Some people who have lymphedema will soon have to find a new place to get treatment because a Calgary clinic that specializes in the condition will stop offering treatment this spring.

Theresa Storm, who has primary lymphedema in her left leg, is one of the people who will be affected by the closure.

"Lymphedema is progressive and it's chronic. It's not curable. If you don't treat it, it just progresses meaning that the volume of fluid accumulating in my limb increases, I have a higher risk of infection."

Storm says there is limited expertise on lymphedema in Alberta but she found help at a private clinic in Calgary. But at the end of March, the facility will no longer provide treatment.

Secondary sufferers, like Diane Martin, developed lymphedema following cancer treatments. She will still receive treatment through the Tom Baker Cancer Centre.

Cancer Centre Director, Dr. Peter Craighead, says it had a contract with the private clinic to provide lymphedema treatment to its cancer patients. Dr. Craighead says this spring it will begin treating secondary lymphedema in-house.

"Cancer patients are suffering from lymphedema as a result of treatment rather than congenital condition so we have a moral imperative to do something for them."

Dr. Craighead says the Centre doesn't have the space, money or staff to treat primary patients. That means people like Storm will have to find treatment elsewhere.

"If the cancer clinic is the only place in town that has trained people to deal with lymphedema, I understand it's not their mandate to treat non-cancer patients," says Storm. "However, I think Alberta Health Services needs to take a good look and find out where we can go or if we can be accommodated in that clinic."

That's what Diane Martin, president of the Alberta Lymphedema Association, hopes to convince the provincial minister to do.

"What we're hoping is that the government will go, well, the secondary patients are getting treatment, why can primary patients not get treatment as well, paid for by the government?"

Martin is meeting with the provincial health minister in March, and has petitioned both the provincial and federal governments.

For primary patients, Dr. Craighead says the Cancer Centre will try to point them in the right direction for resources, but he expects they'll have a tough time getting access to expertise.