As Sharon Warnock tried to push her right arm through her sleeve, she started to panic — the night before when she’d gone to bed, her arm had been normal, but it was now so swollen she couldn’t get her top on. It was also tender and starting to ache.
Sharon rang her GP for an urgent appointment, but she already suspected it was lymphoedema — a condition caused by damage in the lymphatic system, which leads to fluid retention and tissue swelling especially in the arms and legs.
She had done her own research and knew lymphoedema was often linked to treatment for breast cancer — only a month before she’d completed a course of chemotherapy following a mastectomy.