Lymphedema - Science Fair topic

[Lisa Adams]

I have lymphedema and my daughter would like to do her science fair project on the topic. I'm wracking my brain to come up with something that would be a good experiment/model to show how the lymphatic system gets interrupted and causes lymphedema.

If anyone has a suggestion I would really appreciate it. Thanks

[Ann]

A good starting point in to have your daughter read the article titled "The Lymphatic System." That will help her understand how it works.

Unfortunately, it is a difficult body system to recreate visually.

Good Luck to her with this project.

Ann

[Chuck]

One possible project is to develop a hypothesis about lymphedema and then design an experiment to test your hypothesis. You then carry out the experiment, collect the data, and analyze the data to see if it supports the hypothesis.

If you are comfortable letting your daughter experiment on you, she might explore the relationship between self-care and swelling. For example, will increased self-massage reduce your swelling as measured by the circumference of the effected limb?

A good experiment involves a control group and an experimental group. Since there is only one of you, the experiment could be designed around two different time periods.

Please check with your therapist before making any changes in your routine and experiment with increased, not decreased, self-care. We’ll be interested to hear what you learn.

[Lisa Adams]

Chuck/Ann

Thanks for your comments - appreciate it.

[Cassie]

After my cancer surgery I had drains that sometimes blocked up and had to be "milked," as the nurse called it. As I've gone through LE therapy I've thought about that as a model of what we're trying to do to move the fluid along, as "milking" the drain tube did involve massaging it ahead of the blockage to make it move forward.

Just a thought. Sounds like a wonderful subject for a science fair. Would love to hear how it goes.

--Cassie

[Lisa Adams]

Cassie

thanks - we're still narrowing down the experiment. Thinking of some system of sponges & tubes to simulate osmosis & diffusion but as always, kids put things off to the last minute!

Thanks again for the comments. We'll keep it mind.