Feeling Blue...

[LauraLynn]

Hello again,
Today I finally ordered more thigh high support socks. But, for the past week I been feeling really blue. I have been worried night and day because in September I am going to lose my health insurance. I am more and more frustrated because I can not afford to go and get thearpy on my legs at this current time. I am hoping that support socks will help for the time being. Can anyone suggest other things for me to do??

Furthermore, I just got in a huge fight with my boyfriend. It is soo hard to talk to him about this. I find everyday new veins popping up and more swelling. I keep telling him that I don't feel pretty some days because of this. I want to wear nice high heels, dresses and shorts. But, I am soo afraid of being judged or even him not being able to handle what I am going through (with getting pain or apparence). When looking in the mirror, I just feel I look horrible with showing my legs. I am just very depressed about the apparence of what my legs look like. I get really upset at myself when comparing my legs to other girls my age. Does anyone else go through these emotions??


Anyway, I thought I would ask, I have really bad sprider veins on top of the lymphedema. Does anyone know of anything to put on them to help reduce the apparence?? Or Maybe I just need to get a hobby... LOL


Thanks again

[patoco]

Hi LauraLynn

What you might think about doing is to see if you can get in to see a certified lymphedema therapist s soon as possible. Explain to them your insurance situation and ask them what can be done now while you are still covered. That way, you can start planning. Also, many states now have special risk health insurance funds, so you may also want to check on that.

You can also start learning now how to do the self lymphatic massage. The basic steps would be to start (very important) with what is called "clearing or stimulaating" the lymph nodes.

These pages gives an illustrated guide for that:

Lymphnode Stimulation Front and Back Illustrated

http://lymphedemaville.wordpress.com/20 ... lustrated/

Lymphnode Stimulation Front and Back Illustrated

http://lymphedemaville.wordpress.com/20 ... lustrated/

BTW, it is critical that the nodes in the abdomen be cleared before starting a lymphatic massage on the legs.

After you have completed this, then you can go on to the actual massage:

These pages give illustrations and information specifically for the legs:

Manual Lymph Drainage Leg Illustrated Patterns

http://lymphedemaville.wordpress.com/20 ... -patterns/

Manual Lymph Drainage Thigh Illustrated

http://lymphedemaville.wordpress.com/20 ... lustrated/

The following is our main info page for leg lymphedema:

http://www.lymphedemapeople.com/wiki/do ... lymphedema

Scrolling down through the page, you will see

Treatment of Leg Lymphedema

http://www.lymphedemapeople.com/wiki/do ... lymphedema

Self Leg Massage

http://www.lymphedemapeople.com/wiki/do ... eg_massage

Self Manual Lymph Drainage for the Lower Extremity

http://www.lymphedemapeople.com/wiki/do ... _extremity

This is a great little section for wrapping (compression - short stretch bandages only):

Tips on Wrapping a Lymphedema Leg

http://www.lymphedemapeople.com/wiki/do ... hedema_leg

There are other sections with important info that you'll want to study too. Topics inclue foot care, exercises and much more.

Whew...I know this is a lot to go through, but it is something you will really want to not only learn, but apply daily in you personal management of lymphedema. There are also many links - should you want to study more .

LauraLynn, a lot of what you worry about, things such as acceptance, having people look at you as if you are weird, etc. really is not unlike what a teen goes through that doesn't have lymphedema. My daughter is a perfect example of this. So, in that sense you are going through normal feelings. This is also true of "comparing" ourselves to others. Good Lord, how many of us have done this/do this or struggle with this. It just seems to be a natural part of our psyche.

I admit, having been through it myself, that it is more difficult with lymphedema. But remember, lymphedema is only a minor part of who you are and it certainly does not define any of us that have it. You define who you are by your inwards values and how you express them in your day to day interaction with others. You also define who you are through such things as creativity, showing compassion and care for others, being willing to help others (to go beyond yourself) and other similar actions.

Let these attributes come through and I guarantee they will attract the right kind of friends to you. How you project yourself plays a super big role in either attracting or chasing away people.

There are leg makeups that are used to cover up skin problems, and I should imagine one of these might help with your spider veins.

I found some pages you may want to look at:

The Best Thing To Cover Up Spider Veins
Hiding spider and varicose veins, marks and scars

http://www.skinenergizer.com/Best-Thing ... s/9318.htm

How to Cover Up Scars, Spider Veins or Varicose Veins

http://beauty.about.com/od/beautybyaget ... rveins.htm

Coloration - Skin cover up product

http://www.colortration.com/

This page, while written for vitiligo, has some interesting ideas and suggestions on this:

Cosmetic Camouflage in Vitiligo

http://dermatological-treatments.suite1 ... n_vitiligo

I do hope this can be of help. Don't hesitate for even a second to post any questions you might have while reading all these pages.

My very best to you

Pat

[LauraLynn]

Pat,
Can I say you are amazing!! I love talking to you and I am soo glad you understand. I been looking at the pages. My friend's mom is cer. in massages and said she is willing to help me out. This makes me happy. She knows how to do the deep tissue massage and is now looking to figure out how to help me. I posted her the diagrams of the ones you posted to her. I been trying to do them myself as well.

I am just thankful to have you and to know you are very knowledgable. It makes my day brighter to know there is people out there that do understand fully!! Again, thank you. Now, I know if I ever feel blue again, I will blog about it


Also, I did order more support socks and will look at the make up. I didn't know stuff like that existed. LOL
and sorry to make you write soo much!!! I appriecate it a bunch !!!!!

Laura