Lymphedema pump experience

Ascender
Ascender Member Posts: 4
edited February 2020 in Head and Neck Cancer #1

Hi all.

Saw a couple oler posts on here regarding lymphedema garments for the head & neck, and I decided I'd share my experience with mine for those who are curious about how well they work.

A bit of history: In 2018, I was diagnosed & treated for a squamous tumor in my larynx.  Had some post-treatment lymphedema that I managed via massage & such, and that worked well-enough.  On Oct 1 of 2019, I had surgery on my neck to remove a couple lymph nodes that had some cooties in there as well.  After the surgery, the lymphedema came back with a vengeance, and I started seeing a physical therapist for further assistance. While massaging & such helped with it, it wasn't really improving much...so she recommended a unit called the Flextouch Plus by Tactile Medical. 

A rep from the company came in to one of my therapy sessions & ran me through a treatment. Essentially, there's a vest and a hood style thing that goes around your head, cheeks, and neck.  Both of them run on air, and it cycles to move the lymphatic fluid from the head & neck to your core.  The treatment takes 32 minutes, and can be done pretty-much anywhere.  In fact, I'm doing a treatment and drinking coffee as I type this.  I was amazed at the results after the first treatment.  The diameter of my neck was noticibly smaller.  I'd say it went down by at least 1/2".

I bought one, have been using it daily for about a month now, and my neck is back down to the size it was before all of this started.  To say that I'm happy about that is an understatement.

Anyway - that's my story in a nutshell.  Hope this helps somebody who has to deal with lymph isses.

 

~Steve

 

 

Comments

  • wbcgaruss
    wbcgaruss Member Posts: 2,275 Member
    #2
    Steve Thanks for Sharing

    I'm sure this will be a great help to people trying to get a tough case of lymphedema under control. Take Care-God Bless

  • ERomanO
    ERomanO Member Posts: 317 Member
    #3
    Thanks for the info, Steve

    From here on out it will be hard not to see someone refer to "C" without thinking it means "Cooties".  :)

  • Ascender
    Ascender Member Posts: 4
    edited February 2020 #4
    ERomanO said:

    Thanks for the info, Steve

    From here on out it will be hard not to see someone refer to "C" without thinking it means "Cooties".  :)

    Heh

    Wink

  • kgasmart
    kgasmart Member Posts: 61 Member
    #5
    I had a Tactile rep come to my home and demonstrate it

    My insurance would have paid for it, too. But in the end I opted not to - it was just so bulky, and after the demonstration, while it looked like the swelling had gone down some, it wasn't a huge difference.

    At that point I'd been going for manual lymph drainage/decongestive therapy 2-3 times a week for a few weeks... after my insurance wouldn't pay for any more treatments I did the massages myself at home and wore the Jobst compression garment on my head/neck every night. That kept it under control but ultimately contributed to my ongoing neck discomfort/pain.

    About 3-4 months ago I stopped wearing the Jobst and stopped doing the self-massage... and I don't have a lymphedema problem anymore, the fluid appears to have found other ways to drain. Still have a fairly sizeable hard lump on the right side under my chin which had formed by the time I started the decongestive therapy, the therapists told me it was fibrosis and it'll probably always be there. Don't know if the pump would have been any help with that.

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