An UK woman has recalled how a little-known health condition which was causing her ‘aches and pains’ in her foot led her to become a double amputee.
Samatha Wyles, who lives in the district of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England, is a 57-year-old who now requires a wheelchair to get around.
Initially, her health issues began when she started to feel aches and pains in her foot. What she didn’t know at the time though was that she had developed a condition called Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD).
According to the Mayo Clinic, PAD is a type of atherosclerosis where a build-up of fatty deposits narrow the arteries, therefore reducing blood flow to the arms and/or legs.
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Studies have previously shown that PAD can be identified in around 5 percent of citizens aged 60-69 and 15 percent of those who are 70 or older, as per GW Medical Faculty Associates.
Wyles initially ignored her aches but eventually relented in seeing a doctor following a directive from her daughter-in-law.
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According to LeicestershireLive, her daughter-in-law had noticed the underside of Wyles’ toes turning black and urged her to seek medical help.
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Soon, the woman was referred to a hospital, where another practitioner confirmed that she had developed PAD.
Despite undergoing an angioplasty - a procedure that can insert a stent into an artery to help blood flow more freely - doctors were unable to successfully restore blood flow to Wyles's foot.
She was told her lower leg would have to be removed and replaced with a prosthetic leg.
Two years after dealing with the loss of her limb, Wyles was diagnosed with PAD again, this time in her other leg. And despite the surgeon’s best efforts, she underwent amputation again.
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Wyles is now urging for a better support system to be put in place for those with or who have previously suffered at the hands of PAD.
“If I can give something back I will,” she told LeicesterLive. "I think there needs to be greater support out there for people like me.”
Recently, she signed the UK Vascular Research PPI Registry.
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Created by Imelda Black, a research assistant at the University of Leicester, the list includes more than 60 people from around the UK with personal experience of vascular conditions like PAD.
“PAD is often a life-changing and life-limiting condition. It’s a common diagnosis, but somehow flies under the radar when we talk about our health,” Black said. “Many people who receive a PAD diagnosis have never even heard of it.
“Our PPI participants use their experience of this painful condition to help researchers understand how best to roll out their projects in a way that gives understandable information to patients.”
Regarding the register, Wyles hopes ‘voicing [her] opinion’ and ‘taking part in research’ will improve things for PAD sufferers in the future.
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PAD symptoms vary, but some of the most pressing ones include leg pain when walking, muscle pain or cramping, leg numbness or weakness, and a weak pulse in the limbs.
Muscle pain is likely to range from mild to extreme and may wake you up from sleep and make it difficult to walk or exercise.
Other symptoms that may be present in PAD sufferers include: shiny skin on the legs, slow-growing toenails, hair loss and erectile dysfunction.
If you’re at a higher risk of heart disease or suspect you have PAD, you should book in to see your doctor as soon as possible.
Ella Scott