This has been a tough week – I had my first flare up and all
I can say is lymphedema blows. I went to bed Sunday night and my arm was fine,
Monday morning it was 4 times the normal size and throbbing. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take it over cancer
any day. But having lymphedema does suck
as it interferes with everything I do, everyday. I’m not able to lift things and some
movements are difficult. I’m wearing a
compression sleeve with a pressure gradient from my fingers to my shoulder to
help aid in channeling the fluid out of my arm.
Only time will tell if I can push the fluid out of my arm or if the
compression sleeve will be a permanent addition to my wardrobe.
Why do I have this? I
had the first and second tier lymph nodes removed during my surgery and the
remaining nodes and channels were damaged by the proton therapy. So my right
arm has no healthy channel for filtering and dispersing the fluid that
naturally occurs and moves through my arm to the rest of my body. Lymphedema can occur at any time for any
reason and there are few resources for people who live with this condition.
I am very lucky that this does not affect my dominate
arm. That would make simple tasks even
harder. But that’s enough of that!
This weekend we are spending time with family and watching
Tribe baseball.
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