The “A” Message (pronounced “eh”!)
Not all "As" are created equal - Advocacy for Attention, Awareness & Action!
a World Lymphedema Day message from Steve Kelland, LE&RN Canada Chapter Chair

For any/all Canadians reading this blog, please signal your support for “World Lymphedema Day, Canada – 6 March” with an email to LE&RN: Canada Chapter (CanadaChapter@LymphaticNetwork.org / LymphCanada@gmail.com), indicating name/city/province. Due to privacy legislation (Canada & America), LE&RN does not share personal information (including e-coordinates) cross-borders. Without your assistance in this regard, communications from the Chapter (YOUR Chapter) to its full membership is not directly possible. Good health wishes as I look forward to word from you. Thank you!

Dear Lymphedema Community Members (especially, Canadians),

Although “A” often signifies ideas, thoughts, words of great import, given its prominent standing at the ‘front of the line’ for the alphabet...not all “As” are created equal. This blog employs that age-old explanatory formula of Who, What, Where, When, Why & How (W5 + H) to relay the importance of ‘getting involved’ during Lymphedema Month, especially on 6 March. Each & every effort will help, overall. To do so, I articulate ideas relating to “A”.

We, the Lymphedema Community (aka THE Community) need Ambassadors to Advocate for Attention, Awareness, and All-important Action!

Please consider the call-message, below, on the eve of March, what has become known as Lymphedema Month.

Compatriots (the Canadian component of THE Community), this apt & appropriate blog follows the time-honoured successful approach indicated above, employing & emphasizing a three-part message... related to “A”, namely W2 + H:

1) the What?

2) the Why? and,

3) the How?

As a prelude, from your active advocate, implicit is that we already know:

i) the “who” (THE Community); ii) the “where” (globally, including coast-to-coast-to-coast in the LE&RN: Canada Chapter); plus, iii) the “when” (6 March – every year, for “World Lymphedema Day”)...as relates to this “A” message.

What – in the ongoing sociopolitical climate, everywhere, including for medical/health/health-care domains, things seem to drag down to what I term as the “lowest common denominator” (LCD), i.e. equality but an ‘even-ness’ that is across-the-board at a pitifully low level. For example, earlier advocates in the fight vs. lymphedema (LE) established “Lymphedema Awareness Day” (LAD) in the mid 1990s. For 22 years, until 2016, this day of ‘awareness’ sought to get out the word on ‘what is LE’, ‘what is needed’, ‘what are the issues’, etc. to the wider society, writ large, including those in the ignorant circles of the medical/health/health-care communities, plus those living with LE whether un-/under-/mis-diagnosed. This well-meaning LAD was predominantly an annual North American exercise in the U.S. & Canada. Like-minded, like-hearted & like-actioned efforts also occurred elsewhere in pockets of the world where LE exists as “lymphoedema”.  

Summarizing – the “what” led to what was a demonstrated need for change...for the better.  More was (& is!) needed!

Why – while LAD was well-intentioned & to an extent, successful, in ‘getting out the word’, it had two inevitable shortcomings:

A) by its explicit titling, including a conspicuous absence, it was neither ‘global’ or worldly in its goals, plus, it gave the impression that ‘awareness’ in & of itself was the end-all-be-all; plus,

B) it became almost ritualistic or quaintly traditional insofar as it was well-heeded & proclaimed within its own dedicated circles but...was limited in extending the ‘base’. The proverbial ‘tent’ for such a collectivity was not growing in size. In short, THE Community exhausted the benefits of an awareness-only undertaking & needed a day that would appeal to what I call the “highest common denominator” (HCD) pursuit of ideas & actions.

And so, in early 2016, after a productive series of introductory meeting/exchanges the future-chair of LE&RN: Canada Chapter, your blogger, had with the receptive, supportive & encouraging LE&RN CEO/President, William (Bill) Repicci, it came to pass that “World Lymphedema Day” (WLD) was born. Since that first establishment, at a municipal level in Ottawa, Canada, plus a state level in New York, U.S., and a national level at the American Senate in Washington, D.C., WLD has caught on &, in so doing, widened, heightened, deepened & expanded THE Day (OUR Day) into a global/universal recognition & observance of what LE is plus what challenges it presents, daily, to those of us living with this progressive, chronic scourge for which there is (yet) no cure. Whether inspirationally, motivationally, or aspirationally speaking, the universal-level recognition remains targeted & within reach, thanks largely to LE&RN...the only LE organization with growing global reach plus “cure” in its mission statement. (Thank you, LE&RN!)

Summarizing – the “why” was evident, i.e. the time had come: we need(ed) Active, Advocacy that seeks more than simple Awareness...Action is what we need(ed) to pursue.

How ... “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results” – Sir Winston Churchill

– as with any/all successful movements, there needs to be a groundswell of demonstrated support in evidence. Per the “HCD” referenced above for “highest common denominator”, one could easily add interpretations along the lines/thoughts of "help (the) community deserves" or, better yet, by approach, to "harness complementary diversity" for unity of purpose & beneficial outcome.  Strategically, diversity is really a neutral attribute, albeit full of potential for benefits... provided there is a focused unity of purpose. Taking an historical cue from Sir Winston, & employing my background / experience in evaluation plus performance audit, I offer some pointed observations. For shared awareness, many know that ‘audit’ seeks to ensure that one ‘does things right’; however, the lesser-known corollary is also true, i.e. ‘evaluation’, the art that reviews whether one is ‘doing the right things’.

