A few weeks ago I had my follow up appointment with my surgeon, Dr Corinne Becker, which took place in the front seat of her car.
I love how this story is starting alreadyβ¦. We met in a little french city called Toulon and had lunch together on the harbor. Luckily for us lymphies, the dashboard in a car is our favourite place to elevate so I was feeling quite at home. My second night with the Circaid Reduction bandage and I can see some better results around my ankle and calf.
Much better compression than traditional bandages! She said to swim as much as possible, every day if I can. She said this is not even negotiable! Swimming and biking are probably the two best things that can be done for the lymphie leg. Does this classify as swimming?! Start living more normally : This shocked me a bit I have to say! She said that if things are feeling very swollen at the end of the day which will be normal then put the Circaid bandage on for the night and when I wake up it will be better which I have been trying and has been working well.
The patients who have arm lymphedema and get the VLNT have quicker results than leg patients, because an arm is shorter than a leg and takes less time for the lymph system to grow into it. There is no difference in success rate between arm and leg VLNT operations. I definitely notice a difference in size- its not heaps smaller but there has been a small reduction already in my upper leg and around my knee is a bit smaller too.
My calf fluctuates a lot, some days it can be good, other days its as tight and big as anything. My ankle and foot fluctuate a lot too- but mostly its very swollen here. This is the last area to change apparently.
