough. You were out in the heat.’”

“When you have compression socks on, you don't feel the tiredness or the throbbing, especially when you fly. I don't know how anybody – even if you don't have something going on in your body… how they fly without compression socks is beyond me – that you're not swollen when you get off the plane.”

“I feel like a winner. I know that sounds weird. Like, you know when you win a competition when you're a kid? That's what it feels like! Endorphins just flying everywhere and that you've accomplished synchronized swimming, which is really hard, by the way. In case you don’t know, you need a lot of core strength.”