lymph node transfer surgery

Hi Maggie!  I attended a seminar in D.C. that was put on by Dr. Marga Massey.  She seems to be the subject matter expert in lymph node transplants.  She is a microvascular and plastic surgeon.  I would recommend reaching out to her for a second opinion.   She has offices in Charleston, Salt Lake City, Chicago and New Orleans. She is also trained in MLD and very much a proponent of going through therapy after surgery.  I had a lumpectomy and have lymphedema in my trunk, shoulder and arm.  She is fabulous!  If I were to have a mastectomy in the future OR if my insurance would cover the transplant, I would absolutely travel to have her perform the surgery.  She is very smart and I consider her to be a subject matter expert.  I received a lot of literature from her office and I believe she may be willing to do a phone consult.  Good luck!

I don't have LE. But just wanted to sing praises about Dr. Massey. She did all 3 of my DIEP surgeries in Charleston. She is nothing short of amazing. She actually came in to the surgery holding area before each of my surgeries and spent about 45 minutes lightly massaging my at risk arm with the most fragrant citrus lotion. Then she put foam around it and wrapped it from hand to shoulder. She doesn't want there to be any chance of an accidental needle stick or anything done to that arm. And I don't even have LE! I remember thinking of all my previous surgeries and how the surgeon would pop in for about a minute. Dr. Massey really goes "above and beyond". I came away from all that realizing that not only had I just received care from the best surgeon possible, but I had met an angel in the flesh. You will not be disappointed in her care. She is traveling around the country doing symposiums to educate on lymphedema and reconstruction. They are free of charge, she provides a wonderful lunch, and there are several left this year. You can sign up at her website. www.drmarga.com. Wishing you all the best, Joni

check out the other topic Meeting with Dr. Becker...

Yay , mags !
Sure sounds like a good sign...please keep us updated- and take care of yourself.

jacee

We should all wish for such a DR- fabulous story. Thank you.

Maggie -

Where did she harvest the lymph nodes for the transfer? Did your insurance end up covering the surgery?



Diana

Thanks Maggie.



I had pt for lymphedema prevention, have a sleeve and gauntlet that I wear when flying and most of the time when I run, do MLD on left side (arm and breast) Beginning to believe that I may have slight (if there is such a thing as 'slight') truncal lymphedema.



Truly want to learn more about the lymph node transplant surgery.



Diana

I had a lymph node transfer 11 weeks ago.. I have created a blog to document this and others transfers .. I wanted to create a place where new surgeries for Lymphoedema were talked about from the patients point of view

http://lymphnodetransplant.wordpress.com/about-me/

I hope this has some useful information for you and I would love to hear and share others experiences.. My email is helenbrd@bigpond.net.au Thanks Helen