The mistake most readers make with peripheral artery disease is to treat it as something to manage day to day without a specialist. The sources describe a different arrangement.
What the sources say is yours, and what they say is not
www.nhlbi.nih.gov states: "PAD is a lifelong medical condition." That sentence changes what daily life means. You are not waiting for it to pass. You are learning to live around something that stays.
The same publisher adds: "Once you have been diagnosed with PAD, you will see a healthcare provider regularly who specializes in vascular (blood vessel) diseases." Seeing that provider is not optional extra care. It is part of how the condition is handled.
The NHLBI, NIH guidance on living with PAD is the page this article leans on. Read it alongside your own notes, not instead of an appointment.
Where doing it alone stops
Keeping your own record is yours to do. Write down when your legs bother you and what you were doing. That gives a vascular provider something specific to work with.
Judging what a change means is not yours to do. A leg that feels different than last month is a question for the person you see regularly. The CDC overview of peripheral arterial disease offers a second public source to check your reading against.
The conservative choice
If you live in Tinley Park, Illinois, keep the regular visits and bring your record to them.