My Lymphatic System is Lymphing

I Have Learned to Give Myself a Lymph Massage. It's a Thing

My Lymphatic System is Lymphing, pun intended. I was warned to anticipate lymphatic issues by my rad doc, Dr. Terra. Dr. Terra related, anonymously, the tale of a patient who had swollen arms and a swollen neck after departing radiation treatment. The patient took some talking down because lymphedema looks a lot like stage two swelling of the lymph system. A breast cancer survivor who attends my church described an episode where her right arm grew as swollen as a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon.

One doesn’t know at a glance if the lymph fluid flows cleanly or carries a stream of squamous cancer cells. I tell myself my facial swelling comes from clean lymph fluid that has lost its way. I will believe so until taught otherwise. 

Keeping in communication with the cancer treatment teams helps. The chemo team has bowed out. As the kind nurse practitioner has reminded me, I have graduated from the program. Graduation means I’ve been discharged. The lead oncologist and the rad docs stay on the case. For example, the rad docs need to know if I’ve developed thrush, a throat infection or if my thyroid suffered damage during treatment. So, when I became totally annoyed by my lymphatic swelling, I wrote the rad docs. I preserved the messages.

Will:  Please ask a scheduler to call me. Dr Terra wanted a follow-up in February. Plus. strange lymph flows are pretty much reshaping my face & neck. Thank you. Will 

Nurse Niccy: Good morning, William

Thank you for the message. When Dr Terra saw you in September, she recommended a follow up visit in 6 months. This would mean we would want to see you in March. Can you please tell me more about what you mean by the lymph flows? 

Take care!
Niccy, RN
Radiation Oncology

Will: It's primarily a turkey neck droop that resembles a triple or quadruple chin. Plus, I get these really hard lumps on my left profile from my ear down to my chin. I wake up usually with no voice & have to warm it up daily & I experience some difficulty swallowing.

I'm doing my own lymph massage. The turkey neck is usually spongy & I can literally feel that I am squeezing the fluid on the way. 

Forgive me. I'm just hoping to retain my powers of respiration, eating and speaking.

Plus, the water on the ear has not resolved. 

Thanks for asking. I'm sure overreaction is part of the course five months past treatment. 

How do I make the March appointment? Prefer week of 3-25 but not Thursday or Friday.

I appreciate your kindness.

This series of messages resulted in my appointment moving up in time to the first full week in February. I hope to be allayed in my fears. But what if the appointment prompts a CAT Scan and a fine needle aspiration? It’s the fine needle aspiration that found the stage two cancer in the first place. I would so hate to simply have to reboot the detection and treatment cycles once again.

By the way, as I study case images of severe lymph system issues, I see that I am experiencing a minor case.

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