Hello, there, lumpy lady

Many thanks for sharing the article!

I have had lymphoedema for over two years - as the article says, it's not going anywhere but it's manageable.

It's in my arm, as many mastectomy patients have it, because of the lymph nodes removed as part of my surgery. I have a regular therapist, do manual clearing myself at home, regular exercise specifically for my arm, regular exercise generally and wear a compression sleeve.

My arm does not look weird - I recognized the problem relatively early, and my therapist got the excess fluid down very quickly. Now we are on maintenance. So I don't really have to explain anything very often apart from my "arm and hand" as I call my compression sleeve and gauntlet! If I don't wear them, nothing looks amiss - my skin is soft as normal, it isn't grossly swollen. If you hold both arms out close together, you can see that one is a little fatter than the other sometimes (and very susceptible to pressure marks!) but not otherwise noticeable. Of course if I don't wear them for any length of time, we undo all the good work so not advisable. When wearing them, I just tell friends that it's to help my fluid movement and emphasise that it's nothing at all to do with blood! People worry that the fluid is actually your blood flow and that sounds scary.

Strangers are more likely to ask - taxi drivers, drunks on trams! My answers depend on my mood - bionic arm is always a good one.

I have got very used to wearing it, and haven't had too many problems. I have never had an infection ( I work,  garden and have a cat). Ask your therapist about the Lymphoedema Register. The more the Government knows about how many people have this problem, the more we may get some assistance (therapy costs money and my current compression garments - not the first I have had - cost about $400).

Good luck - when it all gets a bit much, remember that the alternative to treatment is worse!