Peter Mortimer - Lets Talk Lymphoedema: The Essential Guide to Everything You Need to Know

Lymphoedema is a little-known illness and this book will help sufferers and their carers cope and who better to help write it than someone like Gemma Levine who is a sufferer herself.

Dame Judi Dench

I was always aware of the terrible disease lymphoma, as my dad died with that condition, but was totally unaware of the further ongoing condition lymphoedema. Any knowledge that can help explain this condition is a must-read.

Sir Alex Ferguson

What we know about, we can work to heal, and in the meantime give strength to those who suffer. That is why this book is so important. I salute two remarkable people, Gemma Levine and Professor Peter Mortimer, for helping us learn about this terrible condition. Bless you both for opening our eyes and hearts.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

Cancer touches all our lives and it is a sad fact that lymphoedema affects 40 per cent of cancer patients. This condition has been widely ignored in our generation. Let us hope there will be a cure in our childrens lifetime.

Dame Joan Collins

It is important, when an unfamiliar condition with a strange name is explained, for us all to understand. That is what is happening here. As a result, those who have suffered in the shadows will now know their condition is widely recognised and that they have our sympathy and concern.

Baroness Joan Bakewell

At last someone has written something about this debilitating condition, which causes so much suffering; this is a book that needed to be written and should be read.

Lord Paddy Ashdown

This is exactly what people suffering from lymphoedema need to have by them; professionally informed, but with the insight of those who live with it on a day-to-day basis.

Lord David Owen

Lymphoedema is the ugly child of cancers which, although widespread, is largely unknown. Peter Mortimer and Gemma Levine have brought it into the light where, I hope, it can be exposed and defeated.

Sir John Major

Professor Mortimer, one of the very top specialists of this debilitating condition, and Gemma Levine, a brave and determined sufferer and photographer, have come together to give help and support to others with this affliction.

Olga and Alex Polizzi

This subject is worthy of a dedicated book. Its time for help and comfort to be shared and given, by true professionals, in this powerful publication. It is not soon enough.

Baroness Betty Boothroyd

Such understanding and openness offer the hope not just of better treatment, but ultimately of a cure for a hidden disease that affects too many.

Lord Michael Dobbs

This book clearly explains this little-understood condition and focuses our attention on ways to support those who live with it.

Angela Rippon

A ghastly condition, too widely ignored. I hate to think how it affects Gemma, a lifelong photographer who is now unable to lift a camera which was second nature to her existence.

Joanna Lumley

This book will help to shed light on a distressing and debilitating condition.

Jack Dee

So many of our colleagues in the world of music rely on hand and arm movements to play their instruments. With lymphoedema, it is impossible. It is incredibly depressing to know that there are those who have had to drop out of the profession for this reason. We hope one day there will be a cure.

Sir Karl and Lady Jenkins

It is appalling to know that lymphoedema can be caused by efforts to get rid of cancer. Yet another challenge for the medical profession, and I applaud books like this for bringing it out from the shadows.

John Suchet

Had I had the horrifying misfortune of lymphoedema in my hands, I would not have been able to butter bread, never mind cook for the glitterati and end up with a Michelin star. People with this terrible affliction deserve our support.

Prue Leith

It is wonderful that there have been significant advances in treating lymphoedema as a result of the work of Professor Peter Mortimer. But equally important is the perspective of sufferers like Gemma Levine to help those who are having to cope with this affliction.

Lord Richard Harries

I hope this book will bring help and relief to the many sufferers of lymphoedema, while also enlightening those of us who know so little about it.

Sir Stirling Moss

This is an obscure but terrible affliction. This book fills a huge gap in our knowledge.

Frederick Forsyth

Professor Mortimer and Gemma Levine are to be congratulated on bringing understanding of this little-known condition to a wider public.

Terry Waite

Lets Talk Lymphoedema is of utmost importance in making us all aware of this terrible condition and how to cope with it.

Nicole Farhi

This is a vitally important book about a dreadful condition that affects so many people but receives so little attention.

Piers Morgan

Foreword

What Is the Purpose of this Book?

Preface

Introduction by Gemma Levine

1. Introducing the Lymph System

2. What Is Lymphoedema?

3. The Perils of Infection

4. What Causes Lymphoedema?

5. How Common Is Lymphoedema?

6. Awareness and Diagnosis

7. Standard Treatments

8. New and Alternative Treatments

9. Managing Obesity and Lymphoedema

10. Living with Lymphoedema

11. Children with Lymphoedema

12. Other Forms of Lymphoedema

13. Lymphoedema Worldwide

Conclusion: Hope

Appendix 1: Exercises

Appendix 2: Nutrition

Resources

Acknowledgements

Index

This book, the first of its kind, addresses the underestimated healthcare problem of lymphoedema, through patient stories from throughout the world. In the UK, if it is known about at all, it is usually through its association with breast cancer, although there are many other causes.

As President of Sightsavers, an international non-governmental organisation that works with partners in developing countries to treat and prevent avoidable blindness, I have taken an interest in the progress towards the elimination of neglected tropical diseases, of which lymphoedema is one.

I am pleased to see that a neglected tropical disease features in this book. What is not realised is that lymphoedema causes similar suffering in our own communities and is equally overlooked.

My hope is that this book will bring much needed attention to this neglected condition.

HRH Princess Alexandra

Do your feet and ankles tend to swell up on long-haul flights or in the heat? Do you occasionally suffer from prolonged and sometimes severe swelling in one foot? In fact, do you ever experience swelling in the arm, leg, or any part of the body? If so, there is a chance that you have lymphoedema. And the chances are that like the vast majority of sufferers you are not aware of having the condition, and probably havent even heard of it.

Lymphoedema is a hidden epidemic. It is one of the least recognised illnesses among both doctors and