About Lymph Notes

Chuck Ehrlich and his mother, Ann Ehrlich, started Lymph Notes in 2003 to provide information for people with lymphedema. Ann was actively involved with the Lymph Notes community until 2012 and died in 2017.

Ann's interest in lymphedema began when she developed the condition following breast-cancer surgery. She became frustrated by the limited information available at that time and wanted to use her skills as a medical writer and educator to help others.

At that time, Chuck was teaching e-business and marketing in the MBA program at the University of San Francisco. He created the original www.LymphNotes.com website with an online community/bulletin board system in conjunction with a course on community-based marketing. Ann welcomed hundreds of members to the Lymph Notes community and wrote many articles for the website, some based on questions from community members.

By 2004 Ann had created so much content that Lymph Notes expanded into book publishing. Alma Vinjé-Harrewijn (later Alma Harrewijn), a lymphedema therapist, and Elizabeth McMahon, PhD, a clinical psychologist, joined as authors. Living Well With Lymphedema, was launched at the National Lymphedema Network (NLN) Patient Summit in Reno Nevada in 2005. 

Dr. McMahon’s chapter for Living Well, inspired her to write Overcoming the Emotional Challenges of Lymphedema, a self-help book on the psychological aspects of lymphedema that includes information for patients, family members, caregivers, and medical professionals. Dr. McMahon was a featured speaker at the 2006 NLN meeting in Nashville and the Lymphedema Association of Ontario meeting in Toronto.

Hundreds of people with lymphedema and therapists shared their stories in the Lymph Notes Forums. Ann and Dr. McMahon collected the post powerful teaching stories for publication as Voices of Lymphedema with a foreword by Calina Burns. Dr. McMahon launched this book at the 2007 Lighthouse Lymphedema Network meeting in Atlanta. 

Chuck Ehrlich’s participation in the American Lymphedema Framework Project (ALFP) Stakeholder’s Conference in 2009 highlighted the need for lymphedema caregivers. To address this need, Mary Kathleen Kearse, Dr. McMahon, and Ann Ehrlich wrote the Lymphedema Caregiver’s Guide in 2009. 

Ann Ehrlich created the Lymph Notes Scholarships in 2013 to help address the shortage of trained lymphedema therapists. Currently LE&RN offers 10 scholarships each year to licensed therapists who are interested in the specialty training required for lymphedema treatment, Scholarships are supported by Lymph Notes and the Ehrlich family. For more information see the LE&RN website: https://lymphaticnetwork.org 

Following the 2014 NLN meeting in Washington, DC, Chuck Ehrlich organized a group to study the role of nutrition in lipedema and lymphedema. This group included Emily Iker, MD, Karen Louise Herbst, PhD, MD, Linda-Anne Kahn, CMT, CLT-LANA, Dorothy D. Sears, PhD, Mandy Kenyon, MS, RD, CSSD, and Elizabeth McMahon, PhD. This team developed a draft Lymphedema and Lipedema Nutrition Guide which was shared with selected participants at the 2015 World College of Lymphology conference in San Francisco. After being revised based on reviewer feedback and updated information, Lymphedema and Lipedema Nutrition Guide was launched at the 2016 NLN meeting with a presentation by Chuck Ehrlich and Dr. Emily Iker. 

Starting in 2019, Chuck Ehrlich was part of the committee that developed the US Standard of Care for Lipedema. The US Standard of Care for Lipedema has been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, Phlebology 2021 May 28. Free full text of this document is available from: Standard of care for lipedema in the United States - PubMed (nih.gov) or doi.org/10.1177/02683555211015887.

Chuck created www.Lipedema.com to support this effort during the pandemic. After the standard of care was published he organized the Lipedema Education Group (LEG) in 2022 and added community features to the website in 2024.  

The original Lymph Notes website was replaced in 2025 by an updated website focusing on books and resources. 

Lymph Notes® and the Lymph Notes logo (see the upper left) are registered trademarks of Lymph Notes, 2929 Webster St, San Francisco, CA 94123 US.