Cancer Chic Wear

My dear friend, Randi, whom I've known since we were kids, is a breast cancer survivor who has put her creative talent and passion for helping others into creating a business making hats and scarves for women going through treatment.  Randi discovered, like so many of us did, that run of the mill scarves and hats may have worked OK but they didn't do much to make us feel beautiful when we didn't have any hair. 

Randi's products are beautiful and it's no surprise to me since she is a beautiful person, inside and out.  I wanted to share her website with you and encourage you to check it out if you're in treatment or know someone who is. I know you'll love her work and hope you'll consider buying her products for you or a friend.  

When I was first diagnosed, Randi's cousin Kori who is one of my very best friends since childhood called me and put me back in touch with Randi who helped me get through the initial phases of deciding my treatment path and getting through it all.  She knows how to give back and I'm so grateful for it. I want to help her too so I hope sharing her website does indeed help her.  Love you, Randi and Kori! :)

Click below to visit Cancer Chic Wear by Randi

http://www.cancerchicwear.com/

 Great job, Randi! Seriously, beautiful work!

Living with lymphedema

Lymphedema blows. Don't get me wrong, I'll take it over cancer any day. But, having lymphedema does suck as it interferes with life every single day. I am not able to lift or do repetitive motion with my left arm without fear of causing it to blow up like a balloon. I can't have blood pressure checks or needles in that arm EVER. I have to wear a compression sleeve 24/7 and at night I wear a special padded sleeve with a compression sleeve over top of that to help aid in channeling the fluid up my arm and down my side.  I have to sleep on my back or my right side - if I fall asleep on my left side or roll onto that side my arm and hand will go numb within a few minutes and that could also lead to fluid build up.  I have to take my wedding rings off before bed and before any type of exertion or exercise so that if I flare up they won't have to be cut off of me if the flare up is really bad.  Edited to add: I also can not get into a sauna, steam room, or jacuzzi because the high heat involved is a risk factor for flare-ups for both those with lymphedema and those at risk for it. That's a bummer because I used to enjoy occasional spa visits - now I have no reason to go to one - the money I save by not going to a spa only gets spent on lymphedema management garments and therapy. ;(

When I have a flare-up, my arm swells up and I can't just carry on as usual - I have to see a lymphedema physical therapist trained in manual lymphatic drainage massage 3 times per week and get bandaged in stiff bandaging (with foam underneath) for a 2-3 week period - bandaged from knuckles to shoulder with several short width bandages that are put on and taken off only for bathing and then put back on again. This has to be done to get the excess fluid out of the arm as much as possible as stagnant fluid can cause infection and can harden up.

Why do I have this? Because I had 17 lymph nodes removed during my bilateral mastectomy and the remaining nodes and channels were damaged by radiation therapy so my left arm has no healthy channel for filtering and dispersing the fluid that naturally occurs and moves through the arm and through the lymph nodes and vessels to the rest of the body. About 1/3 of women who have lymph nodes removed will develop lymphedema. It can happen at any time - 5 days or 5 years or even decades after surgery - even if you take all the recommended steps to try to prevent it.  If you have radiation therapy as part of treatment, you become something like 3x more likely to develop lymphedema because of the damage radiation does to nodes and channels in the radiated areas.

Since I have to wear a compression sleeve around the clock, I have to have several of them. They only last 4 months with daily wear because they have to be washed daily as the natural oils from the body break down the elasticity of the compression fabric.  They cost, on average, $75 per sleeve. I keep 3 sleeves at a time, and because they are sold by specialty medical supply stores which generally don't participate in health insurance groups they are almost always out of network and subject to the out of network deductible that I never fulfill because the rest of my care is always within network. 3x$75, 3 times per year, plus the sleeve and padding and bandages for night time wear and the arm garments alone run me $1000 per year out of pocket.  The therapy, when in network, is $30 copay per session, so flare-ups (I generally have 2-3 per year), costs me another $1000 out of pocket per year.

I haven't even mentioned the "gunky" feeling of having my left arm and left breast be swollen and bigger than my right side all of the time. For me, that's the worst part of lymphedema. It causes aching and a general yucky feeling all of the time.

I am incredibly lucky that there is a wonderful lymphedema therapist within a 40 minute drive of my home - she's the best in the state and trained by the most prestigious school for lymphedema therapy and management. She is a delight to work with and very compassionate and understanding.  She has shared so much knowledge with me to help me understand the lymphatic system and the types of treatment that are effective and the types that some PT businesses use which are harmful so I'll know what to avoid too. Love you, Richelle!!! :)

I'm also very lucky that this is effecting my left arm and not my right side which I rely on for writing and other tasks where I favor my right hand/arm.  Praise the Lord!

Anyway, I brought this up for a couple of reasons - first, a few friends of mine are just beginning their breast cancer journey - surgery, treatment, etc. - and they'll need to get up to speed on their risk for lymphedema and how to prevent and/or manage it if it occurs, and secondly it is time for me to replace all of my sleeves (wallet is weeping LOL) so it is on my mind more than usual this weekend. 

If you would like to learn more about lymphedema, there's a great organization - the National Lymphedema Network - and their website is: http://www.lymphnet.org/

Feel free to comment here or email me with any questions about this. It'll be part of my journey for the rest of my life now that I have it (mine is considered irreversible but in some, though not all, patients if it's caught early enough it can be reversible). 

I hope you are having a blessed Sunday!

Love,
Julie

Obeying

Some days I think gosh I've been through so much I deserve a break from this nonsense (cancer) and then I wake up and realize I was given this gift (did I say that out loud!?) so that I could spread God's great news and help bring hope and healing to others the way the Lord brought it to me in my darkest hour.

I have a calling that needs to be fulfilled and much to share and it's time to focus and be obedient.  That's what has been on my mind as I make mental plans to make time on my crazy schedule to get going on this most important project of mine.  The Lord knows I'm gearing up and He is turning up the heat and putting one opportunity after another in front of me to get me thinking about and planning for this project.  No more excuses. It's time to get down to business.

Meantime, I could use your help.  Please check out the new page on my blog about funding the cure and please consider helping in one or more of the three ways listed.

Please also pray for Amanda's quick healing from surgery (which went well, by the way - Praise God!) and transition into treatment, and please also pray for my new friend Gayle's upcoming surgery and treatment too. Thank you so much!

Reminder - I co-facilitate a Christian cancer support group in Santa Clarita at noon on the third Sunday of every month at NorthPark Community Church. If you'd like to check it out or learn more about it, please email me or leave a comment :). 

And, yes, I'll share more about my project later ;)...gotta run for now.