Okay, I have varicose veins but they don't surface as they are deep in the leg muscles. The reason we discovered this is that I have horrible leg cramps and my GP had explored all possible treatments before sending up to the next level.
My "wonderful" insurance company took a whole year to pay for the first round of treatments a year ago and I already have to start the treatments again (I won't go into the procedure but to say they do one leg a week apart and it involves needles...many needles)
Soooo, I booked the appointment last month so as to address the cramps that have returned and my husband's objections to my screaming in the middle of the night as my leg, foot up to thigh, goes this wonderful spasm resulting in a rather deformed dance.
BUT my insurance company is afraid that this is for "cosmetic reasons" despite the fact that both doctors assured them that this does NOT clear spider veins. Sooooo in their infinite wisdom (or desire not to spend money) they informed us that unless I wore toe to thigh support hose for three months prior they would not authorize the next procedure....sigh. Does anyone want to wear these in the heat of summer? In addition, my skin does not do well with elastic of any kind. Sooooo, again both DRs had a conference call with the company and they now say that the surgeon who does this is not on their provider plan and I should get a different surgeon....but he's the only one and I have point of service in my insurance so I can't go anywhere else without paying more.....
So finally they agreed to allow me to have it and 4 more until I reach 65 and then it's medicare's problem....but they want a report and pictures to prove that it's not for cosmetic reasons. So I plan to take pictures over the next three months as my legs go from all the wonderful shades of bruises with a poster on my chest saying " I am not a victim of domestic abuse....now about my insurance company....."
Wish me well! Off to first round of fun and puncture marks, bruises, scars, and NO CRAMPS! 
As our minister keeps telling us: "Aging is not for weak of heart!"
"At some point in life you have to decide if you're the Tigger or the Eeyore."...Randy Pausch
"George Banks and all he stands for will be saved. Maybe not in life, but in imagination. Because that's what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again." Walt Disney
