I lately, finally, made the decision to put my health first (and get over being angry about it). I went back to see what seems to be the sole doctor on the West Coast who knows what lipedema is and also specializes in the treatment of lymphedema, and when she discovered I had, yet again, gained weight, she gave me an earful. The difference this time was that I was finally ready to hear it. Although I didn’t appreciate some of the extenuating circumstances of her fat-shaming, I finally realized that although there is literally nothing you can do about gaining weight due to lipedema, you can avoid also gaining weight due to careless eating, and you also monitor your food in the interest of controlling your lymphedema.

There are many theories that lymphedema is affected by inflammation of the bowel, which is, of course, caused by allergies or reactions to various kinds of foods. So I decided to take her advice, and cut out everything that could be a possible irritant. I was already a vegetarian (i.e., no meat), but I also cut out gluten, stopped eating eggs and dairy, and forsook all but the most miniscule amounts of sugar (a little in my morning oatmeal, an occasional square of high-cacao chocolate). My remaining food groups are vegetables, fruits, beans, a few grains, and a variety of nuts and seeds. I have also added a serving of wild-caught salmon once a week, in the interest of Omegas and protein. This diet would have been inconceivable to me once upon a time, but it has turned out to be relatively easy to streamline things now, and I have also enjoyed trying new things, such as fermented foods like kimchi, and have become addicted to snacking on pressed sheets of seaweed or a few raw almonds.

I have been eating this way for more than a month now, and although I have been disappointed that it seems to have had absolutely no effect on the lymphedema in my legs (which has, in fact, been a lot worse in the past week or so), I do notice a difference in the way the rest of my body is reacting—my gut feels more settled, and my energy has been much better. But food isn’t the only thing that needed controlling, so I am about to implement a few more trials to see if anything will cause my stubborn and highly overworked lymph system to succumb and drain itself.

My biggest failing for good health has always been my reluctance to drink water. I have actively avoided it since childhood, because it mostly doesn’t appeal to me and in fact can sometimes make me feel nauseated. But being dehydrated is a major cause of inactivity in the lymph, so needs must. I therefore bought myself an infusion pitcher, which is a covered pitcher with a tube down the middle that can be filled with such flavoring elements as cucumber, lemon or lime, berries, or peaches, to give your water a personality and make it more appealing. I put it into practice this week with a sliced cucumber, and it definitely helps, but I still need to regularize my fluid intake, so I’m beginning a regime wherein I drink 1/2 cup minimum every hour, setting an alarm to remind myself.

I bought a vibration platform a while back, and have primarily made use of it for a few minutes in the morning to move from a condition of stumpy dead-leg to viable functioning limbs, and a few minutes in the evening to quell restless leg syndrome so I can sleep. But I’m going to add a third vibratory session at midday, and extend the period of time to a true “workout” for my legs.

And speaking of workouts…one of the major things people with lymphedema are urged to do is exercise, which is one of the hardest things to achieve, because of the fluid weight we carry in our lower legs and feet. The ideal exercise is swimming, but the many challenges of that (finding a venue, dressing, driving, changing, etc.) have to be put off for now until my lymphorrhea heals.

I have been “trying,” for some time now, to establish a daily exercise routine by doing at least 10 minutes every morning of the daily workout session from Body Groove, an online dance program I particularly like. For the past three days I have managed to remember and commit to doing that, and I’m going to grit my teeth and extend that to a daily practice by leaving myself copious reminder notes in various places. Having a slight ADD condition means it’s perfectly easy and rational for me to commit to something, do it once or twice, and then completely forget about it for weeks as if it never occurred to me, so I am writing myself a goal sheet and taping it to the face of my computer screen to help with that.

Finally, I read on a couple of lipedema support Facebook pages that some have had good luck breaking up the fibrosis that solidifies in the legs (particularly around the knees, which serves as a major blockage for moving lymph fluid back up from the lower legs to the heart) by using a massage “gun” (hate that term, but that’s what they call them) on the fibrotic tissue, so I ordered one. It came two days ago, and my cousin Kirsten, always an enthusiastic adopter of new technology, read me all the directions and plugged it in to charge up, and now I’m ready to try it out.

I have an uninterrupted period of five days in which I have no appointments and therefore no real need to leave the house, so I have written myself a list of all these intentions, and my plan is to implement them without fail every day of those five, to see what occurs with the concentrated use of food, fluid, exercise, and massage. Ideally, by next Tuesday morning (when I have a breakfast date with a friend), my legs will have improved significantly by putting all of this into practice.

Oh, and in the midst of all this self-care, I’d also like to finish designing this blog and paint at least one picture.

At this moment, at 1:45 in the morning sitting writing at my desk, I have the purest of intentions to complete all of this; but in the bleary light of day after five hours, at most, of sleep, fulfilling any resolutions becomes a more doubtful prospect as my faulty attention wanders. I’ll give it a whirl and keep you posted.