Lymphoedema Awareness Month - Telarah's Sally Keir shines a light

A long-term condition, often caused by cancer treatments like radiation therapy, lymphoedema happens when lymph nodes are damaged.

This causes often painful swelling, which Sally said seriously affects a person's quality of life.

Sally first became acquainted with the condition when she became a lymphoedema therapist, helping patients to manage their swelling.

In other news:

Little did she know she would soon become the patient herself.

Sally developed lymphoedema after undergoing radiation therapy for breast cancer.

"That goes back to 2005, and at first it wasn't that bad, she said.

"And then I had to have a lot of further treatment with more radiation, so it really made my lymphoedema worse."

Sally's lymphoedema prevents her working with her hands, and she now has to operate her lymphoedema therapy through telehealth.

"There's a lot of impacts in function that, it's annoying and I have to adapt to, but I do because I'm persistent. I'm not going to let it get me down."

As a board member at the Lymphoedema Association Australia, Sally is making some noise this lymphoedema awareness month about access to treatment for those with lymphoedema.

"One of our problems is we don't have easy access to prompt treatment and diagnosis," she said.

"The public health system is so stretched, it can't really do a lot of the treatments we'd like to do, so people are forced to rely on private health and pay for private treatment.

"There's a lot of inequity in access to lymphoedema services, which is a major problem."

Sally said the condition affects people in different ways.

It often means heaviness in the limbs, which makes it a lot harder for those with lymphoedema to move their bodies, it can cause clumsiness, resulting in aching and pain, and the swelling itself can mean the person might not be able to wear the shoes, jewellery or clothing they planned.

"For me personally, I find shaking hands with people, because it's my right hand that's in a glove, as soon as I do that they look down, they look at me and they judge me differently," Sally said.

"It really takes away that sense of who I am to a certain extent, people classify me as something different."

For Lymphoedema Awareness Month, which is in March every year, Sally said the main thing the community should be aware of is a lot of people don't realise they have it.

"Be aware of the symptoms of lymphoedema, which is heaviness, aching and swelling, in particular cellulitis is often a cause of lymphoedema," she said.

"There are people to help and support, but the system won't help you; people have to help themselves.

"The Lymphoedema Association Australia is trying to help everybody, we're building and we need people to join us so we can do more and more."

Visit www.lymphoedema.org.au or www.lymphaustralia.org.au for more information and resources.