Today for my first Thankful Thursday for 2017, I am thankful for… a stable lymphie result!
I have never been comfortable with walking in to the “Geriatric and Rehabilitation Unit” at my hospital here in Brisbane. One because I am not a ‘geriatric’, I am presently a 35-year-old female (pushing closer to 40 as the days go by!) and two, because lymphoedema is like my arch nemesis. I despise, hate and often rebel against it (as all my regular followers would know).
Lymphoedema for me is not only painful at times, it is disfiguring, it causes me a great deal of fatigue and it now plagues me in a bunch of things that I love, those being travel, exercise and long periods of arm use. I am right-handed after all! It’s a bitch, it’s not fun, but it is manageable! I rebel this chronic condition that I live with because it tries to restrict me, and it has forced me to learn to live within the parameters of what I can and can’t do.
Today, as I walked in to this famed G&R building and headed to the OT, seeing my beautiful Occupational Therapist who I have had care for me for 10 years now (having monitored my arm after all the surgeries and reconstruction I have had), I was able to skip away from this meeting with my arm remaining in a ‘stable’ condition.
Look, it could have been better than a ‘stable’ result let’s be honest (and I know this), I could do a lot more especially with this summer being exceptionally hot. So if you have a pool that isn’t filled with kid’s pee and doesn’t have a million chemicals that will burn my delicate radiated skin, than I’m going to be knocking on your door pleading for some water compression relief, but for now I am honestly grateful for my air-conditioning, the therapies that I do undertake and the self-care I maintain that let me walk away today, stable and not having to walk in to OT for another 6 months.
Lymphoedema, I know, will be my life, but a life I am responsible for managing.
What are you thankful for today folks?
And while you are sharing so boldly, can I also ask have you checked in on your elderly loved ones during this Australian summer heat wave (and to you young little smartass’ NO I don’t mean your 35-year-old friends, or maybe I do haha!), or your little furry or feathered friends? How about offering them some reprieve from the heat, share your air-conditioning or take them some cooling treats. Fill your bird baths with water or leave out some bowls (for the animals… not the elderly, sigh haha!), spread love where you can and be a kind heart to many.
With love, light and bundles of gratitude xx
