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54 yrs old and help needed w lymphedema

Posted By Kenny (Oak Lawn, Il /u.s.a.) on 11/21/2011

Hi, I'm a 54 y.o. male. For a few years I had cramping and pains in my legs when I walked on hard surfaces or for any length of time. As time went on it got progressively worse. I originally was told it was arthritis by my regular M. D. But only after a minor heart attack and a stent installed in one of my upper arteries that was 90% blocked, they found out I had 100% blockage in my aorta (lower artery that feeds blood to my legs) . That's where they normally go in at to install the stent so they had to go in through my wrist. After 6 months of recovery from the stent and the heart attack, I had lower bypass surgery to correct it and the surgeon actually replaced about a foot of my aorta with a Y-shaped polyester tube down to my groin and into both my upper thighs. Unfortunately after or during the surgery my right leg and testicles swelled up like a balloon. The testicles finally returned to normal after 3 weeks but my right leg did not. The surgeon tells me that I have lymphedema and it will go away on its own eventually but he says it might take as long as a year for it to go away and other than compression stockings and walking 30 minutes a day, there is not much of a cure for it. The whole leg and foot swells up as the day goes on. It's usually almost normal looking in the morning.

My question is this; Did he screw up and is he covering his butt or is this normal for this type of operation and will this go away or do I have to suffer with this forever? I was a truck driver. Can I eventually go back to work driving, should I do an easier job? Or should I try to get on disability? Is the 30 minute walking good for this, after I walk, my leg swells more and it hurts and itches by nightime. When I wake up in the morning, my leg is almost normal size but by the end of the day, it's all swollen again. I've read all the posts here about treatments but do I really have lymphedema or is it something else and did this doctor screwup and cut into something he wasn't supposed to? None of my other doctors (my regular M. D. And my heart doctor) seem to know anything for sure about what I got and how to cure it. My heart doctor put me on water pills but I don't think it's doing any good. I want to get back to normal, that was the purpose of the surgery. He cured one thing but gave me something else. Help Please. Kenny.

Replied by Lymphactivist (California, US) on 05/19/2014

Please do not mind if I wave a couple of RED FLAGS.

It sounds to me that you need a knowledgeable doctor to make a differential diagnosis of your swelling. If it is venous in nature it requires one type of treatment, arterial another, and if it is lymphatic still another. But one thing is sure--it will probably not resolve by itself, and if you wait a year there may be non-reversible changes in the tissue of your leg. You do not want to wait before finding out what you are dealing with, and starting to manage it with the appropriate steps.

If it turns out to be lymphatic in nature (and that's for a medical person to determine--not someone on a list like this) then there are management protocols you can follow to reduce the swelling and manage the pain and disfigurement. Briefly, the gold standard is "complex decongestive therapy" which consists of manual lymph drainage by a specially trained physical therapist, compression bandaging with non-elastic bandages, specific exercises designed to help drain the leg, and meticulous skin care.

Replied by Toma (So. California, US) on 11/01/2014

I tried cabbage a couple times overnight, and did not see anything I could notice... But I did not wilt the cabbage leaves

It sounds to me that all (or majority) of those posted here have/had acquired lymphedema but not due to the surgery (maybe I missed it?); therefore, they still (bad or good) had all their lymph nodes.... My f..g surgeon removed 30! For nothing.... (he did not have to! ) So what can help me, if my body cries for those missing nodes? Anything?

Replied by Mama to Many (Tennessee) on 11/01/2014

Dear Toma,

I would not give up trying just because of the missing lymph nodes. There are many safe things that you can try that may work well for you.

I had some lymph nodes removed over twenty years ago. (Also, unnecessarily! ) The other lymph nodes in that area are likely to get swollen for me. Peppermint essential oil does work for me. It is a different problem than you have but still, some things help when even when the body is not able to work optimally.

If cabbage didn't work, I would try some other things. Like Epsom Salt baths.

Be sure to be drinking plenty of water. When I had edema after giving birth to a baby, the nurse told me to drink a lot. At the time, that made no sense to me as I seemed to have plenty of fluid already! But drinking plenty did help my body to rid the excess. Many find Green Tea to be helpful with lymphedema, several cups a day.

I would also consider some cayenne pepper in some juice. 1/2 teaspoon in 6 ounces of juice once or twice a day.

I don't think you mentioned where the lymphedema is. If it is an arm or leg, you may be able to soak the limb in a charcoal bath, (1/2 cup activated charcoal powder into a bucket of water), for an hour a day.

Walking or jumping on a mini trampoline may also be of help.

I am hopeful that one of these remedies or something else may help you. Let us know. I hope you feel better soon.

~Mama to Many~

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