Moisturise, Moisturise, Moisturise

Hello there!

To moisturise my legs I've been using Vaseline's Aloe Vera Light Moisturiser. But recently I found Dr Organic's Moroccan Argan Oil Body Lotion ( to be excellent. It does have a strong smell however which may not be something you'd like.  But I actually like the smell.

I find that the moisture lasts more than a day. So practically I can miss a day without worrying about it.
But it is quite expensive at £7.99. But it is worth it.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll write more later.

Bye!

Pain, pain and more pain

I haven't written anything lately mainly because I've been experiencing excruciating pain. The garments on my right leg regularly collect down to my knee. This causes the skin behind to sore and angry.  If left unattended become a graze or possibly a wound.

Well it became a wound quite quickly. So I had to get my big tub of Sudocrem out!

At work, it was regular and long visits to the loo.  Usually it is to let the wound out in the open for some relief. After 10 minutes then it is back to pulling my garments and getting back to work. Thankfully the folk at work are understanding, which helps a lot.  But the constant worry and pain has been giving me headaches.

I've been able to have a couple of lazy Saturdays, thanks to my family. This went a long way to helping the wound heal.

After a fortnight things are finally back to normal. Things are manageable now.

Happy New Year - Goodbye 2015 and Hello 2016 and Travel Tip!

Hello there,

It's been a long time since I wrote something. I always wanted to include a picture with every post but that has prevented me to write anything. So I decided to write without including pictures, unless they need it of course.

This new year, I was fortunate to spend it away from home. But staying away from home always poses problems. How could I ensure my legs are elevated? Could I even elevate them? Would the "hosts" like my peculiar requests?

So I decided to go "low-key" and wear my garments to bed. I thought that would be the most easiest and "unobtrusive" way of ensuring good health of my legs. I wouldn't need to bother anyone.

Normally I wear two garments on each leg, Ven Dur Level 3 and Goldpunkt Level 3. So I decided to wear just the Ven Dur as that gives the most effective compression at the lower leg and it is comfortable enough on its own.

After two nights - I have to say wearing garments to bed has been a success. So from now on, if I have to stay somewhere for a short period like one to two nights then I'd wear comfortable garments to bed.  I don't think my legs can handle days in a row in garments.

I hope that helps!

Thank you - Elaine Melsome

My utmost heartfelt and eternal thanks goes to Elaine Melsome, the wonderful lady (and specialist) who works at the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Northwood, Rickmansworth, UK.  I would say without her I wouldn't exist - I'd be in the hands of inexperienced doctors.

Thankfully I do not suffer from cancer.  She also suffers from lymphoedema, she is also a former nurse. After retraining she decided to run the Lymphoedema clinic with the proviso that she takes care of non cancer patients as well.  The treatment I get would have been, this will sound horrible, reserved for cancer patients only.

It is only because of her tenacity, courage, determination and enthusiasm that I get cared for by the clinic.

Just recently through some miscommunication I've been referred back to my GP from Mount Vernon. Through little fault of my own, I missed an appointment that I wasn't aware of.  Hence the hospital decided to criminalise me for wasting valuable resources.  Apparently I've missed four over the last three years, the letter that I received read like a criminal rap sheet.

They are simply not aware how much I value my lymphoedema appointments, they take planning and preparation to attend.  It just pains me that I'll have to jump through hoops again in order to get care from Mount Vernon again.

Welcome back to me...

Hello Me!

It's been a very long time since I last posted anything. I need to make amends.  I keep thinking that each post should have a picture of some kind and I suspect that has been hindering my progress and preventing me from posting anything.

So from now on I'll post things that won't have a picture and I sure hope you don't mind. There's a lot I need to say so without further ado. You'll be reading my first post back..

Travel tip - wiggle your toes!

Hello there!

This tip is for those who suffer from lymphoedema in their legs..
For those who are travelling (and not driving) - I found one of the most effective (and non-gimmicky) way to ensure that your leg is active is to simply wiggle your toes.  

You'll find that you can actually get tired of doing for five minutes or so but I've gotten so used to it that I can do it continuously for 20 minutes and more..  Seriously I've seen these contraptions that you can get that you do various things with your feet and legs but I found that this simple exercise is the best.

When I was 7 - a nurse told me to constantly wiggle my toes.  When I find myself in situations where my legs are still - I wiggle my toes.  I'm pretty sure that this tip has helped with the healing of various operations that I've had in my life..

Start wiggling your toes!

Travel tip - elevated mattresses

This is for those who suffer from lymphoedema in their legs.  Years ago my dad was always trying to find out ways to improve my life and he had the idea of keeping my legs elevated so that the swelling (now lymph) will subside naturally while I sleep.  At the time, I had almost given up living with my condition, I didn't like the regular operations and hospital appointments - I never gave much heed to his advice and ideas.  Plus we didn't know at the time that I had lymphoedema.

He and his friend decided to make a bed out of steel beams with reinforcements in the right places to support my weight.  My dad thought of adding a wedge of some kind at the end of the bed for the mattress to rest on.  He'd hoped that a slight elevation will help my legs. The elevation was about 10 degrees - a slope ratio of about 1:6 - I have to say it worked wonders on my legs.  Now I insist on having a wedge under the mattress on any bed that I regularly sleep on.

Therapists would suggest putting your legs on top of pillows, invariably by the end of your sleep you'd see those pillows on the floor.  Heaven knows what use they were and you'd notice no discernible difference to your legs.  Putting something under the mattress to elevate it the mattress is a much better and stable solution.

Nearly everyone in the world sleep on flat beds - so going on holiday adds to my worries on how I'd cope with my legs.  My tip would be to get anything you can get your hands on and put them under the mattress.  During my last holiday, I had stuffed several pillows, bed throws and cushions under the mattress.  This alone made me worry less about my legs and my legs were stable during the entire holiday.  I suppose the same sort of technique can be applied to help with lymphoedema in the arms.

To summarise - when on holiday, stuff pillows and cushions under the mattress to provide elevation for your legs.

My bed with the wedge

The wedge itself