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Supportive lymphatic care · South Berkeley
Whatever you have decided, I am on your side of it.
I provide Manual Lymph Drainage during and after cancer treatment: through chemotherapy and radiation, after surgery, and for the lymphedema that can follow lymph node removal. I do not treat cancer. I support the body that is going through it, and I work inside whatever your oncologist has told you.
- Method
- Dr. Vodder MLD, certified since 2009
- When
- During treatment, after, or years later
- Clearance
- Your oncologist sets the terms
- First step
- A free phone call with me
Why this work
Helping people with cancer is a large part of why I started.
It is not something I added to the list later. Wanting to be useful to people going through cancer, and to people who had already been through it, is a big part of why I went into lymph drainage in the first place.
What I offer is narrow and I would rather be plain about it. I am not treating your cancer. Your oncology team is doing that. What I am doing is helping fluid move, helping swelling settle, and helping your body get out of the state of alarm it has been living in, because that is the state in which healing and even digestion take a back seat.
Some people come to me during treatment. Some come years afterwards, when an arm has started to feel heavy and nobody warned them it might. Both are the right time to call.
Where this helps
What I work with.
Every one of these depends on what your medical team has said. That conversation comes first, always.
During chemotherapy or radiation
Where your oncologist is comfortable with it, gentle lymphatic work can help with the heaviness, puffiness, and general sense of being weighed down, and it puts your body in a calmer state for a while.
After cancer surgery
Swelling, tightness, and restricted movement after a mastectomy, lumpectomy, node dissection, or abdominal surgery. Timing is set by your surgeon.
Lymphedema after node removal
The most common reason people find me. Removing or irradiating lymph nodes changes what that quadrant of the body can drain, sometimes years before you notice.
Reconstruction recovery
Expanders, implants, flap reconstruction, and the long series of procedures that often follows. I have seen clients through three and four surgeries.
Scars, once they are closed
Mastectomy scars in particular can bind and restrict how your arm moves. I work them with Dolphin microcurrent and hand technique once everything has healed.
Being in your body again
Sometimes the point is simply an hour where nothing is being done to you, in a quiet room, with someone paying attention.
The rule I work by
Your oncologist decides. I work inside that.
I do not ask for doctor's notes or paperwork. What I do ask is that you talk to your medical team about lymphatic drainage and tell me what they said. People are honest about this, in my experience, because they want what is best for themselves.
- If they say go ahead, we begin, and I keep working within any restrictions they have given you.
- If they say finish this phase first, we wait. If they say wait six months, you wait six months, and I will still take your call now so you know what is coming.
- If they have not mentioned it, ask them. On our call I will tell you exactly what to ask, so the conversation is short and specific.
Someone rang me recently who had first called a year earlier. Life had happened in between. That is completely normal, and there is no expiry date on getting in touch.
Worth understanding
Lymphedema after cancer treatment.
This is the part most people are never properly told about, so here it is plainly.
Why it happens
Edema is swelling, and anyone can have it. Lymphedema is chronic swelling caused by a damaged lymphatic system. After cancer treatment it is called secondary lymphedema, and the two things that most influence the risk are how many lymph nodes were removed and whether the area was treated with radiation. How many nodes you had there to begin with also varies from person to person.
Where it shows up
The body drains in four quadrants, upper left and right, lower left and right. Secondary lymphedema appears in the quadrant that was operated on, usually on one side only. Unlike primary lymphedema, it starts nearer the nodes and works outward: the upper arm before the hand, the thigh before the lower leg.
What it feels like first
Heaviness and tightness, often before anything is visible. Rings and watches getting snug. A sleeve that fits differently. People frequently feel it well before anyone can see it, and being told it looks fine is not the same as it being fine.
What actually helps
A proper diagnosis, so you can get compression garments. Regular lymphatic drainage. Sometimes a pneumatic pump at home. The name of the game is always staying ahead of the fluid, because it is far easier to stay ahead of it than to let it get away and try to bring it back.
A person with lymphedema absolutely knows the feeling of a limb filling up. They will tell me on the table that they feel it moving. That is awesome to me.
Most of my lymphedema clients are in the maintenance phase: they know what they need and how often, and we keep it in check together. If you are newly diagnosed and dealing with a large amount of fluid, or you need wrapping and intensive decongestive therapy, tell me on the call. If there is a clinic your insurance will cover, my advice is always the same: get everything you can while you can get it, and I will help you work out what to ask for. More on lymphedema →
Please read this one
Protecting your skin is not a small thing.
If lymph nodes have been removed or irradiated, the affected limb has a weakened defence against infection. Your skin is your first line of defence, and in that quadrant the barrier is compromised.
A cut while washing dishes. An insect bite. A scratch from going barefoot in the garden. In a limb at risk, any of those can turn into cellulitis, and cellulitis can become sepsis, which is life threatening. It can begin feeling like nothing more than the flu.
