By Christina Routon
Anyone who's ever flown on an airplane with a child knows that if the oxygen mask falls the adult is supposed to put theirs on first. If we don't, we're likely to pass out and won't be able to help our children our ourselves.
Women in general are caretakers and tend to put others first - their husband's careers, their children's activities, even their friends. But when is it our turn to be cared for?
This isn't about being selfish. I completely agree with being a partner, being a mother, being a daughter, being a best friend. I know all the sayings like "The world doesn't revolve around you," or "It's not all about you." But sometimes it should be.
As women with lipedema we can't afford to NOT take care of ourselves. If we don't watch our diet, do some form of moderate exercise, buy the compression hose (and WEAR them!), take our supplements and meet with our doctors what could happen?
Worst case scenario:
Our lipedema could get even more out of control - more weight gain, loss of mobility, loss of energy, more health concerns.
Then who will care for our children, partner with our spouse, visit with our friends?
We all need to take some time for self-care. It doesn't have to be a long amount of time and it doesn't need to cost a lot of money, but it needs to be a priority if we're going to beat this disorder and live our lives to the fullest.
So what can you do to take care of yourself?
1. Ask For Help. Discuss your needs with your spouse. What can they help you with around the house or with the children. If you're a single parent, meet with other single parents through your church or a community event or check out the Meetup website and see what's out there. Single parents can help each other. If you're a single person, discuss your needs with a friend or family member or see if there's a community program to help you with housework, transportation and other issues. There's nothing wrong with asking for help.
2. Support. I love our Facebook groups so much! There's a lot of support for just everyday life. Even though the group is online, I feel so many of these special ladies are my friends. Several ladies just met in person at the first lipedema conference held in Arizona. So make it a point to find support and advice, whether online or in person.
3. Eat right and exercise. I'm guilty of not doing this enough. Before I found out about lipedema I was at the gym every day for two years, living on chicken and broccoli, and got so discouraged with my results. Now that I know about lipedema and how the lymph fluid needs activity in order to move, I know this is important. That's why I'm making a new commitment to eating healthy (my choice is paleo / primal) and exercising 30 minutes every day. The difference is that instead of exercising looking for the end result (weight loss and, truthfully, wanting to look hot!) my goals are to gain strength and slow the progression of the disorder.
Let's make a commitment, today, right now, not next week or next month or next year, to putting these steps in practice and not finding the time but MAKING the time to take care of ourselves.
If you don't take care of yourself, who will?
Showing posts with label therapy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label therapy. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Thursday, November 29, 2012
MLD Therapy and Wrapping - Part Three
By Christina Routon
After about three weeks of wrapping I was ready to be back in my regular clothes, so Jodi set up an appointment for me to be measured at a local medical supplies company. I met Carey one morning before heading to work. I knew I wanted regular pantyhose, not thigh highs or knee highs.
It was uncomfortable being measured by a man instead of a woman. I kept telling myself it was for the greater good and I'd be back in my regular clothes soon.
I wore my wraps to the appointment and removed them there. This way we could be sure my legs were as small as possible. I wore a pair of loose fitting pajama pants over the wraps. Carey measured the same way Jodi did - using a small tape measure in various increments up and down my leg. We discussed the sizing and type and the difference between flat knit and circular knit. At the time, I remembered I'd read something about lipedema patients needing flat knit but I couldn't remember why. The flat knit seemed very thick, bulky and hot, so I chose to go with circular knit.
A few days later Carey had the cost - $600 for a pair of custom made hose!
There was no way I'd be able to pay that, especially since I wasn't sure how much insurance would pay, if any. So my husband and I discussed various options - getting knee highs and wearing them with a pair of store-bought capri length body shaper, waiting until spring and seeing how much our income refund would be or see if there was an off-the-rack size that would fit me, even if it wasn't exact.
I spoke to Carey about those options and he was able to find an off-the-rack pair of hose that fit within my measurement range. My cost was just over $100, which I paid using my Flexible Benefit card.
After wearing the hose a few days, I realized WHY lipedema patients need flat knit. The circular knit hose will bunch up around the ankle, the knee, and any other place you have lumps and bumps. The flat knit is supposed to do just that - lay flat, and not bit into the skin. My hose tend to pool around the ankle, just under the ring of fat. I'm constantly adjusting them during the day. Every night I check my ankles to make sure they didn't actually cut into the skin - sometimes it feels that way - but to be safe I put triple antibiotic cream around my ankles every night.
Mentally, dealing with the wraps was difficult. I found it hard to go out in public. No one said anything to me at work, even though I know some had to be curious as to why I walked around in skirts and tennis shoes with bandages on my legs. It's difficult to be in that headspace where you think people are talking about you or saying something about you. As an overweight person and now knowing I have lipedema, I seem to be in this place a lot, which is why it's difficult for me to wear dresses and skirts. Not physically difficult, but mentally, because what repeats inside my head is "They're looking at your legs," over and over like a broken record.
