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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Therapy dropout....

I tried. I really did. But I had no faith. The lymphedema therapist was brand-spanking new. Super friendly; a little school-marmish. She had to do everything three times to get it right. Which is fine if you are an intern, or trainee. Unfortunately, she has been turned loose on patients with no visible supervision.

Both times she wrapped my arm in the bulky layer of bandages, I was awoken in the night by stabbing pain, purple fingers, red blotches. Her main training has been on arms, and so she wanted to treat my arm. But my arm is not the problem - it's my breast, and around it, which is more rare. It reminded me of an old Bill Cosby routine about a football player hit in the groin while on TV, and he is told he has to grab his head, instead, which they bandage.

So I talked to my oncologist and he gave me enough of an out to quit. Today, I went to my much loved and trusted massage therapist, Zaida,  and told her the story. She worked on me for 90 minutes, in her focused, intuitive way, and the swelling was already down when I left. Zaida has gifts that go hand in hand with her deep faith, and I've never known a healer like her.

Having been the compliant patient throughout, I took it hard that I didn't ace lymphedema therapy. But I have learned lessons here. Instinct matters. Trusting myself. Combining the allopathic and the wholistic/integrative world is positive. I do believe there are many different ways to keep on healing and strengthening my body, if I focus on making them happen.

I even had a green juice today.


1 comment:

  1. I can relate, and heartily! I have had a similar encounter, made the same decision, and felt challenged by the process. Thanks for writing about this.
    As to brain functioning, all I can say is WOW! A n unexpected side effect of chemo, with some interesting remedies.

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