"It's simply not good enough"
Monksland woman can't get treatment she needs in Roscommon
A Monksland woman who requires manual lymphatic drainage treatment due to a condition called lymphedema, which she developed post surgery and treatment for breast cancer, has lamented the fact that she cannot receive this treatment through the HSE in Roscommon.
Melanie Hudson said she was informed that there is nobody trained to deliver the treatment within the HSE in Roscommon, although she understands the service is available in the primary care centre at Clonbrusk in Athlone, just seven minutes from her house. "I can’t access it because I live in Roscommon," she said, pointing out that she has highlighted the issue with TDs Martin Daly and Claire Kerrane.
"It's really frustrating. It can be a serious condition," she said of lymphedema. "It is frustrating that this is not seen as a priority. To me, it is just not good enough.
"You get great attention when you're getting your surgery and your treatment, and then you just fall off a cliff," said Melanie, explaining that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2022, undergoing surgery on May 31 that year, followed by radiotherapy in August 2022.
Melanie said the HSE was completely reliant on cancer support services for patients post-cancer, but these services receive very little State funding. "The East Galway Cancer Support service in Ballinasloe has taken me on, and that's brilliant, but that shouldn't absolve the HSE of providing support services to cancer patients," she said.
Previously she had attended LARCC in Multyfarnham for the manual lymphatic drainage treatment, but she said now that she's back working full-time it's more difficult to attend and it is great to be able to have it done in Ballinasloe at present. The treatment is available in Sligo and Galway hospitals, but Melanie added: “Post-cancer, I never realised the exhaustion and fatigue. “It's chronic at times, and the last thing you want is a long drive.” Melanie explained that lymphedema can be a lifelong condition once you develop it, and she is really hoping that by highlighting the situation, things will change.
"I'm hoping they will train someone in the Roscommon area, and maybe they will come to the primary care centre in Monksland once a month, or even Roscommon (town), and I can avail of the service as close to home as possible. And not just me, but anyone who needs it," she said. A spokesperson for the HSE confirmed there is "no designated specialist service in place" for the management of Lymphoedema within the physiotherapy department in either Portiuncula or Roscommon hospitals.
"Galway and Sligo University Hospital do provide lymphoedema services via the physiotherapy departments to both in-patients and out-patients who are referred to them by the Oncology/Haematology consultants, or a referral via a GP," continued the HSE statement, with patients generally booked into the Physiotherapy Department "within two to three weeks" of receiving a referral.
The HSE advised patients who wish to avail of private lymphoedema services to do so via the MLD website (www.mldireland.com) which has a directory of registered therapists.