A WOMAN has revealed the ‘torrent of emotions’ she experienced while battling breast cancer and lymphoedema.

Lisa Salaman lives with her husband and two children in Ringwood and was 42 years old when she noticed a lump on her breast.

Within weeks, she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer.

Together, the family faced a gruelling year of treatment for Lisa, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and lymph node removal surgery.

Lisa has a lifelong passion for swimming, is a former Bournemouth beach lifeguard and was previously a member of Team GB’s synchronised swimming team.

She is now a swimming teacher, working full-time in schools across Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole.

One year after her initial treatment, Lisa’s cancer returned. This meant Lisa’s only option was to have an elective double mastectomy in addition to other treatments.

Lisa said: “It was a shock. Telling the children I had to go through it again was particularly hard.

“I experienced a torrent of emotions – I was overwhelmed, helpless, angry, sad, and broken.

“This was my next step in dealing with my cancer and another unfortunate opportunity in life to grow stronger and tackle cancer again, with the support from my family and friends. It was brutal.”

Lisa’s first encounter with lymphoedema was a few months after her lumpectomy.

She said: “My wrist had swollen to the same size as my forearm. Within a short time, the swelling and pain I was in became unbearable. It started slowly developing up my arm and into my breast.

“Then my hand began to swell, a little at first. Bacteria got in, and I ended up with a very bad case of cellulitis. My arm and breast were at least three times their normal size.”

During this time, Lisa was referred to Lewis-Manning Hospice Care’s lymphoedema clinic.

Linda, senior lymphoedema nurse, said: “We started seeing her and delivered some intensive therapies, including light therapy, physio touch therapy, manual lymphatic drainage and SLD.

Lewis-Manning’s lymphoedema clinic supports people who experience lymphoedema.

The charity helps them manage their symptoms with specialist treatments, drainage massage techniques and compression garments.

Lisa said: “I count myself lucky because I had an early intervention with Lewis-Manning.

“I needed to learn to live with Lymphoedema, and to my amazement, my swelling reduced significantly in a very short period of time.”