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Amy Rivera

Amy Rivera

Lymphedema patient advocate, author, and founder of Ninjas Fighting Lymphedema Foundation who spent 32 years without diagnosis before becoming a leading voice in the lymphedema community.

May 29, 2026

10:44
[laughs]
10:45
But, you know, she was just, like, making a point, like, she did not travel out of the country.
10:50
And so I'm like, well, how do I look like these people? And I've never even been out of the US at this point, and you've never been out of the US, but my leg looks exactly like this elephantitis that come from a parasite.
11:05
So then I found a doctor in France, Dr. Becker, and I g- this was before Zoom was really cool and everything.
11:13
So I was trying to figure all that out, trying to figure out the Zoom and my settings, and that was a whole fiasco.
11:18
But eventually, I got on with her, and she was like, "Looks like lymphedema." I'm like, "Lympha-what? Lym- what?" And she's like, "You can come to France and see me, but this is what I would do." And it was a very conservative type of treatment.

19 MINS LATER

30:57
Mm-hmm.
30:58
So after that, I started wearing long skirts and dresses.

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