On November 4th we celebrated Happy Birthday in Heaven to my Daddy, Pete! 🎉🎁🎈🎂
This group, the blog, The Lymphedema Running Club, and my passion for advocacy and awareness were all inspired by and encouraged by him. It was all created in his honor in September 2015. He had LE from 1974-2016. If you have a child or grandchild watching your Lymphedema journey, I’m that kid all grown up. 😊
My message today is be mindful that someone in your circle of influence is watching you fight this illness. Caregivers too. You never know how you will inspire them. 💫💫💫
In May of 1998, I had just graduated from college and moved to Houston, TX to start my first real job. I was driving down the Southwest freeway, and I saw a billboard with two legs that looked just like my Dad’s left leg. At that point, my right foot would swell at the ankle, just a little, but not much. On my way home, I did a u-turn under the freeway to pull over and write the phone number down. Remember the internet was not widespread back then and calling was still long-distance.
When I got home that day, I called my parents and said “You are not going to believe this, but I think Dad has something called Lymphedema. I probably have it too if it’s hereditary.” Dad’s reaction “What the hell is that?” Lol They started firing all these questions at me, and I said I have no idea but let’s call and make an appointment tomorrow.
He did CDT while staying with me for 8 weeks and reduced his leg by about 40%. I helped him wash and roll bandages just like I washed all his compression by hand when I was a kid. His cellulitis bouts also tapered off to almost none. The first #WrapItWednesday was born I guess. 😉
I wasn’t going to post but since there are so many people with LE less than 5 years here, I thought you would find hope from his story. Dad kept on living and never let Lymphedema stop him even in the 24 years he went without diagnosis. Don’t let it stop you. 😎
I did this blog post last year. You can read more there. ❤️
https://staylymphiestrong.com/2015/09/29/stay-lymphie-strong-bio-perspective/