What It's Like to Wear a Compression Sleeve

After a diagnosis of lymphedema in mid-June, physical therapy through July, and procrastinating all of August and September, I finally got the stupid sleeve on Saturday, October 13.

I excel at procrastination. I am the freaking queen of procrastination. Just saying.

I got home with the sleeve, opened it up and…yuck. It’s ‘flesh’ colored. It’s gross.

I read the instructions, which are to fold the sleeve over by about a third and use the folded part as a sort of handle to pull it up the arm.

It goes from my wrist to my armpit. Ick.

There’s a sort of latex-but-not-exactly-latex band at the top to keep the sleeve from sliding or rolling down my arm.

So I started pulling the thing on and let’s just say, it’s TIGHT. I mean, duh. Obviously, it’s supposed to be. The pressure is stronger at my wrist and lets up a bit as it goes up my arm. To be precise, there is 30mm of pressure at the wrist and at the top of my arm the pressure is 20mm. Whatever the hell that means.

Basically, it’s tighter lower on the limb in an effort to keep the lymphatic fluid from pooling there. The looser parts at the top allow the fluid to travel back up and into the body where it can be stored/flushed.

I mean…I guess that’s what happens. What do I know? I do know that during the massages my PT (you remember Kim) performed on me, it was all about moving everything back up and into the center or even off to the right side of my body, where all my original lymph nodes still exist and do their job (I assume they’re doing their job.)

So I tugged the sleeve onto my arm with Tom and Alyssa looking on with fascination.

Yes, it was lovely to have an audience.

When I got the garment (that’s what they call them on the website I found) up near the top of my arm, Tom took over tugging at it.

That was great fun, let me tell you.

I think my disgust with my arms is well documented. I haven’t worn a tank top since 1994 because I find my upper arms to be hideous. Sure, I wear a swimsuit to the pool/lake but that’s because wearing a T-shirt would gain more attention than just donning that ugly suit and going with it.

I hate that Tom has to be up close and personal with one of my least favorite body parts.

I even went so far as to apologize to him for having to touch my gross arm.

To his credit, he told me to shut up. He’s a keeper, that guy.

Once the sleeve was on I evaluated how it felt.

It was tight but not uncomfortable. But my arm did feel tired just from having the sleeve on. My elbow felt especially fatigued. Weird.

It also felt cool, as if the sleeve was keeping any heat from accumulating on my skin or even in my arm. My mom said something about it being good for winter since it should keep me warm but honestly, I don’t think that’s how it works; at least not for me.

I wore the sleeve for about six hours that first day. It was a relief to take it off.

The next day, I wore it for 8ish hours.

The third day, I wore it to work and made it maybe five hours before I couldn’t stand the way it felt on my elbow. See, the thing creases weirdly in the fold of my elbow and makes it itch and hurt.

PT Kim told me to start slowly and work up to wearing it during all my waking hours. We’re going slowly, that’s for sure.

The fourth day, I made it the entire day at work, so there’s that.

I still don’t have the gauntlet (the part that goes on my hand.) The dude at the medical supply store who sold me the sleeve told me to watch my hand closely and if I noticed any swelling at all to stop wearing the sleeve until I got the gauntlet.

So far, my hand is fine. I really ought to get on ordering that thing, though. Hopefully before February, since that seems to be my current timetable with this sort of thing.

It’s just one more way that cancer has affected my life; one more way that cancer sucks.