My Story

My name is Samantha AKA the Real MLD. 

I was raised on the North west side of Chicago Il in Albany park but have lived all over the city. My mother was diagnosed with a disease called Multiple Sclerosis and growing up with someone suffering from a debilitating autoimmune disease you learn patience and tact towards people in pain (well hopefully). Growing up with this experience it was only natural for me to choose a career path helping people. After high school I first studied at North Eastern University for business and marketing I then ultimately chose a better fit for me and graduated from The Soma Institute of Clinical Massage Therapy in 2006. This was one of the best decision I ever made (btw no one agreed with this, but gut instinct is always the best way to go). I have worked as a massage therapist in health and wellness facilities of all sizes, from hospitals to spas and 5-star hotels. 

After learning how manual lymphatic drainage could help people with autoimmune diseases as well as other immobile people such as a close cousin who was a quadriplegic I was intrigued. I had taken a class and learned about MLD at The Soma Institute but after all of my friends and family started getting plastic surgery in 2017 (thank you Kim K) I was determined to get fully certified as I knew I would be able to now help an array of ailments or conditions if I could learn the proper techniques. After having surgery myself, my experience helped me understand the importance of MLD and the post op recovery even more! 

Manual lymphatic drainage is a skin stretching technique that helps assist in the absorption of swelling and extra cellular waste in the body, pain relief, speed up healing, reduces scar tissue formation and can improve immune systems response decreasing risk of infection. There are a few different kinds of MLD but I was trained and certified in Vodder technique which is recommended by surgeons as it is backed up by scientific studies. 

So here I am, a people pleaser, a daughter of not only someone with a debilitating autoimmune disease (fuck MS) but also a breast cancer survivor (fuck cancer) which taught me so many things from how to get someone out of bed that can’t walk, to wound care. No I’m not a nurse but it’s the families job to make sure you know what a bed sore is and not let it happen and when it did happen how to make sure it didn’t get infected. Yes I stay in my lane and work in my scope of practice but it’s also extremely important to know what you’re looking at and if a client needs to be referred out or not. I’ve learned patience of a god through prayer let me tell you. Now, I also happen to be superficial and love plastic surgery. A Post-op specialist career was right up my alley. I received my MLD certification in 2019 and have taken several other accredited MLD courses relating to specifically post-op and will continue to grow in this field always searching for new education.

As for my own surgery journey I’ve had 5 surgeries total so far. My first surgery I was about 7 yrs old I had an enlarged lymph node removed from my neck. I had my next surgery in 2007, this was my first of 4 plastic surgeries. Second plastic surgery was in 2011. Number 3 was in 2019 before covid and the fourth in 2021. If you would like to see my surgery stories click the YouTube box. 

After a car crashed into mine totaling my vehicle in 2022 (blessing in disguise) I decided to take the insurance money and start my own mobile post op business. Real MLD was extremely successful its first year because I had been working on girls post op tt, bbl, lipo and gluteal implants since 2017 and experienced with massage therapy since 2006. This is a field I am extremely passionate about and some even say gifted. I say experienced, the 10,000 hour rule is real in my opinion. After working on several of Dr. Azizi’s patients and receiving rave reviews about me he reached out to collaborate with him as he was looking for an in house clinical massage therapist. He’s the the type of person that is always looking to improve and grow only keep A+ people around him. I was honored to join his team to say the least. I still travel for post op patients but bookings are extremely limited. 

I heard and believe we should have an anchor to keep us focused in our daily life, my anchor is my son Donovan. If you’ve read this far thank you for taking the time to read and as I always say to my clients if you have any questions please feel free to reach out.