A Northamptonshire woman, who has lived with lymphoedema for more than three decades, has publicly thanked a support service provided by Cynthia Spencer Hospice Charity which has helped manage her condition over the 30 years.

As part of Lymphoedema Awareness Month in March, Elspeth May has praised the “terrific support” she has received from the outpatient Lymphoedema Service, based at the Northampton charity’s Kettering Road hospice.

Elspeth was diagnosed with lymphoedema in her left arm in the 1990s after treatment for breast cancer.

Her arm required specialist bandaging and compression to reduce it to a more reasonable size before she was able to begin managing symptoms herself. She has worn a compression sleeve daily ever since.

Elspeth said: “When I was first diagnosed, I didn’t have any knowledge of lymphoedema so it was quite scary because my arm would become quite swollen.

“Having talked to my GP, the only advice I was given was to keep my hand in the air most of the time which is obviously not very practical.

“Happily, the Lymphoedema team at Cynthia Spencer Hospice have been a terrific support to me over those 30-odd years.”

Lymphoedema is a swelling in the tissues which happens when lymph fluid cannot drain away. The swelling can affect arms, legs, body, or head and may cause heaviness, pain, tightness, or loss of function and makes the patient more susceptible to episodes of inflammation and soreness.

Lymphoedema is very common but often poorly understood. It must be recognised and treated early to prevent complications such as cellulitis.

“When you have lymphoedema your lymphatic fluid doesn’t flow very well,” said Elspeth. “One of the ways you get it to move is through wearing a compression sleeve or manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) which helps to activate the lymph vessels that are in your body and move the fluid around to where it needs to go.

“The lymphoedema team at Cynthia Spencer have excellent expertise in that type of treatment and can also teach people how to carry out self-massage to apply that treatment at home.

“Just understanding what the condition was and its impact on my body and importantly on my immune system, was quite an education.

“It is, after all, a chronic condition. There isn’t a cure. The best you can do is find out how to manage it. What the Lymphoedema Service gave me was the comfort of knowing that there was somebody there if I wanted to pick up the phone and talk to somebody.”

The Lymphoedema Service offers specialist nurses, who have undertaken additional training to help patients to reduce the impact of this condition on their everyday lives.

Their expert advice and treatments work to reduce the swelling and symptoms of lymphoedema to make it easier to manage.

Elspeth added: “Having a specialist team makes a huge difference to anyone with lymphoedema because they may not have been able to access the advice and care that they need from other parts of the NHS system.

“I would wholeheartedly recommend the service. It has been a tremendous benefit to me for more than 30 years and just knowing there’s some support there for a condition that can feel quite lonely and misunderstood much of the time is incredibly reassuring.

“They are such knowledgeable people and so desperate to help. I wish there were more of them. We’re very lucky to have a lymphoedema service at all in Northampton as many parts of the country don’t have this sort of service.”

For more information about the Cynthia Spencer Hospice Charity Lymphoedema Service visit https://cynthiaspencer.org.uk/how-we-can-help-you/how-cynthia-spencer-hospice-can-help-care-for-you-and-your-family/lymphoedema-service/