LYMPHEDEMA AWARENESS

Christmas Girl said:

Thanks so much for sharing, RE
This is very important info, and you've done a very good & beneficial thing by posting it here for all to review. Promoting lymphedema awareness & prevention is a cause I work hard at, along with - of course - BC awareness & fund-raising efforts to help discover a cure (and on a parallel path, better treatments). Not long after diagnosis & before surgery (lumpectomy), I became a volunteer participant in a national clinical study regarding the effectiveness of Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD), a self-massage technique as a means of prevention. This occurred almost six years ago now; and, each participant was enrolled for two years (which involved many, many frequent appointments in addition to all those that were BC-related, which is exactly why it was extremely difficult to enroll patients already overwhelmed by diagnosis & treatment plans). I practice ALL of the precautions described in your post, and continue the MLD daily. I have a compression sleeve & gauntlet, which I wear per the recommendations.

Lymphedema is regarded as a "condition" - for example, like arthritis. Once it takes hold, it can be treated/managed, and - hopefully - minimized. However, there is no real cure for it (sound familiar, unfortunately?)

I do not have lymphedema. And am grateful to be able to state so.

For anyone interested to learn even more, I can highly recommend the book: "Lymphedema - A Breast Cancer Patient's Guide to Prevention and Healing" by Jeannie Burt and Gwen White P.T. ... Jeannie Burt is a lymphedema patient, and Gwen White a physical therapist. The MLD technique is clearly described in detail, along with diagrams, within the book.

Also, the ACS provides a bevy of lymphdema info right here on its website. Just start at the ACS homepage: click on the ACS logo at the very top left here, simply type "lymphedema" in the search bar and - voila!

Thanks, again, RE. Hope you don't mind that I added my "two cents" worth here...

Kind regards, Susan

rjjj said:

Thanks Re
I do unfortunately have mild lymphodemia, and have a compression pump. I am getting worried that radiation will make it worse..and during rads i'm sure i won't probable be able to do much about it besides keep it elevated. My compression sleeve has the fingers out of it and it acts like a turnacut on my fingers. I will be looking for one with fingers but omg i hate to wear gloves and sleeves all the time. Thank you for your info Re.
hugs
Jackie