Physically, the wraps were a pain because they would fall and slip during the day. I couldn't take the stairs because it was difficult to walk up and down in the bandages. They would loosen and start to fall as I climbed. There were times they seemed very tight, especially around my calves, and I couldn't wait to take them off or loosen them even a little. Keeping them on difficult at times. I enjoyed my freedom from the wraps when I washed them and showered.
I've had my hose now for about two to three weeks and I'm still getting used to them. I have to put them on with rubber gloves. This helps get a good grip as well as making sure nothing tears the fabric. Pulling them over my ankles and calves is the hardest part - and it hurts the most. Once I get them over my knees it's a lot easier. The material is still pinching around my ankles. I tried wrapping some cotton and taping it around my ankles first to give some cushion, but I couldn't get the cotton to stay in place as I pulled the hose over my foot and ankle.
I had my final visit with Jodi yesterday and received my final measurements.
From October 7 - November 28:
Lost 1 inch from hips
Lost 1 inch from thighs
Lost 1/2 inch from calves
Lost 4 pounds of scale weight
Doesn't sound like a lot, but when you look at fluid loss, it's a lot.
According to Jodi, I lost two liters of fluid from each leg during October / November. That's the equivalent of two 2-liter soda bottles.
My slacks fit better and my skin feels better. The ring of fat around my ankle is smaller. I can see a difference in my thighs more than my calves, although my husband says he can see a difference.
Now that the therapy is done, would I do it again? Yes, I would. I do believe I gained some ground in stabilizing this disorder. I dealt with being uncomfortable, physically and mentally, because I believed it would help me in the long run.
I plan to buy a pair of flat knit hose as well so that I can alternate between the two pair. I don't know how I'll feel about them come summer, and I don't like the pinching, but if it means staying stable I'll continue wearing them, and I do believe they're helping.
Now that the wrapping is out of the way, my next short-term goal is to start saving for surgery, continue my wheat-free / sugar-free diet (I may go grain free next year), continue exercising three days a week and become stronger and healthier as I prepare for liposuction within the next two-three years. All that sounds well and good, but my ultimate goal for 2013 purely superficial - I want to buy a great pair of wide calf boots and start wearing dresses and skirts again.
After about three weeks of wrapping I was ready to be back in my regular clothes, so Jodi set up an appointment for me to be measured at a local medical supplies company. I met Carey one morning before heading to work. I knew I wanted regular pantyhose, not thigh highs or knee highs.
It was uncomfortable being measured by a man instead of a woman. I kept telling myself it was for the greater good and I'd be back in my regular clothes soon.
I wore my wraps to the appointment and removed them there. This way we could be sure my legs were as small as possible. I wore a pair of loose fitting pajama pants over the wraps. Carey measured the same way Jodi did - using a small tape measure in various increments up and down my leg. We discussed the sizing and type and the difference between flat knit and circular knit. At the time, I remembered I'd read something about lipedema patients needing flat knit but I couldn't remember why. The flat knit seemed very thick, bulky and hot, so I chose to go with circular knit.
A few days later Carey had the cost - $600 for a pair of custom made hose!
There was no way I'd be able to pay that, especially since I wasn't sure how much insurance would pay, if any. So my husband and I discussed various options - getting knee highs and wearing them with a pair of store-bought capri length body shaper, waiting until spring and seeing how much our income refund would be or see if there was an off-the-rack size that would fit me, even if it wasn't exact.
I spoke to Carey about those options and he was able to find an off-the-rack pair of hose that fit within my measurement range. My cost was just over $100, which I paid using my Flexible Benefit card.
After wearing the hose a few days, I realized WHY lipedema patients need flat knit. The circular knit hose will bunch up around the ankle, the knee, and any other place you have lumps and bumps. The flat knit is supposed to do just that - lay flat, and not bit into the skin. My hose tend to pool around the ankle, just under the ring of fat. I'm constantly adjusting them during the day. Every night I check my ankles to make sure they didn't actually cut into the skin - sometimes it feels that way - but to be safe I put triple antibiotic cream around my ankles every night.
Mentally, dealing with the wraps was difficult. I found it hard to go out in public. No one said anything to me at work, even though I know some had to be curious as to why I walked around in skirts and tennis shoes with bandages on my legs. It's difficult to be in that headspace where you think people are talking about you or saying something about you. As an overweight person and now knowing I have lipedema, I seem to be in this place a lot, which is why it's difficult for me to wear dresses and skirts. Not physically difficult, but mentally, because what repeats inside my head is "They're looking at your legs," over and over like a broken record.
