Living with Lymphoedema – Dennis’ story

Retired taxi driver Dennis is 68 and lives in Salford with his wife Kate. Dennis has lymphoedema in both legs, but his leg problems really accelerated in 2015 with what started as a blister that wouldn’t heal:

“I noticed this blister on my leg that wasn’t going away. It got bigger and started weeping – enough to soak through my trousers. I went to the GP and they said it was cellulitis and prescribed me a week-long course of antibiotics. I hoped that would clear it up but it didn’t. The blister was just getting bigger and bigger”

Coping with cellulitis

This was just the beginning of Dennis’ ongoing battle with recurrent cellulitis:

“I went back to the GP surgery and they gave me more antibiotics and bandaged my leg from toe to knee. The bandaging helped a bit but as soon as they took the bandages off, the cellulitis would come back. I’d have maybe a week before I had to go back and get the leg rebandaged and get more antibiotics. It was really starting to get me down.”

By this point, the cellulitis infection was 75cm in diameter and really affecting Dennis’ day-to-day life:

“It made it very difficult for me to walk so I couldn’t go to the shops or anything like that. I had to swap my manual car for an automatic car because I couldn’t press the clutch. I was lucky that I wasn’t on my own and had my wife to help me. I’m not sure how you’d manage if you were single and didn’t have anyone to support you.”

Delayed lymphoedema referral and inadequate compression therapy

Dennis was eventually referred to a lymphoedema specialist who quickly established why Dennis was not healing. The specialist explains:

“The reason a lot of people, including Dennis, have problems is because they’re treated only below the knee. The swelling moves above the knee and when the bandage is removed, the swelling falls back down and the whole cycle of infection and swelling starts again.”

Dennis was given thigh-high compression therapy garments in a higher compression class then he had previously, which controlled his lymphoedema. He also had a longer course of antibiotics and was prescribed prophylactic antibiotics.

This treatment approach has led to a large reduction in the size of both Dennis’ legs and he has begun to feel much more in control of both the lymphoedema and the recurrent cellulitis:

“I’ve got my mobility back and am much more active now. I don’t have as many leg appointments any more, so I’ve got more time to do things I enjoy. Me and my wife are even thinking about going away on holiday for the first time in years. I feel like I’ve got my life back.”

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