From the first moment my wife discovered
she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even
ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have
received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than
mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started
this blog…
You know, it probably seems like I’ve been harping on this
whole subject of lymphedema WAY too much.
In the whole SCOPE of things, you might say, this is barely
a blip! I mean the cancer is gone, the breasts reconstructed, she looks
natural, and we’re even planning on taking part in a public event in which we,
for the very first time, publicly acknowledge that she had breast cancer.
We will be walking in our local Relay For Life event. We’ve
never done one before. Haven’t done the Susan B. Komen Race For The Cure.
Nothing like that. I am on a school faculty team, my wife
will be doing a
Survivor’s Lap, we will be in front of my students.
Lymphedema and all and, according to her therapist – lymphedema
FOREVER.
For those of you who don’t know what lymphedema is: a
swelling of body tissue “caused by a blockage of the lymphatic system
(vein-like tubes that run parallel to veins and arteries but carry a clear
liquid called ‘lymph’), which are part of the immune and circulatory systems.
The blockage prevents lymph fluid from draining well, and as the fluid builds
up, the swelling continues.”
Specifically as regards breast cancer...hang on, let me
point out something to you. GOOGLE breast cancer lymphedema. After three ADS, a
cluster of scholarly articles, you come to the meat of the thing, which is a
listing of places you can read about lymphedema. My new problem is that few (if
any) people talk about lymphedema as a side-effect of mastectomies – in which
not only is a breast or both breasts removed – lymph nodes in the armpit are
often removed as well
The first article says: “a potential side effect of breast cancer surgery and radiation
therapy that can appear in some people”
(emphasis mine)
The second article: “Women who have been treated for breast
cancer may be at risk for lymphedema
in the arm, breast, and chest.” (emphasis mine)
The third article: “Lymphedema is one of the most common side effects of breast cancer treatments.”
(emphasis mine)
Finally in the fourth article, we get: “It is common after a mastectomy, lumpectomy or breast cancer
surgery and radiation therapy” (emphasis mine)
Do you see the progression there? The first practically
guarantees that there won’t be any such thing as lymphedema; that it’s a “potential”
problem. [So is water in my basement because we live on reclaimed swampland.
But after 20 years here, we’ve never had it. To ME, that’s what a “potential”
is.] My wife’s doctor assured her that there was nothing wrong after she rammed
her hand into the wall on Thanksgiving Day two years ago. That was the day her
arm began to swell as white-blood-cell-laden lymph rushed to the scene to make
sure there was no infection after the injury. Once there however, the lymph had
nowhere to go because 21 of 40-some lymph nodes – which when compressed, move
the lymph – had been taken out during the mastectomy. So her arm swelled and
the doctor continued to tell her it was no problem.
The next two admit that lymphedema is a problem, but only a “risk”
or “one of the most common” [By implication, there are other side-effects that
are more pressing, so don’t really worry about this one...] After she changed
clinics, the therapist was appalled and gave us a number of things we could do,
including massage that would push the lymph back to the remaining nodes so it
could be redistributed. This worked. Sort of. She also prescribed a compression
sleeve (that stopped about three inches short of the shoulder) and an oven-mitt
kind of arm cover to be worn at night. While things got better, the lymphedema
remained obvious and, for my wife, ugly. So things remained for about a year.
We continued to hear that “lymphedema can be cured!” from my
sister, who works in a wellness center in a city far south of our home that is
world-renowned for its medical center. Kings and presidents have been treated
there. The problem was that regular treatment would involve a long, long drive,
so my wife began to look closer to home. After half a dozen “referrals”, she finally
arrived at a place where not only did people take lymphedema seriously, they
also began an IMMEDIATE and immediately effective regimen. The immediately
prescribed a tight set of wrappings alternating with heavy gauze, and
prescribed a two-piece “body armor” kind of device worn for four weeks. Within two
months, the swelling was down, they took measurements, and my wife now has a
compression garment that not only fits her hand and goes up and over the
shoulder, it’s also hard to see! It also came with a device that helps her get
it onto her arm alone!
So we met the people who believed that lymphedema “is common”
after mastectomy, who treated it aggressively, and who have in a comparatively
short time, won. They were also very clear that this is a FOREVER thing. Health
insurance also recognizes that it’s a forever thing because they will pay for
TWO compression garments a year. This new one has also helped treat some
nagging lymphedema over the breast implant. Once that went down, my daughter
and wife discovered that: ““Blinkin’, fix your boobs! You look like a bleedin’
Picasso!”” (From the Mel Brooks movie, “Robin Hood, Men In Tights”)
*sigh*. If it isn’t one thing, it’s another...
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