O, good grief, Charlie Brown!! I had my first lymphedema appointment today and will be going to P. T. 3x/wk for the next 90 days. I do NOT need another hobby!! And I get a new wardrobe to go with the new hobby. First there is a compression sleeve. And then there is a bandage for night time wear. The bandage is to be tighter at the hand and gradually looser toward the arm pit. The goal here is to train the remaining lymph nodes [I have slightly less than half remaining] to drain the fluids without the 18 missing nodes.
I don’t know yet if this sleeve/bandage is a daily for life deal or “as needed” for life. Apparently there is going to be much to learn. Lymphedema is like arthritis in that it can flare up at any time and for no apparent reason. Fine…….so you just know that there will be times that both conditions will decide to hit at the same time. On the other hand, there will be times when both are in remission. Planning travel is going to have a little more mystery, I guess. I will have to wear the compression sleeve for flights. And maybe a spare set of sleeves will have to go in the “don’t leave home without it” bag.
Next week is chemo 6 and I won’t be up to learning new P T skills so the 3 appointments that week will be mostly lymphatic drainage massage. Then the next week I can start learning P T. skills. The P T clinic is in the same bldg as the oncology/radiation clinics so I hope to get the appointments scheduled so I do 2 in the same trip. I would really like to get back to my real life and spend as little time at Baylor as I can.
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