The MLD UK Conference
May 15, 2012Medasun, our international distributor in the UK, attended the MLD UK Conference this past weekend and shared with us a picture at the event. Thanks for the photo! We’re glad to hear you had a wonderful time.
MLD UK is ‘an association of Manual Lymphatic Drainage practitioners, from different professional backgrounds, that exists to promote the development of MLD within the United Kingdom.’ The MLD UK conference was held on May 12th and 13th at the Lane End Conference Centre in Land End, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom.
Medasun Ltd. is ‘the distributor for post surgical garments in the UK. The company has over 30 years combined experience in International Healthcare markets.’
Tribute School Project
May 11, 2012Recently, a 13 year old Tribute user from South Africa reached out to us for help with her school project. She and a classmate wanted to present on her lower extremity lymphedema and the positive effect her Tribute had on her swelling. We provided her with literature as well as a sample arm that they used in their presentation. Just this week, she sent us her report, some pictures, and a video of their project, along with great news: They earned the highest mark in their exposition! Congratulations on all your hard work!
Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk 2012
May 7, 2012
Solaris at the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk 2012
Solaris had a great presence at the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk on May 5th, this past Saturday. Thank you to everyone who braved the cold to come out and walk the three miles around downtown Milwaukee and to those who donated! We’re already looking forward to next year.
Want to see more pictures? Check out the album on our Facebook page.
Kayden’s Fund
May 3, 2012Last post, we talked about the effects stress can have on the body and how a solid emotional and social support base can help curb those effects. One of the greatest things about the lymphedema community is how well this is understood. There is no shortage of compassionate people out there who are willing to help in any way they can.
Earlier this month, we found out about Kayden, a 2 1/2 year old boy who was diagnosed with congenital lymphedema that affects the entire left side of his body. His family has been advised to seek treatment for Kayden at the Foeldi clinic in Germany. Professor Ethel Foeldi, who saw Kayden in Colorado, is graciously assisting with the cost of treatment. In order to help further, Guenter Klose, Executive Director of Klose Training and Consulting, has started a fund in Kayden’s name to help pay for garments and other necessary medical supplies not covered by insurance that Kayden’s family will need as he gets older.
We were extremely moved by the outpouring of support for Kayden from the community and have pledged to provide him with whatever garments he’ll need from us in the future. If you’d like to learn how to make a donation, please see Klose Training’s webpage.
A little support goes a long way
April 20, 2012Are you stressed? Are there moments when you’re more stressed than others? Do you feel more often than not stressed out beyond belief?
The American Psychological Association recently reported that 33% of Americans felt they were experiencing extreme amounts of stress. Half of those reported feeling that way at least 15 days a month. That number may not seem like a lot, but, upon looking at the list of side effects stress can cause, suddenly it becomes apparent that stress is a growing health concern. Stress can aggravate almost any organ, any bodily function, and any illness. The good news is there are multiple ways that we can work to destress and calm ourselves down.
Lately, we’ve been getting a lot of requests for support group listings on our Facebook page. Support groups are a great way to get the social and emotional support that many people struggling with an illness like lymphedema need. We all know how good it feels to connect with someone else. It helps to share stories and have stories shared with you. As time goes on, more and more research is found to support the belief that a strong source of social and emotional support can help improve our quality of life and help us live longer. According to the American Institute of Stress, being stressed can cause your blood pressure to spike, but receiving emotional support can reduce its rise. It can also boost the immune system by helping combat irregularities caused by stress.
This kind of interaction doesn’t just have to come from a support group, though many find it helps to be in the company of others who know what they’re going through. People can get a healthy dose of social and emotional support from pets, religious affiliation and beliefs, and supporting a cause that they believe in.
If you’re feeling stressed and looking for a support group in your area, here are a couple of resources to help you locate one:
National Lymphedema Network – You can search their support group database by zip code or state. They also have an international listing.
LymphNotes.com – This listing is categorized by state. You can also get your support group listed for free.
Lymphedema People – Support groups are grouped by state.
There are also a lot of online resources and forums that you can join which can connect you to people with lymphedema around the world. Here are a few:
Treatment Diaries - Posts are grouped by diagnosis and you can connect with people with multiple different conditions.
Daily Strength – Members can post anonymously in a forum-type environment.
MDJunction – Online support group.
Hippity hop!
April 6, 2012It seems like just a day or so ago we were talking about Christmas and New Year’s Resolutions. Now its time to put the winter coats and boots back in the closet. Spring is in the air! You’ve survived those silly April Fool’s Day pranks and are no doubt looking forward to filling up up on Reese’s peanut butter eggs (my favorite) and jelly beans.
That’s all well and good, but do you know why our baskets of delights are delivered by a bunny on Easter morning?
Allow me to correct myself firstly and fore mostly: The Easter bunny is actually not a bunny at all. It’s actually a hare.
Rabbits are usually smaller and tend to live in small groups.
- Hares tend to be bigger and longer and live independently.
Hares were a widely used church motif in medieval times because it was believed at that time that they could reproduce without losing their virginity. A lot of Roman historians and scientists believed that hares were hermaphrodites, meaning they had both male and female reproductive organs, and this belief carried on for quite some time, leading to their association with the Virgin Mary. They were also used in a circular motif appearing in various religious sites in Western Europe and a few places in the Middle East and Asia, like the one below, called Dreihasenfenster, or ‘Window of Three Hares’ in Paderborn Cathedral in Paderborn, Germany.
