Women at work with breast cancer-related lymphoedema

Background: Little attention has been given to the impact of lymphoedema on breast cancer survivors' work experience.

Aims: To describe the experience of work of breast cancer survivors with lymphoedema.

Methods: A descriptive phenomenological method was used. Sixty-six in-depth interviews were completed with 22 participants in the United States.

Results: Three essential themes illuminating the meaning of working for breast cancer survivors with lymphoedema emerged, namely: having a visible sign of disability or a need for help; having physical limitations that made some women handicapped, while others felt inconvenienced; and, finally, some women had constant worries while others felt fortunate.

Conclusions: Women endured emotional distress at work. Women whose jobs required heavy lifting and constant use of the affected limb, suffered profoundly from the physical and functional impact of having lymphoedema. Future research should focus on interventions that help employers to understand breast cancer survivors with lymphoedema and improve their working conditions.