Hi, can you advise please re swollen hands? My husband had bowel cancer last year and 12 sessions of chemotherapy which ended on 5th Jan this year. He still has a lot of post-chemo symptoms, including neuropathy in his hands, feet and lower legs, and swelling of his hands. Could you explain please why he might have this swelling and what we can do to help him. Is it oedema and what does that mean? From his perspective he also obviously wants to know if it will get better. Thank you so much.
Hi Ellie1
Thank you for contacting us here at Macmillan. I’m Joanne and I’m one of the cancer information nurse specialists.
I can see that you have joined a number of our online forums including our bowel cancer forum and I hope that you are finding them a useful source of support.
Ellie as nurses here at Macmillan we don’t have access to individual healthcare records so would always advise you to speak to your husband’s healthcare team regarding any new, worsening, or persistent symptoms.
It’s important that the swelling to his hands is assessed and any appropriate treatment is initiated. There may be some self help measures that he can use at home to reduce the symptoms once the cause has been established by his GP or cancer team.
Whilst cancer treatments such as chemotherapy can cause swelling and fluid retention, these symptoms should generally start to resolve once treatment is finished.
I have included some general information about lymphoedema and cancer which may be useful once you have spoken to his team and ruled out any other causes for the swelling.
I hope this information is useful and please do contact us again for any further advice and support.
Ref JH/KM
Joanne H - Cancer Information Nurse Specialist
Remember you can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or by email.
