Having varicose veins must be painful. Painful at any time in your life. For Robert, having them while training for the Canadian Expeditionary Forces, was extremely painful. And more than that it was embarrassing. His his understanding of varicose veins was that they were something really old people had, not young men like him. Was he predisposed to them, did they run in the family? Or were the caused by the intense training he had been undergoing. As shown in the Medical Case Sheet below, Sargent Dixon is complaining of the varicose veins in his right leg and how they ache when he is on long marches. If I am reading the next line correctly, I believe he has turned down being drafted to the front because of this. He is frustrated and embarrassed to see his fellow troops heading off to the front lines without him.
finally sought medical help in personnel records items 7, 8, 15, 23 also GSW, 25 description vv – impacting him on march Moore Barracks Cdn Hospital , 27 urinalysis for vv, 30 operation on right leg Sept 21 to October 12th , then moved to Canadian Convalescent Home Heathfield not discharged until November 22( where is the convalescent home) – in Heathfield – near Cross in Hand , east Sussess England
An operation is going to be necessary. Sargent Dixon finds himself in Moore Barracks Canadian Hospital in Shorncliffe. As you can read below he was placed under general anaesthetic on September 25th. Then the surgeon moves the internal saphenous vein which leads from his right middle thigh down to his ankle, he also performed the same procedure on some of the larger branches of the main vein. This sounds serious. The cuts made to move the veins are then sutured with horsehair. Robert has sutures all down his right leg. These are removed a week later on October 2nd and Robert is then moved to the Canadian Convalescent Home in Heathfield to recover from this operation. At the Convalescent Home Robert may have witnessed some of the horror he would soon face as the home would have housed those wounded on the Western Front.
Sargent Dixon takes a month to recover from this operation. He is discharged on November 21st, 1916. He is new and improved and hopefully ready for whatever comes next.