Meeting Dr. Oz

mary625

I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Oz briefly this week. I wore my lymphedema sleeve proudly and said "Dr. Oz, I have lymphedema, and I'd like you to do a segment on your show about it." He said he had done one, but on lymphedema in the legs. He asked me when I'd had surgery, if there had been radiation, and if I felt that the compression sleeve was helping (to which I offered a resounding "no"). Then he said "keep up the good work" and touched me on the back. Dr. Oz is just one of my favorites, so I was very excitedjust to meet him. I hope I can get him to focus on it and maybe call Kathy Bates to his show...or some of the docs doing the lymph node transfers.

vlnrph

It would be great if he does follow up and help increase awareness. Congratulations on taking that opportunity to get the word out! I will sometimes wear my purple gauntlet as a "badge" or sign that something is going on and hope that someone asks me about it...

Binney4

Mary, here's the segment he did on LE:

http://www.wyff4.com/news/Ask-Dr-Oz-Lymphedema/152...

Unfortunately it is full of inaccuracies and fails to refer her to proper treatment. In particular, his reference to non-pitting edema being a sign that it's "pure lymphedema" rather than heart-disease related is not true--the fact that it no longer pits indicates it has advanced to Stage 3 (probably due to lack of proper treatment) and indicates permanent tissue damage.

So, yes, it would be great if he did an actual segment on LE, with Kathy Bates and perhaps someone from LE&RN to offer more expert advise (and awareness!) LE trips up a LOT of doctors, not just Dr. Oz, usually because their training neglects the subject. Happily, it is becoming of more interest to the medical world due to both research that has uncovered the broad importance of the lymph system and the advocacy on the part of patients themselves.

Maybe follow up with a letter/email and remind him about your face-to-face conversation, and suggest the experts you'd like to hear speak. Keep us posted, please!

Be well!
Binney

Binney4

Mary, I remembered we'd had a discussion about this segment in the past, so went searching for it--it's here:

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/64/topic/...

Hugs,
Binney

mary625

I am sorry that I did not have time to research what he had done in the past on lymphedema. As I may have mentioned before, he remembered doing the segment on the leg. I like the idea of writing a follow-up letter. There was a lot of Tweeting going on at the conference, so I tweeted both his hashtag and the conference hashtag to remind him of the conversation. I wish I could attach the photo taken of him and me; however, I look terrible in the photo anyway. Oz knows exactly how to pose for the camera!

Kicks

Verify what a celebrity is pushing out as 'fact'. They are promoting themselves for the dollar. Unfortunately, I have wasted my time watching 'his' ramblings a few times on varing subjects. It's all commercial and puts money in his pocket and others.

My thought - 'Dr' Oz is nothing more than the 'Wizard of Oz' behind smoke and mirrors in the movie.