Last week a friend of mine very kindly looked after Lucia for a little while so I could go to the dentist. While I was away Lucia needed to use the toilet and my friend said she was a bit worried about being able to pull her compression garments back up again. However, she told me she had found them surprisingly easy! So my immediate thought was it must be time for some new garments, as someone not used to pulling them up and down should NOT be finding them easy!
So I got in touch with our Lymphoedema Physio Lynne and we went yesterday to get Lucia measured. The measuring is a very thorough process as 42 measurements are taken between her feet and her waist to ensure the garments are made to fit her as perfectly as possible. It takes around 45 minutes of her standing still(ish) to get measured and she is now brilliant at letting Lynne get the job done.
Flailing legs
When she was younger measuring was always a hard job. The very first time she was terrified of getting the measuring tape put around her feet and legs and it was a torturous affair for all of us. Even the lure of sweeties didn’t make any difference. In the end we had to practically hold her down while Lynne attempted to measure her flailing legs without getting a kick in the face. Not fun.
The second time she was much better for the first 10 minutes and accepted copious amounts of white chocolate buttons while Lynne frantically tried to get as many measurements done while the going was good…then the rest of the appointment went downhill as she got bored. The same happened for the next few measuring appointments. After all, what toddler can possible stand still in one place for any period of time???
I remember discussing with Daryn and Lynne how brilliant it would be if we could have got her to stand in something like plaster of paris that would make a cast of her feet and legs that could be measured. Or if a special camera could take 3D pictures of her legs instantly and then a computer could do the measuring. Sadly both a no go!
Great girl
Now however she is brilliant. Plus, having been seeing Lynne every month now for two and a half years she really enjoys her visits. When we arrive for our appointment Lucia runs to Lynne with a big smile on her face and climbs straight up on the big chair and gets to work pulling her desk apart! Then she does a bit of drawing and on days when she needs measured we get through it without too much difficulty.
She still obviously gets a bit bored after a while but she loves Lynne using her as a dot-to-dot picture (a dot is drawn on Lucia at each point that needs measured). She also gets her own measuring tape to play with, gets some sweeties, sings some songs and has a wee chat.
And so the process is done for another few months and the forms have been sent off to Jobskin to get working on the garments. We look forward to getting them in a few weeks!
