On my nineteenth birthday , I was rushed to the hospital with a 105.6 temperature , a swollen , red , hot to the touch left leg . When I arrived the doctor told me " Don't you know you have lymphedema and need to watch for lymphatitis infections "? And my reply was "What"? I was always thin as a rail , active in biking , hiking , fishing , boating , horseback riding , playing baseball , volleyball , badmitting (spelling?) until age twelve when I started gaining 25 lbs a month . I went to every doctor , even every medical college in Virginia & North Carolina . The diagnosis over and over was emotional eating due to physical , mental and sexual abuse as a child . I felt crazy although my step father , mother and I knew I wasnt . It took until I was nineteen to hear those words that would forever change me . I spent many weeks out of almost every month , every three months at best , in the hospital with these painful infections . I would ache all over , have severe chills , vomitt , my leg felt on fire , every inch hurt to touch .
Even when I do not have a infection , I have leg pain . There is no cure but one treatment is known , manual massage that drains the fluid up into your body canal and through the kidneys, wraps are then placed on the legs to keep the fluid up in the canal . I lasted a week in this therapy . when yet again rushed to the hospital . There they unwrapped my legs to find the blood caperalleries were busting . I was then told by nine doctors that I should have never been in the therapy as I did not have lymphedema , I had Milroy's disease , a form of lymphema ( both are cousin to elephantitis ) but more severe and evident from birth . the first sign is an infant whose legs when laying downward turn purple , often times it is seen in whole famalies . Then it will generally lay dormant until purperty around age twelve when horromes go crazy or if you expeirence a fall or trauma to the leg nearing the puberty age .It causes severe weight gain that neither diet or weight surgery can assist , severe pain , frequent infections , thyroid issues , for females it causes menstraul issues , migrains , blood pressure issues , fast heart murmors , limited mobility . The part not disgussed in medical terms is the isolation it causes because society knows nothing about it , so often times , especialy when I was in school I was brutalized by school " clicks and bullies " .
As an adult , I have learned adults can be just as cruel , the stares , the cold glares , the rude who walks up in Wal - Mart and say " Wow , I have never seen legs as big as yours , why dont you loose weight"? . The doctors you see who do not know of the disease and do not want to admitt they do not know so they say " how about Gastric bypass and some plastic surgery on the legs " ? The doctors I have seen that are good tell you gastric bypass could cause you to die from risks and infection , the problem is not food it is your body lacks lymph drainage ducts to filter the fluid and fat deposits and when it has no where to go it dries into hard tissue mass , known as fibrosis , the fibrosis presses against nerves causing pain . One side is always effected more then the other , mine is my left side , which is 9 1/2 inches larger then the right causing me to be off balance . I have this in my upper arms , both breasts , both hips to toes and left side of my stomach . My left leg sits on top of my foot , I have to watch for any sores or skin that pops open from swelling . The infections can be causes by upset , stress , depression , sunburn , bug bites , falls , bumps , or any other illnesses such as flus or colds .
Besides severe leg pain , infections , depression , anxiety , social isolation , I also have to care for severe menstrual bleeding and pain due to effects of the Milroy's Disease , a low potassium , calcium and carb's level , and I do not eat as much as I should , surprising to most who see me and are quick to think otherwise .
I say " I do NOT have a low self esteem , I have NO self esteem " .
I've been asked on dates but due to the abuse as a child and my illness , I shy away from those I do not know . I am unable to work , and although I graduated first in our county to have a perfect score on literature , English , essay and history . I missed perfect score on social studies , geography , geology only by 40 points and was average for a senior in math which included trig , algebra and geometry as well as science and biology .
I won numerous writing awards through our young Authors state school contest , and also did two short articles for our local paper .
I bred and showed dogs as a Junior showman or show woman , for myself as well as others but retired at Nineteen upon my diagnosis .
I am lucky to have a excellent mother who has suffered the loss of a child born with a stillborn twin but survived 4 months premature at a time when they knew nothing about preemies , and lived 8 years with Severe Cerebral palsy , as well as she looked after her own sister with polio , father with amputee legs and mother with Parkinson and strokes until they all passed as well and now she looks after me . My step father is the only father I have ever known as he himself has duptryns of the hands , CMT a form of Muscular Dystrophy and is profoundly deaf . But we all stick together .
All seemed hopeless until a Discovery health channel aired a rare look into my illness and how the country of Germany was using Horse riding as therapy for it with much success . One lady after continues therapy had no visible signs of the illness for 4 years and going !
How It Works :
When riding the compression of your groin which is loaded with lymph nodes in the saddle helps press fluid into the bladder , when riding in a canter the bumping of the legs against the saddle , breaks the fibrosis and sends it back through the bladder . After the initial fibrosis and fluid is taken care of , you continue riding to maintain it from returning . You start at 15-30 minutes a day ( depending on how much you can take ) , then in six months you go to doing those times twice a day , in 60 more days you go to 30-45 minutes once a day , within a year from the time you start you go to 90 minutes twice a day ( I am not up to that amount yet , I was at 45 minutes once a day until a injury explained on Mariah's page ) . But it is okay , you build up according to what your body tells you , no two people are the same , you do not miss a day unless weather or illness prevails.
It worked for me last year ( summer 2006) , in a 4 month span , I lost 63.4 lbs. and 3 1/2 inches in my leg . Many said why risk falling , but they are not me , young , alone , cannot walk from my room to the bathroom without pain much else walking through a mall like most young people , having no self esteem , no confidence , nothing other then writing that was my passion and at the time I had lost passion for that . I found it again when I started riding along with many other passions , I met friends , I had , confidence , I was well informed in something new again .
Unfortunately , it took many horses to find the right one , 4 months of 2006 was it , then I lost hope , deeper depression set in and then I met my friend , trainer , mentor , sister all in one and the two horses that brought our entire family hope .
This site will honor each horse who in one way or another touched us .
