Cellulitus

No but I have neosporin and band-aids with me at all times. So far so good. My LE is mild but it does not like this humidity.

BTW love the "power surges" I'm lucky though my circuit breaker is working great now. No more surges.

What happends if you have a mole that needs to be removed from your LE arm?  I had a mole removed about a month ago (had 19 nodes removed) I was papranoid that I would get an infection. I have to get 2 more removed from that same arm.

Sanbar, at the bottom of that page I linked to above is a section about dealing with procedures like that on a lymphema arm. Hope it helps.

Be well!
Binney

I had cellulitis back in April... that I am pretty certain started with an upper respiratory infection. There were no other points of entrance. I keep my arm moisturized and wash every knick and cut with soap and warm water, then follow up with a bandaid with bacitracin at any sign of infection (redness, heat, swelling). My husband makes fun of me, but the last time I ignored a cut on my finger I ended up with streaking up my hand - and had to hurry and get some antibiotic ointment on it! I have never ever heard about the peroxide thing, but I can tell you that in general we don't like to use peroxide for wound therapy because it can inhibit healing. You are better off washing a cut out thoroughly with soap and water... having said that, though, I have been known to use peroxide if something looks like it is getting infected - followed by the antibiotic ointment and a bandaid. I am pretty certain I must be single handedly contributing to multiple bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics! I hope you start feeling better soon.

Bad times vettegal. Well done for the moving on. - keep it going!

Sanbar, i suppose with the mole you have to question whether it really needs to come off, is it malignant or just plain ugly, does it catch on your sleeve edge and keep getting infected, etc, and then balance the risk of removing it from the risk of leaving it in place. Also there's more than one way to remove moles and skin lesions depending on their shape and depth, could they maybe tie it off at the base, or freeze it off like they do with verrucas? Or laser? although the results might not be so pretty as cutting out an ellipse. Would look for a second opinion on the options.

I had a very similar experience about a month ago. I only had 2 nodes out and about a 10 months after treatment had some cording and very mild lymphedema which resolved.  Out of the blue my breast became swollen and red.  I was on Clindamycin for 4 days, in the hospital for 2 days on IV Vancomycin, and then 8 days on oral Zyvox.  I was 2.5 years out from treatment and totally taken by surprise by the cellulitis. Like you the doctors could not find a point of entry.  My oncologist said that it all likeliehood it was spread through my blood stream.  As she so eloquently put it, when you brush your teeth you release a flood of  bacteria and if conditions are right that bacteria gets into your blood and finds a nice warm spot to reproduce..  An interrupted lymph systems offers a great place for the bacteria to incubate.  I would have answered sooner but I have been laid flat from a C Diff infection secondary to all the antibiotics I took.....  I was taking a probiotic while on antibiotics, but it obviously did not do the trick.  After some research I have found the best probiotic to take is Florastor, it's been proven to help irradicate C Diff.  Vettegal, I hope you are feeling well by now and are well on the road to recovery.

Vettegal, there's more to it than the missing lymph nodes. When the warm, protein-rich lymph fluid sits around in your tissues because it's not getting moved out, it's like a nursery for bacteria. The major medical benefit of all the LE care we do is NOT that it makes our arms look more normal in size and texture (if that was all there was to it we could learn to live with that!) -- it's that the stagnant lymph fluid makes us a target for serious infections that can become systemic and even life-threatening in a remarkably short time. Making the effort to keep that lymph fluid moving is our best protection.

LE is a lifestyle thing -- meaning it's going to affect your lifestyle whether you make room for it or not. Soooo glad you're getting on top of it now and can look forward to fewer complications ahead -- tell us how we can help!

Gentle hugs,
Binney

njb, I'm packin' Augmenten, and I ain't afraid to use it (said with a swagger, a ten-gallon hat, and my snakeskin cowboy boots).
Binney