Talk Show host, Wendy Williams has suffered from multiple health concerns, including hyperthyroidism and Graves’ disease. She’s been extremely open about her ongoing health struggles to her audience.

Recently she appeared on the Dr. Oz Show to talk about her struggles living lymphedma.

Lymphedema occurs when lymph—a fluid in your body that contains white blood cells to fight germs—builds up in your soft tissues because your system is damaged or blocked, according the U.S. National Library of Medicine. When this happens, most commonly in your arms or legs, symptoms like swelling, limited range of motion, thickening of the skin, and a heavy or tight feeling in the legs or arms can occur.

“Lymphedema is not going to kill me, but I do have a machine—and how dare you talk about the swelling of it all,” she explained . She uses a compression machine, the FlexiTouch Plus, every day for 45 minutes to manage her symptoms.

The machine’s arments inflate and deflate to create a “wave-like motion” to stimulate circulation of lymph fluid.

According to the Mayo Clinic, some causes of lymphedema include infection, scar tissue pertaining to the lymph nodes, inherited lymph node issues, or cancer. According to the NLM, treatment can help control symptoms and typically includes exercise, compression devices, skin care, and massage therapy.

Anyone with both diabetes and lymphedema faces special health challenges and must take extra care in managing these conditions to minimize complications. Before bandaging make sure to carefully examine the tissues to be bandaged for any signs of circulatory problems.

Enjoy Divabetic’s 6th Annual Mystery podcast, Gingerbread Men Prefer Blondes features Mama Rose Marie, Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes, the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach (Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE and MaryAnn Nicolay BA, DTR), The Happy Diabetic Chef Robert Lewis, Seveda Williams, Coach The Cure’s Trisha Artman, Jillian Walsh, Wendy Radford, Dave Jones, Lorraine Brooks and Max Szadek.

Throughout this podcast we will be featuring music from the original Broadway cast recording of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes courtesy of SONY MUSIC.

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