ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of John, who is a 54-year-old man who had surgery for a carcinoma of the colon. Despite liver metastases he has been managing well. The thrombosis was successfully treated but the leg is still swollen and hard and occasionally becomes red and painful. It is preventing him from going out because walking is difficult due to stiffness and he cannot fit a shoe on the left foot. Lymphoedema is swelling, usually of a leg or arm, caused by the build-up of lymph in the tissues because of lymphatics that are damaged, missing or working inefficiently. Lymphoedema is part of a range of causes of oedema. Lymphoedema is a progressive condition that does not resolve by itself, produces physical and psychosocial morbidity and becomes more difficult to treat the longer it is left untreated.
