More Lymph questions

mcgis

Hi. I have been seeing a CLT for months now for drainage, ordering garments, pump...

I wear my Juzo or Lymphedivas sleeve every day and a Juzo glove. The finger stubs are too short and hit me at the knuckle so we have ordered custom made gloves that I'm still waiting for (insurance issues). I still have swelling. I do the exercises and manual drainage every morning and night. I pump my arm every night and I just got the JoviPak night sleeve 3 nights ago. I'm hoping the custom gloves will help more. For those with more experience... is your affected arm and hand as small as your unaffected? Are we to expect that it can get down to look the same and then we just wear the garments and keep up with the exercises... to help keep it at bay? My CLT says it's possible to get it to look like my other hand but we're just struggling with the right glove...

vlnrph

The way I explain LE to the uninformed is to put my palms down next to each other and say (like the old dishwashing detergent commercial - you have to be middle aged to remember!) "For younger looking hands, try lymphedema".

So, no they are not alike. The tendons are obscured, rings cannot be worn. On the arm, my veins are invisible due to swelling. How many patients has your therapist seen? 

mcgis

Oh, she's for sure an expert at what she does, I'm just one of her challenging patients. We're hoping the custom gloves work better. I was reading another post from a few years back that someone got a JoviPak with extra padding on the had and individual fingers sockets. If things don't improve perhaps I'll have to go that route? 

vlnrph

Of course there are lots of things to try. I personally enjoy water exercise 2-3 times a week (provides light, graduated hydrostatic pressure on the limb). The problem is being realistic and sometimes accepting a less than perfect result...