Lymphoedema is a long term condition with a number of causes, a major one being cancer or treatment for cancer. The main symptom is swelling which can occur anywhere in the body but mostly affects the limbs. When the cause of lymphoedema is cancer or its treatment it may occur at the time or many years later.
Lymphoedema is not curable, but there are ways to control and manage symptoms that can also help to improve quality of life.
We have a Lymphoedema Nurse, Lorina Nicholson sees patients in a specialist lymphoedema clinic 4 days a week at Luton and Dunstable Hospital and at the Luton Treatment Centre. She is a Registered Nurses and a member of the British Lymphology Society. She undertook additional training for this role and have been here since 2006.
The clinic criteria is to treat all cancer related Lymphoedema and you will have been reviewed and assessed by your cancer specialist to confirm this is the cause of your swelling before being referred to the Lymphoedema clinic.
At the initial appointment you will be offered a full assessment, taking into account your past medical history and current medications and treatment considerations, from which lymphoedema care will be discussed and jointly planned between the nurse and you to meet your individual needs. The plan may include: skin care, exercise, compression garments, bandaging, lymphatic drainage and lymphatic taping.
The Lymphoedema nurse will aim to teach our patients to manage their lymphoedema and will support them until they are confident in their own self-care.
Further information about lymphoedema can be found on the Lymphoedema Support Network website www.lymphoedema.org and from Macmillan, www.macmillan.org.uk