We are excited to be attending the upcoming National Lymphedema Network Conference in Orlando this coming September. It is always so great to meet friends and acquaintances and to put faces with voices and e-mails. Many hugs will be shared and this shall be another wonderful event.

We hope to meet some of our eNews subscribers in Orlando, we will have an exhibit, feel free to come up and introduce yourselves.

We will be giving away HOT pink lymphedema alert bracelets, stop by and pick one up. These are important to have should you make any trips for medical care of any sort to avoid blood pressure taking, injections or blood draws in your affected or at risk limb!

Peninsula Medical sponsored two patients for this conference. We excepted drawing submissions off of our website and last month we notified the recipients that they were to be receiving paid registrations to the conference. We look forward to meeting the two patients!

We will be sure and include a summary of the conference in our next edition of eNews for those of you who could not attend.

Tony Reid MD Ph.D

Female, Bilateral Lower Extremity Edema, Lymphedema secondary to carcinoma treatment, HealthSouth, Vero Beach Florida.

Female with bilateral lower extremity lymphedema secondary to treatment for cancer. The lymphedema was a sudden onset that progressively worsened. Previous treatments included, MLD, Bandaging, day-time compression garments and mechanical pump. Patient reported a history of one infection.

Patient presented with right lower extremity edema on June 18, 1999 with moderate to severe lymphedema involving the foot, ankle, calf, knee, thigh and distal to mid abdomen. She exhibited extreme fibrotic tissue proximal thigh and distal right to medial abdomen. Right lower extremity medium hard tissue with discoloration light brown with white spots in the foot and ankle areas. Slightly shiny skin in shinbone area. Medium dry skin.

Patient states that executing staircases was not possible and she experienced a general unsteadiness while ambulating. Walking over time periods of 30 minutes was difficult. Range of motion was limited to 45 degrees at the knee. Patient was unable to operate a vehicle do to lack of range of motion.

Patient was fit with ReidSleeve Classic of her right lower extremity and was scheduled for her first follow up on June 27, 1999.

Patient was on a catheter to measure fluids. Normal excess between 8:00pm and 8:00am is approximately 800-900 ccL. Patient passed 2000 ccL after first night with ReidSleeve. Patient wears ReidSleeve 10-12 hours per night. Patient reported some itching sensation while sleeve was applied. Significant decreased hardening in the affected extremity was noted. Range of motion increase, patient is now able to bend extremity to 90 degree.

Patient reported on July 7, 1999 with increased walking and ability to stand. Patient did not wear the ReidSleeve on one night and reported an increase in circumference the following day. No change in skin discoloration.

Below is a graph of total volume reduction.

Patient reports on August 29, 2000 that she continues compliance with the ReidSleeve in place of bandaging. When the patient was asked her objective opinion of what overall percent of improvement she believed to have, stated she felt she was 85% improved.

Additional comments: 6-18-99 - Patient was asked on initial evaluation from a scale from 0-10 with 0 meaning none and 10 unbearable;

Limb sensation: Hot-4, Full-8, Numb-3, Hard-5, Heavy-8, Tired-8, Stiff-8, Achy-6, Painful-6, Tingles-4, Needles/pins-0, Decreased function-9, Bursting Sensation-8.

8-29-2000 - Patient reported:

Limb sensation: Hot-2, Full-2, Numbness-0, Hardness-3, Heavy-3, Tired-4, Stiff-5-6, Achy-2, Painful-2, Tingles-1, Needles/pins-1, Function-4, Bursting Sensation-1.

This case was followed by HealthSouth in Vero Beach Florida.

We recently have had our website redesigned. One notable change is in the archives of the eNews. You will find that the graphics and colors have been removed for the archived issues. Only the current issue will have graphics. This should make loading and printing of previous articles easier and faster. Additionally, some patients reported due to their default settings on their computers, that strange color combinations occurred making it difficult to view.

Another feature added; current and new articles. You will find all the current and new information in the main body of the home page. This will be updated as often as once a day should we have new information. This includes the current Lymphedema Chronicle. When a new Chronicle is submitted by a patient, we will place that as a featured item and place the previous in the Chronicle section.

We will be adding a weekly feature, a mini-eNews you might call it that, this will feature articles from Dr. Reid and the questions of the week. We feel by sharing some of the questions we are asked and our subsequent answers, this may help others. Some may feel intimidated to submit questions as they feel it is something they perhaps should already know, but don't. We all know how difficult it has been to find information and answers regarding lymphedema. We still get questions on a daily basis from peopl e that are just now asking the most basic of questions regarding lymphedema, as they begin their quest of knowledge. Everyone has to start somewhere, and unfortunately their doctor does not always have the answers, especially when it comes to lymphedema.

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