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Bellisse is growing! This month, we formed an alliance with Diamond Athletic in Canada so that Canadian women can get faster and easier access to the Compressure Comfort® Bra.Recently Lesli had a very enjoyable trip to Winnipeg, Canada, where she met with most of the lymphedema therapists in the province of Manitoba. The therapists told Lesli that they have been searching for a good compression garment for the torso for years and they were thrilled that the Compressure Comfort® Bra would now be distributed in Canada. Three patients also attended part of the session for a fitting, and they can’t wait for their new garments to arrive. One patient had not been able to wear a bra for a year due to pain and she didn’t want to take the Bellisse sample off! As Canadian women start to purchase the Compressure Comfort® Bra, Bellisse will work with Diamond Athletic to track insurance coverage in different provinces and by different supplemental private insurance companies. We’ll keep you posted – and please as well, because your stories will help us help others. Click here to find out more about ordering the Compressure Comfort Bra in Canada. With best wishes for a beautiful summer,
Skill to do comes of doing.
We are hearing of more and more uses for the versatile Compressure Comfort Bra! While it was designed with particular attention to the challenges faced by truncal lymphedema patients, it is also proving to be an excellent post-surgical garment for women recovering from cardiac surgery. Recently we had the opportunity to visit a hospital in Michigan where post-operative cardiac treatment is very advanced. The Compressure Comfort Bra is being used there to provide comfort to women following cardiac surgery if they have osteoporosis, diabetes, and/or wound healing problems with the anterior chest scar, and/or if they have a persistent cough (i.e. smokers). We were told that the Compressure Comfort® Bra is improving these women’s healing process and even helping them sleep.
Choosing the right insurance submission code for the Bellisse Compressure Comfort Bra is important. Recently, I’ve been hearing from dealers and health care providers that they have been having good success with HCPC Code E-1399, “Durable Medical Equipment, Miscellaneous”. As with any paper claim, the more documentation, the better the chance of successful reimbursement. Therefore we recommend that patients get a doctor’s prescription and/or a letter of medical necessity. To find out more about insurance submission and download a sample letter of medical necessity, visit our website at www.bellisse.com. Susan Tessier is Bellisse's Customer Service Manager.
Although the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998 (WHCRA) requires that all private insurance companies cover treatment for post-mastectomy health issues, Medicare still refuses to cover compression garments, including those for truncal lymphedema, which is almost exclusively a breast cancer issue. As can be imagined, this makes life difficult for many lymphedema patients. Even women with supplemental private insurance companies are often required to submit claims to Medicare first. Then, when these claims are rejected by Medicare, the private insurers will try to follow suit. Fortunately, the WHCRA ultimately requires them to cover the claim, but getting coverage ends up being a frustrating, difficult process for women who are already dealing with the discomforts of lymphedema. Medicare’s policy is ironic, of course, because their refusal to cover compression garments means that they have to cover expensive treatments and hospital stays for patients whose lymphedema gets out of control. This is not only inefficient and costly – it is bad medicine. Lymphedema activists are fighting for Medicare coverage of compression garments, but in order to show that there is a real need for these garments, it has to be shown that there is a history of claims for them. So, frustrating as it may be, please help by continuing to submit claims for the Compressure Comfort® Bra to all insurers – including Medicare. After your claim is rejected by Medicare, you should submit it to a supplemental insurance company if you have one, because it’s important to keep reminding those companies of their obligations under the WHCRA. Don’t be intimidated – let Medicare know that compression garments, the Compressure Comfort® Bra among them, are a vital part of post-cancer treatment for many women! If you have had a claim denied by Medicare, please let us know so that we can document it by emailing us at .
As many of you probably already know, summer is a difficult time of year for lymphedema sufferers because symptoms can be exacerbated by humidity, increased body heat, and increased summertime activity. Every year, Lesli reminds her lymphedema patients to take the following precautions to stay healthy: * Avoid direct sunlight when possible. Shade will help keep your body temperature down and prevent sunburns that can irritate delicate tissues. * Warm up and cool down slowly before and after exercise, and increase your endurance gradually over a reasonable period of time. * Remember to stay well hydrated! Keeping your electrolytes in balance will help keep your lymphedema in check. * Wear your prescribed garments and do your self MLD/care program regularly. Summer is an especially important time to keep your lymphedema under control. If you are having trouble managing your lymphedema during the warm weather, see your lymphedema therapist – she may have some new ideas to help you.
