FG-MLD - A patient perspective.

Since the end of July I have been using the technique of Fluoroscopy Guided Manual Lymphatic Drainage (FG-MLD) in practice.  I wrote a post about it when I had finished the training.  At that time, I hadn't used it on real people with real lymphoedema.  Now, after seeing the amazing results I get with it I really believe it is the BEST method of MLD available.  The old technique worked well, so I am not taking away from the traditional forms of MLD, but having used FG-MLD clinically, I really cannot go back to the old way. My clients are feeling and seeing the difference too and recently I asked one of them if they would write me a wee testimonial.  So here it is, completely unabridged and unedited.

I got swelling in my leg 12 years ago, fairly soon after I had extensive surgery to treat cancer.  I had glands taken from my groin and my leg blew up within a few months of the surgery.  Since that time I have had some treatment for my lymphoedema.  I’ve attended a number of MLD therapists and had the bandaging done – they all told me they had got a good result, but I really didn’t think so.  My leg was massive, I’d say at least twice as big as my good one, and even after treatment, it was still huge.  I wear a stocking everyday, my leg was heavy and I felt it was getting worse, so in August I rung Joanne Brennan on the recommendation of a friend who had been raving about how good she was.  I am a complete sceptic, I really didn’t think that anything could be done for me that hadn’t already been tried.  I was probably just going to have to put up with this leg for the rest of my life.
I met Joanne and she assessed me – asked me all the same questions I had answered a million times before, and I thought to myself here we go again.  But then she explained that the technique of MLD she used was brand new.  She explained the science behind it and I thought to myself that really makes a lot of sense, I just hope it works for me.  Well, I have to say that I think it is an amazing technique.  It feels a lot stronger than the treatments I've had before, but that makes it feel like it’s actually working.  I would describe the other treatments I’ve had more like a tickle in comparison.  At the end of the first session I could see a thinner ankle and my leg felt lighter.  After 5 sessions my leg feels and looks brilliant.  It still swells as the day goes on, but when I wake up in the morning and I compare it to the other side there’s very little difference.  I haven’t seen my leg looking as good as it does now since before the surgery.  I can walk much further without getting tired, my energy is increased and I am sleeping much better.  I’ve told Joanne she has magic hands and I would be extremely happy to recommend her treatment to anyone else who suffers with lymphoedema like I do. 

I have been told that I have 'magic hands', I'm performing miracles and even sorcery!! But it is none of those, it is just the use of a brilliant technique which is based on the knowledge that we now have of how the lymphatic system works thanks to the work of Professor Jean-Paul Belgrado and his team.