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Donna Henig
Hi. Dealing with secondary lymphedema arm and hand. 8 years post BC. Fibrosis in the hand. I can not get the swlling to stabilize..istabilize..its up and down. My Flexitouch pump does not move the fluid. A y suggestions?
August 23, 2018
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Lisa Pilip
I have had lymphedema since late 2014 but due to it not being very well known about by doctors I spent over 3 years watching the swelling get worse while I was sent to every specialist doing every test imagineable until late 2017 when a vascular surgeon finally diagnosed me. At that point honestly I was happy just to finally get some validation that the weight gain and excessive swelling wasn't because I was fat and lazy though by that time I had ballooned to like 100 lbs higher than the highest weight I had ever been which was right before I had my daughter in 2002. The weight gain was mostly due to lipoedema which explained how I can go weeks at a time eating barely 1 meal a day and still keep getting bigger. At this point there is not much I can do about eiher disese as I live in Vancouver, BC literally the only province in Canada that wont cover the manual lymph massage or the compression pump. I am trying to keep working but can only work a few hours a day because the pain is hard to manage and I have no money for private medical coverage. The worst part is that the liposuction surgery would be covered if deemed medically necessary but I cant even be considered for a referral until Ive tried a month of the conservative treatment first. After speaking to someone at msp they finally admitted that mld is partially covered but its only $23 per visit (which realistically is $70 each time) so that doesn't help at all. I remember in the earlier stages elevation helped but nothing does now. I havw contacted everyone to try to tell them that this is causing irreversible damage to my health but they keep refusing to cover it. I didn't join to get anything other than the hope that I have gotten when I thought I had none when I read everyones journeys and hear how treatments are helping. Thank you for allowing me to join.
September 6, 2018
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