Physically, the wraps were a pain because they would fall and slip during the day. I couldn't take the stairs because it was difficult to walk up and down in the bandages. They would loosen and start to fall as I climbed. There were times they seemed very tight, especially around my calves, and I couldn't wait to take them off or loosen them even a little. Keeping them on difficult at times. I enjoyed my freedom from the wraps when I washed them and showered.
I've had my hose now for about two to three weeks and I'm still getting used to them. I have to put them on with rubber gloves. This helps get a good grip as well as making sure nothing tears the fabric. Pulling them over my ankles and calves is the hardest part - and it hurts the most. Once I get them over my knees it's a lot easier. The material is still pinching around my ankles. I tried wrapping some cotton and taping it around my ankles first to give some cushion, but I couldn't get the cotton to stay in place as I pulled the hose over my foot and ankle.
I had my final visit with Jodi yesterday and received my final measurements.
From October 7 - November 28:
Lost 1 inch from hips
Lost 1 inch from thighs
Lost 1/2 inch from calves
Lost 4 pounds of scale weight
Doesn't sound like a lot, but when you look at fluid loss, it's a lot.
My slacks fit better and my skin feels better. The ring of fat around my ankle is smaller. I can see a difference in my thighs more than my calves, although my husband says he can see a difference.
Now that the therapy is done, would I do it again? Yes, I would. I do believe I gained some ground in stabilizing this disorder. I dealt with being uncomfortable, physically and mentally, because I believed it would help me in the long run.
I plan to buy a pair of flat knit hose as well so that I can alternate between the two pair. I don't know how I'll feel about them come summer, and I don't like the pinching, but if it means staying stable I'll continue wearing them, and I do believe they're helping.
Now that the wrapping is out of the way, my next short-term goal is to start saving for surgery, continue my wheat-free / sugar-free diet (I may go grain free next year), continue exercising three days a week and become stronger and healthier as I prepare for liposuction within the next two-three years. All that sounds well and good, but my ultimate goal for 2013 purely superficial - I want to buy a great pair of wide calf boots and start wearing dresses and skirts again.
Monday, November 19, 2012
MLD Therapy and Wrapping - Part Two
By Christina Routon
I felt strange during my first treatment visit to Jodi, my therapist. It had nothing to do with her - it was all the stuff in my head. I was wearing a skirt, I felt self-conscious of how I looked, and I just didn't feel myself. I never really got over those feelings, but I learned to deal with them.
Remember - feelings aren't reality.
Jodi made me feel as comfortable as possible. As she massaged my legs, we talked about our families, our jobs, what we were doing for Halloween. I asked her questions about lipedema and the therapy. Of course, we had no idea what progress would be made, if any. I felt relaxed and completely at ease. She confirmed the lump on the side of my ankle was a lipoma. I never knew it had a name. It was just a lump that would sometimes swell if I'd been on my feet most of the day.
The massage lasted about forty-five minutes. I wore a loose pair of capri-length workout pants under my skirt. I was used to wearing hose couldn't go out without wearing something over my legs. I took them off and Jodi proceeded to wrap my legs for the first time.
She started by applying lotion. The room was chilly and the cream was cold. She smoothed it into my skin, then measured and cut a pair of knit stockings. These aren't actual stockings with silicone at the top to hold them up. They're basically a tube of knitted material that she cut to size. She slipped it over my leg and I helped pull it up to the thigh.
The next step was cotton padding. The cotton is between the stockings and the wraps so they won't harm the skin. So far so good. My legs grew warmer as they were covered.
I ended up with five wraps on each leg. I was wrapped from foot to thigh, the smallest wrap on my foot and the largest over my thigh. Jodi walked me through the wrapping procedure so I could fix them myself if they came loose and so that my husband could help me when he was home.
The wraps were tight, but not painful. Many women with lipedema have debilitating pain in their legs. It's so bad they can't bear to be touched. I'm thankful I don't have pain. My legs may ache at the end of the day, but they're not so painful I can't be touched.
When the wraps were finished I pulled my capri-length sweats over them, then straightened my skirt. Jodi helped me put on the shoes I'd brought, a pair of hospital boot type sandals with velcro fasteners. After the first day, I ended up mostly wearing my tennis shoes and kept the hospital sandals for home. I wore the wraps for two days, taking sponge baths and sleeping in them.
I spend the first week hating the wraps. The bandages around the thighs would slip, along with the stocking, and the material would bunch up around my knee. One day the right leg would fall, the next it would be the left. I felt as if I was in the restroom at work every few minutes, redoing the wraps. I sat at my desk as much as possible as moving around made them fall faster. By the second week of wrapping, Jodi cut two pieces of stretchy material called Tubi-Grip (I called it Turbo Grip!) to place around the top of the wraps. The Tubi-Grip helped everything stay up the way it was supposed to and I spent less time fixing falling wraps. I wished she'd given me some earlier.
