What Can Be Learned from Lymphedema Diagnosis?

The Lymphoscintigraphy machine

Many health practitioners are still figuring out what Lymphedema is, let alone what to do about it. On that patient side, actual Lymphedema diagnosis can be a costly endeavor, an unnecessary formality, a step toward surgery, or a source of affirmation. For me, like most things, it became a matter of knowing the rules so I’d know how and when I could break them. Before I get started in telling you what I did and what resulted, a quick disclaimer: I’m not a health professional, nor am I the most knowledgeable when it comes to Lymphedema (LE) diagnosis, but when […]

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Super Woman Rx: Busy Women’s New Bestie

Super Woman Rx: Busy Women's New Best Friend on Pura Vida Sometimes

I haven’t yet decided whether it was a lie when they told us we could have it all, or whether it’s true you can have it all, just not at the same time. But for those of us deeply entrenched in being everything to everyone, I have just the thing for you: Super Woman Rx. In a previous career, during the course of seven years, I had the privilege of working with some of the world’s top doctors and health experts, creating and marketing integrative medicine programs, educating medical professionals. Many of the physicians I worked with were women who rose through the ranks […]

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Brain Octane for Tired, Hungry Parents

Brain Octane for Tired, Hungry Parents - Pura Vida Sometimes

I am a hungry girl. Most of waking hours of my life have been spent eating and/or trying to stave off hunger. But recently, I feel like I’m getting closer to cracking the code of satiety. I have a few strong, quintessential mom issues standing in my way: sleep deprivation and limited time to exercise and consequently brain fog, hunger, and the challenge of meal prep for palate-awakening pleasures in a house of picky eaters…and me. Eating thoughtfully is a luxury. So when my friends at Bulletproof, the biohacking behemoth, approached me and asked if I wanted to try their […]

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Lymphedema: What MDs Don’t Know, What You Can Do

Over the last four years, with extreme swelling in my legs, I saw a number of medical practitioners and tried everything they recommended, all to no avail. Today for World Lymphedema Day, years into my issue but only a few months after diagnosis, I share my story. If for nothing else, I hope to bring awareness to the disease and hopefully spare others the same anguish and confusion. Perhaps the larger issue is that, during the course of my struggles, which began during pregnancy, I spoke with 15 medical practitioners (yes, I counted), including 10 medical doctors – my obstetrician, […]

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