Bellisse co-founder Lesli Bell certainly keeps busy! In addition to caring for her patients and managing her physical therapy practice in Vermont, she travels widely to raise awareness about truncal lymphedema. This fall, Lesli will be giving in-services and conference presentations in the following locations: In-Services
Sept 7 – In-service in Lancaster, PA
October 17, 8 am - "Breast cancer and truncal lymphedema - Cause and effect? What is new in the post operative/treatment complications for cancer?" October 17, 4 pm - "Compression Garments: A Clinician's View of What's New in the Field"
Many women who are diagnosed with breast cancer, or who have a family history of the disease, fear that they will pass on a genetic predisposition to breast cancer to their own daughters. Now, a new study suggests that women who eat certain foods may be able to significantly diminish their daughters’ cancer risk. In a study carried out at Louisiana State University, researchers tested different diets on mice genetically programmed to develop breast cancer. They found that the female offspring of mice who ate foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids were 40% less likely to develop cancer than their counterparts who ate only omega-6 fatty acids. Scientists speculate that this is due to the estrogen-reducing effect of omega-3 fatty acids. While these results do not prove that the same will be true in humans, they are “very suggestive”, says Dr. David L. Katz of the Yale University School of Medicine. Both omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are essential for good health. In the typical Western diet, omega- 6 fatty acids, which are found in meat, eggs, poultry, cereals, breads, baked goods, and most vegetable oils and margarine, tend to predominate. The study results suggest that women may want to replace some of these foods with foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Fish, especially tuna, salmon, and mackerel, are an excellent source of omega-3s, but vegetarians or women who have been advised to limit their consumption of fish can also obtain omega-3s from soybeans, nuts, and canola and flaxseed oils. Hemp oil is another good source of omega-3 fatty acids, and has recently gained attention from the medical community because of what some believe is its near- ideal ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids. It is important to note that the omega-3 fatty acids break down easily, especially when the oil is heated. For maximum benefit, buy small amounts of cold- pressed oils, store them in the refrigerator, consume them promptly, and use them in unheated recipes (salad dressings, for example). Please note that the above information is provided as a matter of interest only, and should not be considered a recommendation or endorsement of any particular diet or treatment.
Since some cancer and lymphedema patients have been helped by alternative medicine, Bellisse® would like to offer information on some of the more common modalities. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which includes acupuncture, herbal treatments, and other techniques, can be a valuable complement to conventional treatments for cancer and lymphedema. Acupuncture, or the practice of using needles to stimulate the body’s energy points, is a treatment modality that dates back thousands of years in China. In 1997, a conference panel convened by the National Institute of Health determined that acupuncture is clearly effective for chemotherapy- induced nausea. Later studies showed that electro- acupuncture, in which mild electrical current is applied to acupuncture needles, was even more effective against nausea than traditional needling alone. Studies from China have also shown that acupuncture can strengthen the immunity of cancer patients, and that it can significantly increase the white blood counts for middle- and late-stage cancer patients. TCM can also support lymphedema treatment. Practitioners of Chinese medicine have long known the value of massage for draining excess lymphatic fluid, and will often refer patients to MLD therapists. TCM practitioners will work to enhance the effects of MLD with herbal formulas that promote the elimination of excess fluid from the body. Acupuncture as a treatment for lymphedema is more controversial. Many lymphedema therapists adamantly oppose the insertion of needles into the skin of lymphedema patients, because of an increased risk of infection and skin irritation. Others say that acupuncture is fine as long as it is restricted to non-affected areas. Acupuncturist Merry Moses, part of the thriving Acupuncture Vermont practice next to Lesli’s clinic, points out that unlike hollow hypodermic needles, acupuncture needles are solid, which greatly reduces the chance that they will cause skin infection. As an additional precaution against infection, the skin can be swabbed with iodine instead of the usual rubbing alcohol. Be sure to check with your doctor or lymphedema therapist if you are interested in using acupuncture as a treatment for lymphedema. If your doctor or lymphedema therapist advises against the use of needles, you might wish to try shiatsu massage, which is based on many of the same principles as acupuncture but which stimulates energy meridians with pressure rather than needles. Please note that the above information is provided as a matter of interest only, and should not be considered a recommendation or endorsement of any particular treatment.
The world is but canvas to our imaginations.
This newsletter contains articles that we believe will be of general interest to the Bellisse community of lymphedema patients, their family and friends, and their health care providers. Sometimes, however, we have news and links that are of interest to only one of these groups. To be sure that you are you are in all the categories that interest you, please click on the "Update my profile" link at the very bottom of this newsletter. As always, Bellisse will not share your information with anyone else.
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Presentations at Medtrade’s Continuum of
Care Conference, Orthotics and Prosthetics
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