Let me just start off by saying this is going to be one big year for me! But I think you guys will be most interested in what is coming up this very month. I'm am having surgery. "And why would you be interested in this?" you may be asking. Well that because I am having a Vascularized Lymph Node Transfer (VLNT). It has taken me a long time to get in contact with the right doctors and surgeon to do this operation, but I did it! I'm going in for my pre-op appointment on the 6th of January, and surgery is scheduled for the 12th.
As these dates approach I can not lie, I am a little bit nervous, One reason for that is not many people have had this operation done.. to my knowledge at least, so I have no one to talk to who has been through it. This is the reason I have created this blog. I want to let people learn from my experience especially, if this provides any kind of relief. Now you may be asking, "What exactly is a VLNT?" And here is your answer, VLNT is an operation where lymph nodes are taken from one part of your body, such as the groin, stomach, or neck, and are transplanted into the extremity with Lymphedema. In my case, the surgeons will be taking some of the lymph nodes from the left side my neck/collarbone area and transplanting them into my right ankle, attaching them to my artery. They said that they are very optimistic about the whole thing and are expecting to see at least a 50% increase of circulation. When they told me I could possibly see a 50% increase in circulation I was so surprised because all of the other doctors I had seen and talked to always said I would just have to deal with it, and the only thing I could do for it was "manage" it. I didn't believe them, and I didn't want to so I took it upon myself to find some other way. I started out only talking to my physical therapist, but I could tell that that wasn't going to get me far because she only wanted to talk about the standard care which is compression and manual drainage. I was already doing those things and the swelling still seemed to be uncontrollable so I went to see a vascular surgeon who was a little more open to the idea of surgical treatment but was not sure of anything he could do personally for my situation. At this point I went home and started to conduct my own research on possible treatments, surgeries, and cures. This is when I found these links and everything changed: http://www.lymph.org/lymph-node-transfer/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4qEs86aiXU This was it! The next day I sent an email to my vascular surgeon and told him about the VLNT surgery and asked him to get me in contact with someone who would be willing to talk to me about it and if it was even an option for me. He got back to me a week or two later saying there was a plastic surgeon who would like to see me and that is how I got to where I am today. I know that so many people suffer from lymphedema, and I feel it is my responsibility to let people know how this surgery goes, so that maybe one day we can all move on from it and not live with the everyday discomforts it brings. If you would like to get in contact with me feel free to email me. You can do that from the Contact page, and I will try my best to get back to you as soon as possible! Comments are closed.
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AuthorHi, my name is Sydney, and I have Primary Lymphedema. I created this blog to share my journey, and I hope that by sharing my story I can help those who are on a similar path. Archives
April 2017
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