Every day my leg calves grow to twice their normal size. My knees disappear.
Every day I fight with all my strength to pull thigh-high compression stockings into place to keep inevitable leg swelling suppressed.
At the end of every day I sit quietly for an hour or more with portable leg pumps pressing excess fluid out of my legs.
Without these tools my legs would turn into puffy mounds of unsightly swollen flesh.
I contracted lymphedema after grade 9 prostate surgery and 8 weeks of radiation to the affected area.
No one told me lymphedema could be a possible side affect of surgery or radiation. I had no idea the lymph system sits right in the middle of the treatment path.
After my legs started swelling at the end of radiation, I asked my doctors why my legs were swelling so badly and they just shrugged and told me it was just a temporary thing. It was nothing to worry about.
Postings on the National Lymphedema Network Web Site illustrated this condition was typical for 50% of the cancer patients. However, much of the talk in medical circles and on medical information sites relate to breast cancer patients.
Little is written or discussed about men contracting lymphedema after prostate cancer treatments. This condition does not discriminate. It does not discriminate by gender nor by body part. Every afflicted person needs corrective tools to cope for life.
I had to push repeatedly to make my urologist recommend a therapy service who could work with lymphedema patients. When he did, the service was unprepared and required several months before I could be evaluated.
After hours of research I found a qualified lymphedema therapy clinic where I was welcomed within days of my call for help. I was quickly diagnosed and provided with the proper compression tools and instruction that I needed to fight this never ending condition.
The therapy staff spoke emphatically about the oncology and urology communities being hesitant to recognize this condition and refer patients for therapy. If the medical community is hesitant, then patients need political help. They need help today.
Without skilled help and proper tools to treat this incurable lymphedema condition patients will be faced with excessive medical expenses and forced to live with a socially embarrassing condition for life in addition to life safety concerns and potential for additional cancer eruptions.
My daily life is reasonably normal with access to the compression tools needed to cope with this condition. Without them, I would be basically immobile and a major burden to my family and to society.
