I’m a 53 years old woman who lives with secondary lymphedema of my left leg caused by cancer treatment seventeen years ago. Swelling and decreased functional use of my left leg have been increasingly more difficult to accept because after surviving cancer I was rather convinced that I was invincible. Physically strong, back in my running shoes and on my skis was a big part of an active mountain life. Being diagnosed with a chronic disease was not part of my plan after finding paradise in the Sierra Mountains with my husband and our dogs.
Learning multi layering compression bandages, trying to achieve the correct gradient of compression, weeks of treatment annually, daily lymphatic exercise and use of compression garments 23/24 hours per day has become the new priority. My arsenal includes: a level 4 custom compression stocking during the day and a two piece gradient JOVI system for night. Over the last few years, I found, as so many people with a similar diagnostic have that the compression garments are not covered by insurance. This has made the challenge so much more frustrating because of the high costs. At 53 years old I refuse to stop working and living a normal, active and healthy life because of a physical challenge. But without the garments that so many of us medically require, to do something as normal as walking becomes difficult or for some impossible. I may have had to retire the running shoes and the downhill skis, but my walking shoes and cross-country skis are still very much a part of the cancer survivor that I am, the fighter, the hard worker, the outdoor lover. It is my hope that in a small way I can join voices of others so that this great need can be heard and our financial hardship can be diminished.