Analogy: the Lymphedema Community currently speaks with a variety of ‘soloist’ voices without the orchestrated symphony of sound (music to our ears!) one(s) could generate if these voices were a collective ‘choir’.  (There is a reason for the adage that ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’. This is an achievable goal, with the benefit of a thoughtful & applied strategy – see Churchill quote, above.)  Many of these soloists proclaim yesterday’s awareness-only notion, and give it their respective all to ‘spread the word’. Elsewhere, other forward-thinking advocates promote a more comprehensive #WLD, i.e. without limitations or restraints of ‘awareness-only’...they seek to ‘spread the action’, and universally.  From an evaluative perspective, for #WLD to fully capture the all-important attention of the powers-that-be whether in the political arena, the vast domains of research, the avenues or halls of academia (medical schools), with the captains of industry and/or in the towers of societal leaders...involvement needs to be apparent & vigilant at ALL levels. Awareness-only will not suffice.

Ms Eleanor Roosevelt, former U.S. First Lady, once remarked, “it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness”. Metaphorically, once might link this thought with LAD insofar as its goal was (is) to shed light on LE. Complementing this notion, but strengthening it, I add that THE Community should consider that single lights, united, will not only shed greater light but...bring (greater) heat, as in urgency & importance to any/all key, targeted audiences that help is needed in the fight vs. LE!

Hoping this call-message is clear, I thank you for time, energy & support of the Lymphedema Community. Further, I invite, encourage & plead with ALL of the Lymphedema Community to ‘shed the light’ EVERYWHERE. In Canada, the tallest of buildings (the CN Tower) will be lit, as will other landmarks, including the Peace Bridge that connects Fort Erie, Ontario - CANADA, with Buffalo, New York – U.S., and the iconic “Bridge 13” that spans the historic Welland Canal in Ontario’s Niagara Region...plus, the whole of the majestic panorama that is Niagara Falls (Canada & U.S. sides – Horseshoe Falls, American Falls & Bridal Veil Falls).  But, because our land is so vast, and so that everyone will know of the presence of the Lymphedema Community & the scourge against which it wages daily battles (“fighting the good fight”), please consider & then act upon the gesture of illuminating whatever you can in your everyday life with the colour teal (home, yard, community buildings, etc.). Sure, other causes may also share the teal colour-scheme...but not on 6 March, or any of the other 30 days in OUR month (March is Lymphedema Month). So, as goes the old saying, ‘light up the town’! Plus, if nothing else, on a purely practical level, the tremendous ‘heat’ generated by all of those teal lights will surely warm those late-winter day(s)!

Summarizing – words can only do so much, after which action must occur. Equally, awareness without subsequent action merely sets expectations, which will likely never be met. Whether you prefer “inspiration”, “motivation” or “aspiration” for your own “how” in the hierarchal continuum of action-generating words, please view the attached picture of “a white house” illuminated in teal...and then ‘do what you can’. Thank you! In closing, just imagine, fellow (“Lympho”) or sister (“Lymphie”) Canadians, what Canada’s Peace Tower of Parliament in the Capital, Ottawa, would/could look like in teal-illumination. With spring arriving soon...hope springs eternal!

From the home of Canada MALE (Male Advocate for LymphEdema) aka Chair of LE&RN: Canada Chapter.  Wishing you good & healthy “World Lymphedema Day: Canada – 6 March”.

Post-script – given the citation of words from prominent British & American sources in the body of text above, the below is meant offer a complementary call-to-action by employing a Canadian quote plus another “A” to join the others (Ambassadors, Advocate/Advocacy, Attention, Awareness,  All-important Action).

Although the World Health Organization’s “World Health Day - 7 April 2018” will not be dedicated & designated to Lymphedema: Awareness & Cures, the pursuit of appropriate recognition continues with the world’s health body. As the WHO – as we know it – turns 70, Canadians can appreciate that Canada, particularly one Canadian, played a significant leadership role in making the WHO a reality. Dr. George Brock Chisholm, was the first office-holder of the role of Director General, WHO. He held office from the inception of the WHO (1948) until 1953. While I did not personally know Dr. Chisholm, I take great pride and satisfaction in the knowledge that he was a compatriot, a Canadian. Further, much like Canadian scientist and physician, Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin and its therapeutic potential, for those afflicted with diabetes, he made a significant contribution to the world of medicine and health. After all, it was Dr. Chisholm who proposed the name “World Health Organization”, with the intent of emphasizing that this organization would be truly global, serving all nations. It was also he who first stated the definition of health as “...a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”  So, compatriot “Lymphos” & “Lymphies”, please remember that Canada & Canadians can & do make a difference...then demonstrate it as part of your membership in THE Community, which – since establishment of World Lymphedema Day, 6 March 2016 – no longer recognizes national boundaries in the battle vs. Lymphedema (LE). Your help, support & participation in needed as, together, we “fight the good fight!”

To fittingly close “A Message (pronounced “eh”!)... Amen! 

Good health... in the “Canadian” sense of “health” above.

Stephen Kelland, Chair
LE&RN: Canada Chapter
(Lymphedema Month / March – Ottawa, CANADA)