QuestionI'm writing for a friend who had a lumpectomy 12 years ago. Some of the lymph nodes under her left arm were also removed. Since then her left arm has always had the appearance of being swollen but other than appearance, she's had no complaints except for a discharge that occasionally appears from the inside center of her wrist. Her Doctor has told her that it is lymphatic fluid discharge and that she should try sleeping with her arm up. Needless to say, that has proved difficult. The discharge doesn't happen often but when it does it can go on for two or three days during which time she continually applies gauze dressing. Is there anything else she can do? Thank you.
AnswerUnfortunately not. By removing her lymph nodes in her arm pit (a necessary operation in order to find out if her cancer had spread to that location) a large part of her lymph drainage from her arm was blocked (lymph fluid is continuously being filtered out from the blood circulation in her arm and has to be drained by lymph vessels there via lymph nodes back to her blood stream). This has the same effect as damming a river. That is why her arm is swollen. Due to the fluid amount in her arm it sometimes has to drain SOMEWHERE. Her wrist is far down so gravity increases the drainage tendency there and her skin is thin there too. That is why it always happens there. That is also why her dr. has suggested that her arm should be kept in a high position so that gravity will help in order to drain it. So that is the only available advice I too can offer!
I'm sorry to bother you with an appeal for help. I know that it is exactly the opposite of
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Due to a stroke that I suffered nearly six years ago, my ability to work has been severely
limited. Now, because of a diagnosis of cancer, I will be unable to work at all for the next
several months. That will deplete what little savings I have left and leave me with debts
that I cannot sustain. Herb Cooper, one of my American friends, has posted an appeal on
AllExperts that explains the situation in more detail. You can read it at the following link,
which you may have to copy into your browser:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Pharmacy-1407/2008/7/Cancer-doc-cancer.htm
I am conducting this appeal entirely through AllExperts, in order to forestall suspicions of
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me through AllExperts, as you did before. Any help to me should be entirely voluntary!
Thank you for your kind attention and for any help that you may give to me.
Best regards,
Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D.
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