I noticed a change in how my legs felt by the third day when I removed them to shower. The skin was much softer to the touch, most likely due to the lotion used and the heat generated by the wraps. I enjoyed how my skin felt so much I've continued using a moisturizing lotion on my legs daily.
I had an issue with my legs itching where the wraps bunched around my knee. Jodi used hydrocortisone cream around my knees to help combat the itching.
We measured after the first week. By then I was asking her about getting my compression hose. I was more than ready to stop wearing the wraps, and it had only been a week. We discussed waiting at least one more week to see how the measurements worked out.
The first week's results were amazing! Based on her measurements, I lost almost two liters of fluid in one week. My calves didn't seem to have changed much visually, but the measurements showed they did lower. My skin was feeling better and there was a visible difference in my upper thighs.
Jodi compared my loss to a two-liter soda bottle, three-quarters full. I agreed to wait one more week before ordering the hose and we set up our next set of appointments.
Next week - Final Measurements, Getting the Hose, Dealing with Work, the Public, and Thoughts in my Head
I felt strange during my first treatment visit to Jodi, my therapist. It had nothing to do with her - it was all the stuff in my head. I was wearing a skirt, I felt self-conscious of how I looked, and I just didn't feel myself. I never really got over those feelings, but I learned to deal with them.
Remember - feelings aren't reality.
Jodi made me feel as comfortable as possible. As she massaged my legs, we talked about our families, our jobs, what we were doing for Halloween. I asked her questions about lipedema and the therapy. Of course, we had no idea what progress would be made, if any. I felt relaxed and completely at ease. She confirmed the lump on the side of my ankle was a lipoma. I never knew it had a name. It was just a lump that would sometimes swell if I'd been on my feet most of the day.
The massage lasted about forty-five minutes. I wore a loose pair of capri-length workout pants under my skirt. I was used to wearing hose couldn't go out without wearing something over my legs. I took them off and Jodi proceeded to wrap my legs for the first time.
She started by applying lotion. The room was chilly and the cream was cold. She smoothed it into my skin, then measured and cut a pair of knit stockings. These aren't actual stockings with silicone at the top to hold them up. They're basically a tube of knitted material that she cut to size. She slipped it over my leg and I helped pull it up to the thigh.
The next step was cotton padding. The cotton is between the stockings and the wraps so they won't harm the skin. So far so good. My legs grew warmer as they were covered.
I ended up with five wraps on each leg. I was wrapped from foot to thigh, the smallest wrap on my foot and the largest over my thigh. Jodi walked me through the wrapping procedure so I could fix them myself if they came loose and so that my husband could help me when he was home.
The wraps were tight, but not painful. Many women with lipedema have debilitating pain in their legs. It's so bad they can't bear to be touched. I'm thankful I don't have pain. My legs may ache at the end of the day, but they're not so painful I can't be touched.
When the wraps were finished I pulled my capri-length sweats over them, then straightened my skirt. Jodi helped me put on the shoes I'd brought, a pair of hospital boot type sandals with velcro fasteners. After the first day, I ended up mostly wearing my tennis shoes and kept the hospital sandals for home. I wore the wraps for two days, taking sponge baths and sleeping in them.
I spend the first week hating the wraps. The bandages around the thighs would slip, along with the stocking, and the material would bunch up around my knee. One day the right leg would fall, the next it would be the left. I felt as if I was in the restroom at work every few minutes, redoing the wraps. I sat at my desk as much as possible as moving around made them fall faster. By the second week of wrapping, Jodi cut two pieces of stretchy material called Tubi-Grip (I called it Turbo Grip!) to place around the top of the wraps. The Tubi-Grip helped everything stay up the way it was supposed to and I spent less time fixing falling wraps. I wished she'd given me some earlier.
I noticed a change in how my legs felt by the third day when I removed them to shower. The skin was much softer to the touch, most likely due to the lotion used and the heat generated by the wraps. I enjoyed how my skin felt so much I've continued using a moisturizing lotion on my legs daily.
I had an issue with my legs itching where the wraps bunched around my knee. Jodi used hydrocortisone cream around my knees to help combat the itching.
We measured after the first week. By then I was asking her about getting my compression hose. I was more than ready to stop wearing the wraps, and it had only been a week. We discussed waiting at least one more week to see how the measurements worked out.
The first week's results were amazing! Based on her measurements, I lost almost two liters of fluid in one week. My calves didn't seem to have changed much visually, but the measurements showed they did lower. My skin was feeling better and there was a visible difference in my upper thighs.
Jodi compared my loss to a two-liter soda bottle, three-quarters full. I agreed to wait one more week before ordering the hose and we set up our next set of appointments.
Next week - Final Measurements, Getting the Hose, Dealing with Work, the Public, and Thoughts in my Head
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