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Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC): Help for Lymphedema and Cellulitis
Breast Cancer | Last Active: Feb 17, 2020 | Replies (9)Comment receiving replies
@fiesty76
If your friend has lymphedema of her arm and/or breast, the physical therapist can teach her breast massage. It's helped mine greatly. I had partial mastectomies and have been fitted for compression bras and also compression camisoles which are quite comfortable. With radiation to the breast, it can cause hard lumps/ridges, but again mine have been helped greatly with the breast massage. Unfortunately, some of the pain may be from cut nerves during surgery and that's probably why the gabapentin was prescribed. Important for your friend to remember is not to wear a shoulder bag on the surgical side or to have blood pressure or blood labs from that side. Hoping things go better for her. (If PT doesn't show self-breast massage, there are many YouTube videos with variants of this, but it would be better for PT to show proper massage techniques).
Replies to "@fiesty76 If your friend has lymphedema of her arm and/or breast, the physical therapist can teach..."
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Always appreciate your responses, Trixie, and this is no exception. Smiles to you and thanks for your suggestions.
Just learned yesterday from friend's hubby that the cancer doc she is seeing is an oncologist but not the surgeon. She'd never mentioned that a diff doc did the surgery so I'd thought the same doc did both. Had begun to think that it was because her doc was a surgeon that he refused her referrals to p.t. or pain mgt. doc. Troubling behavior at best.
The second pt therapist told her to get a "sports bra" but gave no specifics so they bought one yesterday at an athletic store but doubt it is appropriate...tag is still on...and I agree that hers needs to be fitted by someone who knows. If you are in the U.S., can you share a brand name and who you saw for an appropriate fitting?
Doing a lot of research and just yesterday found a U.K. site that shows patient "how to" for manual massage and also exercises for upper arm with lymphedema. I agree that she needs professional guidance with any pt massage or self- massage/exercise and have started compiling a list of questions for her next doc visit. Thanks again,Trixie.