Pretty Ugly

Those are my legs. Yup. Now many of you will only see slightly chubby gams stuck in what are called "Stockinettes" - but what you SHOULD be seeing is distinction. There are actual feet there. Ankles. Shins. Calves.

After being a Lymphedema patient and suffering since childhood with swollen feet and beyond I am finally getting the treatment I should have sought years ago - had I known it was out there.

The first step is taking my hardening, swollen limbs and putting on the Stockinettes. Size Large. Eeek. But really - they were that bad. And I had begin to build up scar tissue. Over this Stockinette will go toe gauze (weaved in and out so only my sparkly blue toes show through) A layer of fluffy wrap, two pieces of foam wrap on either side of my leg, two different sizes of Ace Bandages and three different sizes of Compression Bandages finish up the equation.

And it hurts.

Oh boy does it freakin' hurt.

The first time (in the picture above) they took off the layers - I was greeted with a horrific sensation of freshly burned flesh - only UNDER the skin. This was due to the immense amount of stretched skin - shrinking.

I've heard it hurts to be pretty - and it's flippin' torture to be ugly, too. :)

Friday I was re-wrapped. And I still can't put on my "shoes" (oh - they be awful blue and white and velcro monsters) by myself. But the new pain - coming from my even tighter wrappings, is unbearable. I can't sleep. Can't walk. But I'm told it will all be worth it.

Ya know - to have ankles again.

:)