Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Lymphedema Therapy: Day 3

I'm now on the third day of Lymphedema Therapy. My arm is wrapped daily along with lymphatic massage. So far the swelling has reduced at least 25 %. I'm feeling tired and resting a lot. Took some pics of the therapeutically wrapped arm, here I am, all cushioned up on the sofa:




Friday, January 11, 2013

Lymphedema & Wound Care & Painkillers

Well I managed to get through getting off the painkillers with only a moderate amount of begging God to kill me immediately and get it over with. Ha ha. Now I take zero prescription drugs and none of that horrible morphine. Who invented that crap, nazi's?

What are the side effects of Morphine ?
Morphine on Wikipedia

I've increased the quantity of the Rick Simpson oil to 1 gram per day. I've learned to gauge how much  of it provides pain relief and when. Since I built my tolerance up fairly slowly I don't feel much of an intoxicated effect. If I do I just decrease the dose. I'd rather not feel high but it's a small side effect for a short time...Increasingly I no longer feel any THC effects. My pain level is getting lower and lower. I use a heating pad a lot which is wonderful on the strained back muscles.

I found a physical therapist who treats lymphedema and am starting a week long program next week. Each day she'll do a specific lymph drainage massage and then wrap my arm in a compression bandage. At the end of the week the arm is measured and a compression sleeve is ordered that I'll wear most of the time. I'm really looking forward to this treatment since it will help to return my body to a normal status. The lymph fluid can be prevented from further blockage. It's an awful feeling having pounds of lymph fluid trapped in various places, pushing on organs and creating muscle strain. Remind me to never do this again. Horrible experience.

After the lymph therapy procedures, I'm going to Mad River Hospital which has a special wound care program. For some reason the folks at St. Joseph's were unaware of this great program, no mention of it. Doesn't it seem like it would be effective and logical to offer a patient a list of local resources for their condition. For example, how nice would it have been for them to thoughtfully give me a little list before I left with possible referrals. In my case that list could've included the name and contact info of the only lymphedema certified therapist on the Redwood coast ( Lucinda Brandt) or how about info re the great wound program they have at Mad River Hospital ?

Instead I not only had to identify the problems without their help, I had to determine what was needed to resolve those problems. Lymphedema and wound care were discussed only briefly in terms of  "not much you can do" which, unfortunately for their credibility, is far from true.

Right now the wound is looking very scary. Looks like its filled with pus and turning black all around it. Sounds like gangrene symptoms to me. I'm not happy that ST. Joseph's hospital released me without one move towards wound care and without one word about the need for it. What the hell kind of health care is that? I'm going to the primary doctor to get a referral for the wound care program (at the other local hospital) on Tuesday. Things are starting to jam up on me, I need to get the lymph therapy done hopefully prior to the wound care program, don't know if they can be sccomplished at the same time, probably not, just due to time factors alone.

So far I've gotten 14 separate medical bills from the recent hospital shennanigsns. Ok? ...14 separate bills... Can anyone spell " this is an archaic molding system that needs to be completely dismantled and completely changed???? For shits sake is this the best we can do? Freaking embarrassing incompetence, maybe that's what America specializes in now?

I'm planning to use this Herbal formula for the Lymphedema.
... Not that anyone with a medical degree suggested this formula, I had to research to find it myself. ..I'll have to add up all these medical bills so I can see how much it cost me to get no relevant advice or anything that was life enhancing. Do I sound pissed about that? Well that's because I am. Our American medical system is an aging dinosaur and everyone knows it. Why is this allowed to continue? We are the richest country in the world. Is there a reason our hospitals are death factories?!?


Here's what I think Needs to happen: 1000's of people need to start picketing the hospitals... We need to hold signs that say " we want REAL medical care" .. "We want REAL cancer medicine" as is allowed in other countries. "WE WANT A CHOICE" !!! And chemotherapy with radiation is NOT the only choice!!!