Hi there I have recently immigrated from South Africa and I am in the Leyland area. I have stage 4 breast cancer me am getting registered on the NHS system. In the meantime I am trying to find out information regarding physiotherapist to assist with lymphodema. My arm seems to be quite swollen and I am getting pins and needles. I used to get treated in SA but I am unsure how it works here?
Hello PinkLady. Normally in the UK, when someone is suspected of having breast cancer, they are referred by their GP to the breast clinic. This can happen when a routine mammogram shows suspicious results, when someone finds a lump, or any time something presents that makes such an investigation necessary. Your situation is unusual in that you are coming in with an already-existing diagnosis.
The first thing I would do, if not already done, would be to register with a GP. The GP should then refer you to the breast clinic. If you have a copy of your medical file from South Africa that would help the oncology team in the UK, but if you don't have it, the local oncologist can do their own investigations to establish the medical picture.
The referral to physiotherapy can then come from either the GP or oncology. Normally I would say ask oncology, but if you are not yet in the system and need to find a GP first, it may be worth asking the GP you register with for that referral, to save time.
In addition, there are some ogranisations that can be of help. Two that I found particularly helpful were Macmillan and Maggie's. Some of the things each offers are the same as the other, but each has things the other doesn't, so it's worth checking both, depending on your needs. I am not sure what they can offer for lymphoedema, but I believe there are treatments in addition to physio, so it may be worth looking into by talking to both.
There are private options too, but a lot of us find that the NHS covers our medical needs, and the other organisations usually cover non-medical issues quite well.
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