When Nicole Faccio was born, her left arm was already noticeably swollen. “I probably gave heart attacks to a couple of people,” Faccio, 36, London-based project manager for a technology consulting firm, tells TODAY.com. Born with primary lymphedema in Puerto Rico in the 1980s, Faccio says her parents “immediately started looking for help.” Lymphedema is a disorder affecting the lymphatic system, and March is Lymphedema Awareness Month.
It may even go away overnight, because the person is positioned horizontally in bed, only to come back after they’ve been on their feet all day, he says. But, from there, the swelling becomes more severe, and the patient can develop tissue fibrosis, a thickening of the skin that can limit their range of motion, Pinto explains. So it’s important to recognize that lymphedema should not be dismissed as just “benign swelling,” Chen says.