I had Lymph node transplant surgery last weekend

Honestly Farmlovergrl, I think we all experience side effects from cancer/surgery/treatment but I'd do it all over again if it meant I would beat cancer. My prayers are I will never have to do this again! Best of luck to you!!!!! katiejane

Hello! I wanted to drop in and give a brief update. I am now just over 7 weeks out and cleared to start doing some activities again (although wrapped, which makes for a lot of fun... ). I have to say that I can definitely tell that I have not been doing much exercise the past 7 weeks... Anyway, my arm... well, the bruising is mostly gone and overall the arm is feeling better. I do not love my recipient site at the moment -- there is a decent sized bump there - but if it helps so that I can ditch the glove in the future, it will be worth it. My hand overall looks better, but is still puffy. Now, when I say this, you have to understand that it was MORE than puffy before surgery and would never really go down with wrapping -- and if it did, it would immediately swell up afterward. It is currently hard to say how much it is down, but I can tell you that I can finally wrap my fingers without them going to sleep from the pressure of fluid that would not move despite compression. My upper arm has gotten much softer and maybe a touch smaller. I continue to have PT twice a week and am wrapped the majority of the time. Things are moving in the right direction, but good grief, it is SLOW. I see the doctor in a couple weeks, so may have more to report then. I hope you are all doing well!

Nordy, thanks for your update. I am so happy for you that your arm is settling in. I like the report that you are getting smaller. Keep doing what you doc says cause it seems to be working. Thx for ground breaking this surgery for us

Nordy, I think that optimism is absolutely called for. Great report! Enjoy all the Thanksgiving fun, with an extra measure of thanks for what seems to be working!

hi all, just started reading.... I had 19 nodes removed, none cancerous. I was cutting grass and scratched my arm, and guess it swelled two days later. Having trouble wearing sleeves. I have grama arms, and the top of the sleeves don't fit correctly. Plus I'm right handed and a hairdresser. So just got started ordering a pump unit, flexitouch. I'm hoping it might help.... Thanks, Ruth

Good morning everyone. I thought I would post an update and let you know the ups and downs and ins and outs of my recovery from this surgery. It has now been 4 months since my surgery and at this point I have to say that I am very glad I did it. It is no quick cure. No overnight miracle. And there certainly was pain for the gain that I have gotten thus far. I am now able to go a few days a week without a glove (which is HUGE since I was unable to have my hand unwrapped or even use a glove prior to surgery because my hand was so edematous and I had zero working lymph vessels in my distal arm/hand). Any time I would try to use a glove it would just back flow into my finger tips and my hand would not come down AT ALL. I now see wrinkles on my fingers - overall no more sausages except my fourth and fifth fingers, which had been the worst prior to surgery and are taking the longest to show significant improvement. Don't get me wrong - they are improved for sure - just not as much as the other ones. I am able to go skiing without my hand blowing up huge during the day and have also been cleared to start back to whatever exercise I would like. It has definitely been a slow go, where there were days that I wondered what in the world I had done, and why I had wasted my time and money. I no longer feel that way and am so grateful that it is helping. I am still not back to my baseline, where I was before the exacerbation when I had an inflammatory reaction to MRI contrast in Dec. of 2014, but I am making slow, steady progress in the right direction. My goal really, is to at least get back to baseline and not have to wear a glove. I am okay with wearing a sleeve for the rest of my life if I can keep my hand free of covering. The main reason that my doctor did the transfer to my forearm vs the axilla is because I absolutely had nowhere for the fluid to go distally --- and placing the nodes in my forearm gave it a much closer drainage system. My doctor also said it can take up to two years to see the final results, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that the lymph nodes continue to work and help grow new working vessels throughout my hand. My only wish is that my insurance would have covered this 5 years ago when I first started asking! At that time I had zero visible hand involvement and likely would have progressed much quicker. BUT... the past is in the past and I can't change it!

If you have any questions, I am happy to answer them as best I can. Have a great day!

So glad to hear it was worthwhile for you Nordy!

Hi All,

I just wanted to drop in and say that there has been some activity happened about this topic on this page:

Topic: LVA surgery - bypass surgery - Have you done it?

I hope the link works.

Gentle hugs and great summer vacations to all!