I had Lymph node transplant surgery last weekend

Go Christine.

Even if some of us are skeptics we really really really hope your surgery is a success.

Any sign of a cure is a big reason to hope.

We are ROOTING for your arm to stay the hell shrunken!

Christine,

That is wonderful news. I hope the reduction in swelling continues. And thank you too for the updates.

Amy

Go Christine we are all rooting for you!!!!

I am new here, but a frequent Facebook user; I keep wanting to hit the Like button with each person's post on this thread, especially yours, Christine. Thank you so much. I am new to lymphodema, as my previous cancers resulted in lumpectomies, not the L side mod mastectomy I had in April. But like everything else we encounter here, it could be worse! Helps to share here.

On my dream list...this surgery. Don't think I will find someone locally to do it, so just a wish. Thank you for your updates and so happy about your progress Christine.

Amy

Christine, Great news! I will be having a LNT on the 25th of this month so I have been following your posts! Thank you so much for the updates and I wish you only the best!!! Please keep us all posted!

I had VLNT in March and my insurance paid for it. Nothing great to report yet but hoping it will kick-in down the line. I had the courage to take action due to a situation that was making my hate my life, known as Secondary Lymphedema.

did you have to wrap constantly 24/7 afterwards and if so for how long? i cant tolerate the wraps

Oh my, I did not know that transplant of nodes was even available? Does anyone know how long after having the cancer can a person have that surgery?

I think probably like any surgery -- there is a time period for healing. I know after rads they like somewhere between 3-6 months or longer. I am having this surgery this week. I am petrified, but my arm has progressed SO much despite the fact that I am a lymphedema trained therapist and have been wrapping nightly since it all started as well as going through several bouts of CDT and pretty much 23 hours a day 365 days a year compression. A reaction to MRI contrast finally tipped my arm over the edge where I can no longer get my hand to reduce. SO... after 4 years of fighting insurance, I finally got it approved and narrowed down to two docs. In-network and $$ tipped my choice in docs, but I think they are equally talented and am happy to be either of their patients. KWKWKW68 --- Check with your oncologist and surgeon and see how long they would want you to heal before another procedure. BUT in the meantime --- you should start researching docs. There really are only about a dozen here in the US that are doing this surgery consistently, and you are going to want someone with experience. I am not always on here --- but these ladies are really great resources. Good luck to you.

Thank you, Carol. Yes, it has been a hard decision and not one that I have taken lightly. But I had the fortunate (or maybe it was unfortunate?!) opportunity to see first hand what my arm looks like with the SPY technology and there is not even a single working lymph vessel anymore... just a bunch of dermal back flow. To just look at my arm --- about stage 2 lymphedema... on Spy --- where they have 4 stages -- I am at a stage 4. And all these years I had a couple of docs telling me my arm wasn't bad enough to warrant surgery. Puhhhhhleasssse. All I would have had to do was leave my sleeve off for 24-48 hours to let it fill. But I wasn't about to do that, and I was nervous for surgery anyway. Plus with compression, it had stayed fairly stable... or so I thought. Well, it just goes to show that our traditional means of staging lymphedema is lacking. There IS a place for lymphoscintigraphy and SPY studies in the world of lymphedema. Circumferential measurements and skin integrity alone just do not cut it. Of course I will keep you all posted when I am out and coherent.

Nordy, I'm in your pocket for sure that you have a good outcome from your surgery. I know how long it has taken for you to get there. You are correct, the scans really tell the story. Without the scan I would never have known that a new lymphatic pathway had formed deep in my upper arm all the way to the lymph nodes in my neck. I am doing OK my arm seems to be improving slowly but surely. Course it's coming into summer here which is a bit concerning for me. Have a funny story to tell about my custom made sleeve and glove. I trail all the way to the hospital 80 miles round trip. PT opened the package with the glove and the index finger was about 2 inches longer than the other fingers. I said who is that supposed to fit ET? Mind you I did feel a bit like an alien as the week before I fainted and fell of the vibration platform, fell flat on my face had the biggest most purple black eye and broke 3 front teeth, luckily teeth were fixed or I wouldn't even have ventured out haha. Still waiting on glove even though I have no lymphoedema in my hand . Go figure. Anyway good luck and please let us know how you are. HUGS (((())))