Cankles

I have reached what I am going to call the "cankle" stage of pregnancy. What are cankle's you ask? Well. It is when your feet start to swell and you don't have ankles any more. You have calves that turn into feet where your ankles used to be. Cankles.

I work with therapists who specialize in Lymphedema management. They are experts at swelling in any limb. They wrap a limb and then give out compression hose that seem to control excessive swelling, even if they aren't fashionable. If these miracle workers can help take down 20-30 excess pounds of fluid off a leg than surely they can help me I thought.

This morning I asked a co-worker to look at my feet. I explained my "swelling problem" and took off my shoes for a dramatic demonstrative flare (just hoping the shoes would go back on and praying that my feet weren't too stinky). She analyzed and decided to do an experimental wrapping of one cankle today to see if I was a candidate for hose. The wraps are ugly and looked like it would be a tad hot, but I was desperate. I let her put it on all the way up to my knee and I fell in love. These wraps are so wonderful. I could feel the fluid coming out of my ankles as I walked.

This afternoon, I gleefully went to my doctor 's appointment and showed her my lovely wrapped, less swollen leg compared to the other not so fortunate one. She laughed and said "Probably will only help while they are on, but don't worry, it is normal to swell and it will go away."

Spoil sport. I am wearing the compression hose at work regardless. It feels so nice not to have big feet that fit into shoes, even if it is a temporary and unattractive solution.