This was a big WOW for me! I wasn’t a stranger to this medical condition but with all the doctors we (my roomie and myself) had seen over the years and all the home nurses that had visited and commented on the condition called edema, not one had mentioned this concern.

FamilyDoctor.org defines edema as “swelling or puffiness of parts of the body” but interestingly enough it doesn’t go much further. Recently during a hospital visit, a nurse explained that if the body shows the effects of reversed edema – or a dehydration of the skin cells - that the inside of the body could also be in the same state. I specifically asked her if that meant edema was inside the body as well and she said yes. It made sense – if legs or ankles can swell from the inability to process excess water, why not the parts inside our bodies?

Actually I felt stupid for not contemplating the edema issue more fully prior to this conversation but now it was serious and my thoughts were flying in all directions. Another concern that was causing my mind to fly was that the medical team was performing dialysis and pulling fluids off while at the same time harboring concerns about some dehydration of the inner cells. They weren’t allowing fluids to be given and they weren’t just pulling off enzymes. How can that be? Turns out that in this case it all goes back to the heart…Congestive heart failure. Well, well. I had previously been told that CHF was fluid in the sacs around the lungs and was fairly easy to pull off – no one said anything about the rest of the implications or the hundreds of types and symptoms. There are at least 50 different named types of edema many of them unseen until the outside skin swells. One of the most common but deadly is pulmonary edema since it effects the lungs but all of the various types can be quite serious. The causes are also extremely varied - the most unusual one that came to light is a skin edema caused by a spider bite or worm.

I realize we can’t all be doctors and I realize the doctors do not have the time, nor do we have the experience to understand all of the medical threads out there but I am constantly amazed at the lack of full information that is imparted to us, the patient. (Sometimes I sigh and think that the medical field truly thinks we are simpletons without the brain cells to understand what they know.) Edema can be very serious, don’t let it slide. See your doctor and ask every question you can possibly think to ask – then ask them to tell you what else they know about the condition.

You can’t cure edema since it is actually a symptom not an illness but you can reduce the effects by seriously reducing your salt in-take. (see http://hubpages.com/hub/Getting-Fit-Pinpointing-the-Hidden-trap-of-Salt for helpful hints).

If you find yourself still feeling the effects after talking with your doctor and reducing your salt in-take, take action immediately. At the very least, get appropriate stockings and USE THEM, prop your feet and legs up as much as possible and visit your local medical shoe store to get fitted properly then walk and exercise those limbs. And don't forget to immediately find a cardio doctor to get a new opinion – something isn’t right and the long term effects can be devastating.

To further research the issue, I suggest you read a wonderful - if technical - article by James G. O'Brien, M.D.,and Shobha A. Chennubhotla, M.D. at the University Of Louisville School Of Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky Treatment of Edema, 2005, it is a much more inclusive article but for basic info, check out Mayo Clinc's article http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pulmonary-edema/DS00412/METHOD=print but whatever you do – pay attention to your body and get it checked!