This motif represents the Trinity in Christianity, but there are a number of those mystical associations it symbolizes, including fertility and the lunar cycle.
Hares, and their rabbit brethren, have long been associated with spring and the birth of new life. Like birds, they are known to have large litters early in the season. This ancient association with the Vernal Equinox is why our Easter celebrations include a bunny that delivers eggs on Sunday morning.
Nobody knows why we started decorating eggs. Some traditions include dying the hard boiled egg red or green, symbolizing the blood of Jesus Christ or the blooming of new plant life. We do know that Catholics were not allowed to eat eggs during Lent, which explains their popularity during the holiday. Other sects of Christianity who didn’t want to participate in fasting still wanted to eat decorated eggs and so the tradition continued.
Have a safe and Happy Easter weekend!
Exercise While Commuting
March 26, 2012Many of us by now have dropped our New Year’s Resolutions, but that doesn’t mean we still don’t attempt to find time to go the gym or eat. Despite your best efforts, you still might not have made it to that first work out session. Next time, when you’re on the bus or the train or stuck in traffic, you can get some exercising in instead of just staring at other passengers or carousing the radio stations.
There are estimated to be 128.3 million commuters in the United States with an average travel time of 25.1 minutes. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that the average person try to get in 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity aerobic exercise in addition to 2 hours of strength exercises. Even though its not possible to have a full work out session on the subway, you can get in that extra activity during your 30 minute commute. You’re also a bit limited if you drive, which most of us do, but there are simple things such as stationary crunches and arm routines you can do behind the wheel when stopped at stoplights or on the highway waiting for lanes to unclog.
You can check out the article and full list of exercises here.
Why We Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day
March 16, 2012It’s that time of year when the snow is beginning to melt, the temperatures are beginning to warm, and everyone has green on their minds. Maybe that’s why we’re so excited when St. Patrick’s Day creeps closer and closer on our calendar. Or it could just be that we’re happy for the opportunity to boast about having Irish ancestors.
But what is St. Patrick’s Day really about? Well, firstly, it’s not about leprechauns hiding pots of gold under rainbows. Secondly, it’s not about him literally driving the snakes from the Emerald Isle.
Like St. Valentine’s Day, there was actually a St. Patrick. Historians believe he was in 385 AD in the area we now call Wales. Patrick was initially a pagan, as much of the culture was at that point in time. He would not convert to Christianity until after his capture and subsequent enslavement by Irish marauders when he was 16. He escaped after six years and spent the next 12 studying in a Gaulish monastery. It was here that Patrick believed it was his mission in life to convert Irish pagans to Christianity and he returned with that goal in mind. For 30 years, Patrick traveled around Ireland, founding monasteries and converting pagans along the way. He died on March 17th, 461 AD.
Some of you might be asking, ‘Where do the snakes come into play?’ The snakes are not actually snakes at all. The act is a metaphor for his wide-spread conversion efforts among the Pagans. It was also his actions that created another important tenet of the holiday: The shamrock. St. Patrick, however, did not use a four-leaved clover. Instead, he used the three-leaved clover to explain the Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) to those he encountered. The shamrock was then adopted as a symbol of St. Patrick’s Day.
Irish immigrants brought the tradition with them when moving to America and the first St. Patrick’s Day was celebrated in Boston in 1737. The Boston St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are one of the largest held in the country. In Chicago, the river is dyed green and a big parade is held usually somewhere around the Loop. Other celebrations of the holiday are held throughout America, which is no surprise, as 11.9 % of Americans identified themselves as being of Irish-American descent in the 2008 Census.
Will many of us celebrate St. Patrick’s Day the traditional way? Probably not. It’s one the biggest drinking holidays around. If you’re planning on celebrating the luck of the Irish with a Guinness, remember to be safe and you know a reliable, designated driver.
Erin Go Bragh!
Source: http://dacula.patch.com/articles/saint-patrick-and-the-history-of-st-patricks-day
Mission to Colombia: Update
March 14, 2012You may remember reading back in mid-February about Dr. Maureen McBeth participating in a mission to Colombia to help those with lymphedema. Here’s a picture she just recently sent us of one of the patients being helped there:
International Women’s Day
March 8, 2012Have you ‘googled’ anything today? If not, you might not have seen the colorful Google animation above your search box. 
So what is this particular doodle celebrating? Today, March 8th, is International Women’s Day.
The concept of a Women’s Day was borne out of the 20th century’s tumultuous beginnings. The world was expanding, science and industry were rapidly growing, and women had began to grow restless as they saw opportunities for men increase while their own remained stagnant. In 1909, the Socialist Party of America declared February 28th to be the first National Woman’s Day. Women in other countries observed the day as well after it was unanimously approved at the 1910 International Conference of Working Women. It was subsequently celebrated on the last Sunday of February until 1913 when it was moved to March 8th after Russian women started celebrating it as a way of rallying for peace before World War 1. The day was used to hold rallies for women’s rights, including the right to vote, to hold public office, and equal pay. Currently, it is a time for celebrating advancements in women’s right while bringing attention to inequalities still not balanced.
International Women’s Day is an official holiday in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.
Here’s a link to the International Women’s Day website, where you can see events happening by country and read more about the history and mission: http://www.internationalwomensday.com/default.asp
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