Marga Massey founds National Institute of Lymphology

Such great news - thanks for posting this, Kira!

    I agree with you jeskachi-I believe there is no marketing ploy here!  They are both very passionate about their work! I have an appointment w/ Dr. Massey in April of 2011 when she comes to Salt Lake City and I am so excited! I believe if any Doctor can help my LE, it will be her. And since I haven't had reconstruction yet maybe she will be able to fix that too! My biggest fear is the reconstruction will worsen my LE and I just couldn't stand that! This is such good news!   Katiejane

Hi, all,

For sure Dr. Massey has been doing a study on the patients she operates on. This is good, and it's something her mentor Dr. Corrine Becker in France, never has done. So Dr. Massey's on the right course here. It would have been really helpful if the oversight of the study was in the hands of someone other than Dr. Massey herself or the Institute she's established to legitimize it, and hopefully she'll go on to do just that. As it stands, there's a natural bias when the chief researcher is also the surgeon getting paid to do the surgery (or hoping to come up with enough evidence to qualify for insurance payment in the future).

While I too am impressed by Dr. Massey's efforts and care for her patients, I have to say that if you look at it carefully, the Institute website does indeed have all the earmarks of a marketing ploy. She may be a wonderful surgeon, but she's also an astute businessperson, and that's what businesses do. There is no evidence whatever of anything resembling a "cure" in node transplant surgery as yet, and the long-term safety of the procedure is not documented in any way, so the premise of her Institute remains shaky for now.

The "National Institute of Lymphology" is a misnomer anyway -- this is not a national organization for exploring the field of lymphology, or even all avenues toward a cure: it's about node transplant surgery. Like everyone else here, I hope this IS a cure, and I hope there are no other unknowable negative outcomes that come up over time. But currently the science of lymphology is nowhere near having the knowledge to endorce any such thing. Lymphology is a very recent scientific discipline, and we're just not there yet.

So, BRAVA for Dr. Massey for learning so much about lymphedema care and putting it all into action for the benefit of all her patients! That is a singular accomplishment in the lymphedema world. But, Institute or no, this surgery is still in the experimental stage, and we can all take hope in the fact that the field of lymphology includes a whole range of researchers exploring all aspects of the lymph system, some of them even without bias.

All very promising!
Binney

Also, I think other docs are learning this transfer technique, and possibly even offering it (maybe Allen in NYC).  Maybe with this new group, they will have a format to consolidate info.  I don't disagree that this is a marketing format at all, since I think it's pretty clear.  I'm just hoping that there will be more to come of this new group than just marketing - more research, more conversations, more validation of the LE issue and the need for better options and support.