Ellie Bittker's Varicose Vein Journey

Jeffrey H. Miller, M.D.
7 days ago
3 min read

Meet Ellie Bittker. A real Miller Vein patient.

We asked Ellie how her experience was at Miller Vein. This is what she had to say.

"Ellie’s Varicose Vein Patient Story" — Transcript

It’s just such an easy process. It’s in the office and the staff is absolutely incredible, and they’ll just hold your hand throughout the process.

Hi, my name’s Ellie Bittker. I am a patient of Miller Vein and just such a proud patient. So happy to be a part of it. You feel like family when you walk in the office. They have been absolutely terrific and I’m sure all of you will experience the exact same treatment.

Since I was pregnant with twins, I’ve had this rope vein on the back of my left leg, and I was just really, really scared and didn’t want to do anything and kind of left it.

It started really bothering me. I could feel it throbbing. And I immediately called Miller Vein, and I said, “I’d love to come into your consultation. I’m really nervous, but I need to get some answers.”

And the staff was absolutely incredible. They felt like family. They put me in a room. They started talking to me, and, immediately, I just felt so much better. I don’t know why.

Not that much had been done. They did it. It was done. It was so painless, so easy. Like I actually felt I got a little time off from my busy day.

And I went home. I followed all their instructions, and I was good to go shortly thereafter. There wasn’t very much downtime.

What Were Your Struggles Before Varicose Vein Treatment?

I obviously shied away from shorts, tennis skirts. I was embarrassed by my legs and periodically it was so warm I had to do it, and I just tried hard to ignore it and not pay attention to the fact that it was really unattractive.

It’s just a hard thing, and I know that not everyone has it and some people have spider veins; some people have the rope veins like I had. Ignore it for as long as you want but eventually it catches up with you, and it’s just such an easy process.

There’s such a difference once you get it done to not have to look at it or think about it. So, I would encourage everyone to go through it because it’s really just such an easy process. It’s in the office, and the staff is absolutely incredible, and they’ll just hold your hand throughout the process.

Were You Worried About Downtime After Your Varicose Vein Treatment?

The only other misconception I had was that maybe you’d be off your feet for an elongated period of time, which I just wouldn’t be so thrilled about. And it wasn’t like that at all.

I was back doing everything I normally do very quickly, and it didn’t really impact my day-to-day life very much.

I did have to wear the compression stockings. So, you don’t wear shorts or skirts during that period.

What Would You Tell Someone Who’s On the Fence About Getting Treatment?

Oh, I would not even think twice about it. I sat there and hemmed and hawed for years and suffered with this, and the only regret I have is not doing it sooner. It was just such a silly thing.

And it’s easy for me to say on this side, but if I had a friend, I would hope that they would encourage me to do it because it was just so silly to wait for that many years and have to hide that vein for so long. It improved really, really quickly, and you can’t tell where I had it done at all.

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