Most of you would be forgiven for thinking that once you’ve finished your surgery, chemo and radiation, that you are healed. It’s all over, and there’s nothing left to worry about. But unfortunately there’s quite a few ongoing side effects cause by the treatment. Hey, I’m not complaining … I kicked cancer’s ass!

So class in session, lets learn a little about Lymphedema. I’ll start from the beginning, and I’ll try not to be too technical.

What are Lymph Nodes?
We all have them throughout our body. They’re like our own little filters, sifting out all the nasties before they can do any damage. In the case of Breast Cancer, the ones under the arm often find they are on the front line to try to fight the disease. Unfortunately, many don’t survive and need to be removed during surgery. In my case I have 14 infected lymph nodes removed from my right arm pit. (Not a nice surgery at all.)

What happens when they’re missing?
Without the lymph nodes in my right armpit, the next nodes (on the side of the neck) are given the additional task of looking after any nasties that traverse up the right arm. But the neck lymph nodes are already working pretty hard, and there will be situations where they just can’t cope. Sometimes it might be a mozzie bite, or a simple scratch on the arm while playing in the garden. But one of the big situations is excessive heat when I’m sitting in a hot race car clothed in a thick fireproof race suit. Another is when I’m in a pressured aircraft.
When the lymph nodes can’t cope, the effected area will collect fluid and swell. This can be quite painful, but is usually just very uncomfortable giving my arm the a weak feeling like it’s had a huge workout at the gym.