Local certified lymphedema therapist talks about advocacy and helping our community
March 6 was World Lymphedema Day and Nancy Rowsell, who is a registered massage therapist and also is certified as a lymphedema therapist, along with being the Past-President of the Lymphedema Association of Manitoba (LAM), is spreading awareness through her story of education and advocacy.
Lymphedema is a disease that’s caused by blockages in the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is the system that manages fluid levels in our bodies and removes waste products from our cells moving them to our blood which brings them to our kidneys. When the lymph fluid is blocked from moving, it builds up causing swelling known as lymphedema.
Rowsell is also the owner and a practicing therapist of Interlake Lymph Clinic in Selkirk and she started learning about Lymphedema through her work.
“(I was) seeing a lot of patients over the years struggling with what looked like swelling and through regular treatments, sometimes they would benefit, but sometimes I couldn’t recognize what was going on. Like, why was one leg so much bigger than the other?” said Rowsell.
She may not have initially known what the best ways to help her clients was but she did know that there was a clinic in Winnipeg that was helping people with lymphedema. From there, she decided to get educated so that she could help people in our community feel better.
“I became a Certified Lymphedema Therapist, I reached out to the (LAM) just for guidance and support — how do we get the community and (spread education) on the practice and treatments? And then, I just became more involved in volunteering to promote the education out here in Selkirk and in rural areas,” she explained.
Lymphedema can be caused by a few different things. People can be born with it or it can occur as a result of trauma or cancer treatments.
Rowsell explained that a lot of the time people with lymphedema who come to see her initially can be feeling defeated because they may have struggled to find help for a long time.
“Either they were referred from somebody already coming, or their doctors referred. When they come in, they’re almost to the point where they’re at their last point now. They’re like, ‘I’ve done everything else. The doctors are telling me one thing that’s not working, or my family is telling me one thing, it’s not working.’ So, we do a treatment, and then almost every time, there’s instant relief,” said Rowsell.
The treatment for lymphedema that Rowsell specializes in is manual lymphatic drainage followed by the use of compression garments which help to keep the fluid from building up again.
“When people are having damage to the lymphatic system, there’s the congestion and there’s the buildup of toxins in those tissues. So, what I’m doing is trying to manipulate the system to clear out where it can’t clear out naturally anymore. I’m pushing fluid through the tissues and if they have an area where they’ve had lymph nodes removed. I’m trying to redirect build-up of fluid to an area where there are lymph nodes that can be drained into so the fluid can have its filtering process done in those lymph nodes,” she explained.
Luckily, she said that there are more groups and supports in place for people with lymphedema now so patients are learning about treatments earlier in the game than they once were and are able to access it. Unfortunately, currently, the Manitoba government doesn’t offer the same support for lymphedema patients as other provinces with it covering garments in certain cases but not others.However, Rowsell and the LAM have been working to change that.
“With the (LAM), we did meet with the Minister of Health back in October at the Legislative Building to try to get the Government of Manitoba to understand the need for patients to have treatment and coverage for garment care. We proposed to the minister, a rebate of some sort, or at least a certain amount of coverage per year for patients to submit their expenses to. We’re hoping that with this year’s budget our NDP government will recognize our proposal, and hopefully in the next cycle that at least there’ll be something in place for patients to get coverage for some of these things,” said Rowsell.
She says that having the financial burden of treatments and compression garments covered by our health-care system, like other medical needs are covered, would mean less financial burdern and an increased quality of life for people with this disease.
“It makes them more mobile because they don’t have that heaviness in those limbs. Especially if it’s in their feet and legs, they’re not able to do a lot of weight bearing or have the ability to walk very far (without treatment to remove the extra fluid). Once they have their treatments, their legs are lighter, and the pain is less. So, their quality of life is just (better). They’re less depressed and who’s not in a good mood, when you feel better? When your body is not as heavy and feeling toxic, you have more endorphins and you feel lighter in your whole system, so, you feel better overall mentally and physically,” said Rowsell.
She explained that on World Lymphedema Day awareness is very important and more people are talking about lymphedema with each other, but, if you would like to advocate for health-care coverage for those with lymphedema you can contact your local representatives.
“Our next focus is to try to get the government to support it. I would encourage people to write letters to your local MLA and ask them to push this forward with our Minister of Health and Minister of Finance, to recognize that we need these patients who have to have this (treatment) accessible to them because it gets expensive,” said Rowsell.
Locally you can also show your support at the Never Alone Foundation’s Paws for a Cause Walk in the fall as the LAM supports this event.
To learn more about lymphedema check out the LAM at lymphmanitoba.ca.
