Letter From The Front-The War On Lymphedema

A side light in the cancer fight is the battle against lymphedema, one of the unintended consequences of the disease.  I stepped up my visits to the gym.  I think I need to in preparation for the surgery.  I am also trying to make sure I walk every day at least two miles.  I understand I am going to lose a lot of muscle and keep a lot of fat.  I’m ok with that, I guess, but I think I need to have a lot of muscle to lose or else I am going to have trouble recovering.  So making muscle in short order allows me to take advantage of my gym membership and being part of the gym family.  I only know one of them by first name and the other through one of my children but they all smile and I guess I am not that personable anyway and after all we ain’t there to be social.  Now all this therapy, walking and gym activity seems to have created overactive lymph. 

Now there is nothing good about lymphedema.  You get it in the leg your little bird leg turns into an elephant leg.  You got to lug around an elephant leg and that ain’t no fun.  On top of that you got to lug around your elephant leg with some kind of gear on it so it doesn’t turn into a completely different kind of animal, a blob leg and who knows where it would go from there. 

And then there’s the whole business of it being in your business.  The lymph travelling over there can turn your jim beam into a jim keg.  That ain’t comfortable because you got to dig to do your main business, like draining the main vein, if you know what I mean.  There is this feeling under the skin with lymph on the move.  Heat and tingling, a tightness, a fatigue.  Inger’s therapy and my level of activity undoubtedly contribute.  My leg stays down but I swear the lymph shows up in my face, hands, arms, lips, you name it.  Probably even my hair follicles from the feel of it.   It is likely after the surgery the battle will become tougher but as with all things I can adjust. 

Battling the compression stockings is mostly limited to keeping them from rolling up on my foot.  Sometimes with a lot of walking my leg goes down so much the stocking will fall to my knee on the left and ankle on the right.  Adjustment requires drop drawers, which I am reluctant to do in public, even with the bicycle shorts or under armour on underneath.  So now I am battling against not just the lower half blowing out, but pockets and flow to the rest of me where I do not want it.  I cannot imagine life without Vanessa and Inger in this battle.  Their discipline and loving care keep this stuff manageable so far.

Making It A Family Affair

Thank you Bill Gates. Since I save but do not back up to another place daily I just lost my records from the last of July until this morning. Word, the program I dread lost some ‘converter’ and my 60 some pages were reduced to a few squares and squigglies. After some struggle I pulled the backup, which I had last done July 28 from a usb stick used for such purpose.
After trying to go pill free the foot issues came back so I am back on 2 gabs a day. Fortunately that is all. I do not require pain medication. I am back to working half days, and can do what ever I want with the 12 hours left over. Inger sees me daily, and has added time for a daily devotion to our regimen. It is now a Family gathering time in my office. I jump up on the table, Inger sits in my chair and Snickers comes in for a place on her lap. After getting our heads on straight she hits the ‘pump points’, key nodes to wake up and get going in the morning. As a result I can wear normal human clothes and even can get into my slip on shoes, the tightest fitting I have. I can go about 12 hours in the stockings and have gone a day without. I have walked a mile recently and am working about the house. And so it goes, she gathers up the bible and her devotion book, I turn down the radio. Snickers comes in and says verbally, 'I'm here and this was not on my schedule last year at this time and I am not sure how I feel about it', and Inger lifts the bible and makes room on her lap. The cat jumps on, the daily reading is announced and away we go. Given Inger's particular Christian faith, we read a lot of Paul's letters. Following devotions the cat jumps down and returns to her schedule. Inger sets about the process of using massage techniques used for MLD (manual lymph drainage). With a steadfast expression and firm hands she presses and works the points she is trained to find and massage. It is not real fast work, but certainly goes at a good pace. First the left leg, then the right then back to the left. She works my feet if they are holding lymph. I watch her with a little despair in my core, this beautiful soul who cares so much for me that she would make this entire process part of her life. I am beyond blessed. No way to express it verbally or here. So I jump down today as Inger gives my calf a slap and says 'lookin' good'. I do have limitations, and a sharp pain in my lower left side tells me enough is enough. The pills are a pull down on me and pushing around legs tires me out sometimes but I will not dwell on the negative changes, for they bring a dark cloud within me.