Has anyone had LVA surgery for lymphedema after BC?

Hi Azjan - about 2 years had the LVA surgery when my lymph cancerous nods were removed. As background - my breast cancer/estrogen positive returned after 25 years even after double mastecomy and 5 years on Tamifoxian. Two years ago at 72 found a lump under my arm - was canceous. My oncologists wanted to put me on chemo to shrink the tumors - I declined and they put me on Anatrosola that did strink the cancer spots and the surgerion operated/removed about 16 nodes - about 6 of those removed were cancerous. They offered extra surgery/LVA at same time - thought I would be a good candiate. After surgery had radiation for mop up. Also did about 2 months regular PT visits as preventive followup for lymphodia - honestly only has a little minor swelling in my hand. For me the LVA worked - I am however very careful with my arm and any slight swelling I use a sleeve with my hand compression - also head for the PT for a lymph massage. Still on Anatroxola - refused CDK (awful side effect/could not tolerate) so oncology has me on Zometa infusions every 6 months to prevent the cancer from moving in my bones. For me the LVA surgery worked and believed saved me from lymphodia - but also believe good PT and staying alert if I get any swelling - lymphodia massages are wonderful even for thoses that have not had surgery - also big believer in exercise. Good luck - prayers for a successful LVA reconnect!

Thank you for responding. Very glad to hear it went well for you. Where did
you have the surgery done? How long did it take?

Had the surgery done at Kaiser in San Francisco. Removal of nodes and LVA took all afternoon - the LVA does requires a specific type of surgeon - is performed by a reconstructive plastic surgeon who specializes in microsurgery and supermicrosurgery. It is relatively new so often these doctors are in high demand. Believe LVA is a god sent for women who have lymph nodes removed - will spare cancer survivors from the cursed lymphodena. Best of luck and let us know how it goes - believe you will be very pleased.

For me, it has been partially successful. I'm doing a consult to see if I can have it done again. I had LVB (bypass) done by my regular surgeon at Mayo Jacksonville at the same time as DMX with ALND. He was reluctant to do it because he knew I was having radiation afterward and told me the rads would fry my nodes. Indeed, I did well until after rads, when I definitely experienced an uptick in swelling. This is also validated by my SOZO machine readings, which measure swelling in the limbs. I'm > 1 year out from rads, and 1.5 years out from surgery. In my mind, my Mayo surgeon did it halfway, in that he said he would only do one connection. Other women I've spoken with had 4 connections. I know of one women who has done great (she skipped rads) and another who is having it done again (she had rads). One doctor told me that the LVB works best when done at the time of initial breast surgery but I'm not sure if this is true or not.
I am meticulous about arm care, I see a CLT private pay 2x/month, exercise, wear a sleeve and guantlet regularly, use a pneumatic pump and have recently resumed swimming, which helps swelling due to the water pressure. Unfortunately, I seem to have truncal swelling as well - like on my side and upper back. Recently I've had to switch to a glove due to finger swelling. I set up a consult for another surgery recently because I feel like I'm doing so much already and am concerned that the lymphedema is getting worse. I'm still hanging on with a mild case but see the progression.

@olderbreastcancer Thank you for responding. I am doing a lot of the same treatments as you. But no one on my team mentioned surgery or LVA. Learned about it online. I think this is the first I have heard of doing LVA with the BC surgery. More places seem to be acquiring the expertise and offering it.