There are estimated to be a hundred thousand people living with lymphoedema in the UK. And the number is growing as more and more people survive cancer for longer but without a lymphatic system - which leaves them vulnerable to painful swelling and serious infection.
Living with lymphoedema is the subject of this week’s Friday play - 'Martha’s Metamorphosis'. Ritula is joined by its writer, Frances Byrne, who based the story on her own experience following treatment for ovarian cancer. It’s a story of hiding a swollen body away from the world, of begging for help that doesn’t come and of finally finding skilled pockets of care outside the system. Leading medical expert Peter Mortimer, Professor of Dermatological Medicine at the Royal Marsden and St George's Hospital Tooting gives advice on treatment.
