More New Things

Ok. Talked to the therapist today about our concerns over J's skin. Told her we were wondering if it might not be a bad idea to stop wrapping for a week or two and let her skin get back in good shape, just do our massage and the like.

Wow! That was nixed in a hurry. Gretchen says we ~need~ the wrapping to prevent fluid we move from flowing back. I agree, partially, but am still VERY concerned about J's skin. So...

Today we did extensive massage on J, with extra work with the little handheld massager on her toes and dorsum. (She was unwrapped from midday Saturday til therapy at midday today so the dorsum was a little firm, nothing like as hard as it has been, but definitely a little firmer.)

We then did the now-usual elastomoll wrap around her toes, a light elastomoll wrap to about 2in above her ankle bone, and a single 4cm bandage from just below the ball of her foot to the top edge of the elastomoll. When J was wearing her socks and shoes you couldn't even tell she was bandaged. Gretchen seems to be trying to reduce the bulk of the bandages since we are experiencing an unusual heat wave in Austin (temps over 100 for the past 5 days!) .

We took guideline measures further up her legs, above the bandages and below the knee so we can try to determine if these shorter wraps make things worse up higher (since we're fairly sure J's LE only extends to her ankle, currently).

What have I noticed so far?

Well, we need our vetrap. The bandages, when I took off her socks and shoes at bedtime, were rolling up off her heel and generally a little loose. Adults have less trouble with their bandages, but I think this is because they are nowhere near as active as a preschooler! I'll check both the unadorned bandages and the measures further up her leg in the morning and try to figure it out from there.

Oh! And my last bit of anxiety. We have confirmed that J and I will be flying out to SoCal for some family things in a week and a half.

A) I'm not real keen on flying. Not paranoiacally afraid, but not keen either.

B) I've never flown with a 4yo - what have I gotten myself into??!???!

C) I've never had to prep lymphedema legs for flying before. I've got some tips and tricks I've been saving from Bob Weiss and others on various LE lists, but am still a bit nervy. She sees the therapist for a full to-the-knee wrap the day before we fly, but I have to prep her myself for the flight home. (ack!)

Ah! If we have any lymphkid friends in the SLC area, we should be there for a day or two around Oct. 10th and we'd love to meet up...