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This episode features Amy Rivera, who shares her remarkable journey with primary lymphedema – a rare disease she was born with that caused her right leg to grow 200% larger than her left. Amy recounts her decades-long struggle without a proper diagnosis, the pivotal moment when she finally discovered what she had in 2013, and how she transformed her pain into purpose by creating multiple businesses and a non-profit to serve the lymphedema community globally.
This episode is ideal for listeners facing health challenges, entrepreneurs looking to build purpose-driven businesses, and healthcare professionals wanting to better understand lymphedema from a patient perspective. Listeners will learn about lymphedema’s physical and emotional impacts, the importance of self-advocacy in healthcare, and how to transform personal struggles into meaningful work. The insights Amy shares about resilience, business-building, and creating community around a medical condition can inspire anyone to find purpose in their pain and take actionable steps toward both personal healing and helping others.
00:00 – 00:47 Introduction
00:47 – 04:27 Amy’s Early Life and Diagnosis
04:27 – 07:05 The Journey to Diagnosis
07:05 – 10:20 Getting an Official Diagnosis
10:20 – 13:17 Emotional Response to Diagnosis
13:17 – 16:47 Finding Purpose in Pain
16:47 – 19:47 Understanding Lymphedema
19:47 – 23:55 Managing Lymphedema
23:55 – 26:28 Building a Support System
26:28 – 30:19 The Business Journey
30:19 – 35:15 Entrepreneurial Challenges
35:15 – 39:04 Self-Care as an Entrepreneur
39:04 – 42:08 Amy’s Business Ecosystem
42:08 – 46:56 Compression Innovations
46:56 – 52:33 Educational Programs
52:33 – 58:56 The Importance of Advocacy
58:56 – 01:03:39 The Ongoing Journey
01:03:39 – 01:07:35 Growth Through Vulnerability
01:07:35 – 01:10:50 Closing Thoughts
Content Notice
This podcast and all She Lift Project content represents the opinions of Cynthia Kirkpatrick and her guests. The content here is for informational purposes only, and should not be taken as professional advice – financial, legal, medical, or otherwise.
Views and opinions expressed in the podcast and across all She Lift Project media channels are our own and do not represent that of our places of work. While we make every effort to ensure that the information we are sharing is accurate, we welcome any comments, suggestions, or correction of errors.
“Joy and gratitude will transmute anything. So if somebody’s going through a healing journey, focus on your joy, what lights you up, that’s the thing that’s going to heal you. So lean into that.”
“There’s people out there that think they’re good at everything and they’re not. So I think for us, it’s really that business entrepreneur that’s wearing a lot of hats, that wants to wear some hats but doesn’t want to wear them all.”
“I got thrown out of the OR the very first day after 10 minutes. The surgeon walked into the room and he opened up all the doors and he screamed as loud as he possibly could, ‘I will not have Dr. Feinberg’s wife in my room!!’ See, I wasn’t Dr. Feinberg. I was Dr. Feinberg’s wife.”
We have level 1 to 10. 10 is being at the top level. You have your faces, you have your attack, your energy, all the things to be at the highest level for themselves. That’s level 10…If they want to be at a level 10, they’ll work at a level 10. That means in classwork, not just on stage.
“Young Shannon became an overachiever because she was a people pleaser. She needed to please others. And so that really developed in my adulthood as well. “
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