So: gloves for washing up and gardening, shoes on outdoors, insect repellent, and prompt attention to any break in the skin. If an area becomes red, warm, swollen, or you feel flu-like and unwell, call your doctor the same day. Do not wait to see how it goes overnight.
One piece of vocabulary, because it confuses almost everyone. Cellulitis is a serious bacterial skin infection. Cellulite is dimpled fat on the thighs. They are entirely unrelated, and I have had people tell me they have cellulitis when they mean the other thing.
However you are treating this
You will not have to defend your decisions to me.
Some of my clients follow exactly what their oncologist recommends and nothing else. Some combine conventional treatment with complementary care. Some have decided to do only what they consider natural.
I support all three. It took a great deal of time and thought for you to arrive at your decision, and everybody has their reasons. My job is not to tell you that you are right or wrong, or to say do this and do not do that. My job is to support your lymphatic system and to be one steady, useful part of your week.
What I will do is point you toward things I think are worth your time. There are books I keep in my office and lend out, and I would rather hand you something that offers not just information but hope. Radical Remission is the one I mention most: a cancer researcher's study of people who recovered when they had been told there was no reason to expect it, some through conventional treatment, some through other routes, and many through a combination. It is not a protocol and I am not offering it as one. It is a genuinely encouraging book, and encouragement is in short supply during this.
I always want to point somebody to things that are going to give them not just knowledge, but hope.
Worth saying plainly
What I will not do.
I do not treat cancer
Manual Lymph Drainage is supportive care. It does not treat, shrink, or cure cancer, and anyone who suggests otherwise to you should be treated with real suspicion.
I do not diagnose
Not lymphedema, not anything else. If I think something needs looking at, I will tell you clearly and help you work out who to see and what to ask.
I do not override your team
If your oncologist or surgeon says wait, we wait. I will never encourage you to work around medical advice, and I will not treat you against it.
I do not do wound care
Anything open, weeping, or infected belongs with your medical team. If something opens up, we pause, they deal with it, and we resume once they are happy.
And above all I want you to have a team. A good doctor, and whoever else you need, whether that is a naturopath, an acupuncturist, a functional medicine physician, or a therapist. I would much rather be one part of something well built than the only person you are relying on.
Before you call
Questions I get asked.
Is lymphatic drainage safe during cancer treatment?
That is a question for your oncologist, and the answer depends on your situation and where you are in treatment. Many people are cleared for it. Some are told to wait until a particular phase is finished. I work inside whatever they tell you, so the first step is to ask them and then tell me what they said.
Can lymphatic drainage spread cancer?
This was a long-standing worry and it is the reason clearance matters. It is a question your oncologist is qualified to answer for your specific case and I am not. What I can tell you is that I will not treat anyone whose medical team has said no, and I will not try to talk you round.
Do I need a doctor's note?
No. I ask you to speak with your medical team and tell me what they said. I have found people to be straightforward about this, because they want what is best for themselves.
How likely am I to get lymphedema after breast cancer surgery?
It depends chiefly on how many lymph nodes were removed and whether the area was irradiated, and it varies from person to person. Nobody can give you a number for yourself. What matters more is knowing the early signs, since heaviness and tightness usually arrive before anything is visible.
I finished treatment years ago and my arm has started feeling heavy. Is it too late?
No. Lymphedema can appear months or years after treatment, and it is very common for nobody to have warned you. Get it looked at so you can be properly diagnosed, and call me. Staying ahead of fluid is far easier than catching up with it.
What if I am doing only natural treatment?
You will get exactly the same care and the same respect. It took time and thought to reach your decision. My job is to support your lymphatic system, not to relitigate a choice you have already made.
Can you work on my mastectomy scars?
Yes, once they are fully closed and your surgeon is happy with the healing. Chest scars can bind and quietly limit how your arm moves. I work them with Dolphin microcurrent and hand technique. More on scar care.
Should I be worried about cellulitis?
You should be aware of it rather than frightened by it. If lymph nodes were removed or irradiated, that limb has a weakened defence against infection, so wear gloves for washing up and gardening, keep shoes on outdoors, and get any break in the skin seen to promptly. Redness, warmth, swelling, or feeling flu-like means calling your doctor the same day.
How often would I need to come?
It depends entirely on whether we are managing lymphedema, supporting you through active treatment, or working on recovery from surgery. Most people managing lymphedema settle into a regular rhythm. We will work out something realistic on the call, including what is realistic for your budget.
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The next step
Tell me where you are.
Fifteen free minutes on the phone with me. Wherever you are in this, tell me what is happening and what your team has said, and I will tell you honestly whether I can help, when to start, and what to ask them if you are not sure. If I am not the right person, I will help you find who is.