My why
I get asked often about my why and what brought me into lymphatic work, so I thought I would just share it here for you. My why started when my mom, or mum as would be proper for her British roots, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2019. Her treatments brought on almost immediate edema her extremities. Painful to watch so I naturally wanted to help her in any way that I could. I had heard of manual lymphatic drainage (it is covered for just a few hours in massage school) and felt it would be of benefit for my mum.
I took the certification course with Klose training since they are one of the top schools here in the US for certification and training for clinical manual lymphatic drainage. The course in it’s self turned out to be life changing for me. Learning about the lymphatic system and the power it holds and how it is mostly ignored until something is wrong. I spent that last week of that training in Hot Springs Arkansas getting this work done daily and also giving this work daily. Talk about a body and mind changing experience !! When I advise clients that MLD can leave you feeling tired, worn out and rundown I know what I am speaking of because that is how I felt at the end of every day during that intensive. By morning I would be full of energy again and by 8pm I was tucked up in bed each night. The health benefits of that week are still with me. My exercise and eating habits have drastically changed for the better and I now allow my body to rest more when it is needing rest.
My certification also taught me the contraindications for MLD and by then my mum’s aggressive treatment had given her congestive heart failure and renal disease. MLD is a very gentle but also a very powerful modality that moves large volumes of interstitial fluid back into the cardiovascular system, which could send someone with her congestive heart failure into failure. While I can not treat her directly with my certification I can help her eat a more detoxifying and liver supporting diet and after 6 years of this cancer she is still here, she is still beating the odds. I am ever grateful for her and for my journey to this modality that allows me to help those effected by lymphatic disease and those looking to keep their bodies healthy and supported.
-so that is my why story, that is how it all started and I am so grateful everyday to do what I get to do and to help so many people in my mum’s honor.
gratefully,
Jenny