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Sharon_Korchma's avatar
Sharon_Korchma
Member
12 years ago

Almost Done!!!!

Hi everyone,

Gosh I hope I am doing this right - I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer 2 weeks after my Birthday in April of 2013 - Started TAC in May 2013 - on Sept 3 had my last round of Chemotherapy - yaaahhhooo.  I have unfortunately suffered every side effect known to man whilst having Chemotherapy - it has been a long and hard 6 months for me.  I am now on waiting for my Left Breast Masectomy with a left armpit axillary lymph node dissection (hoping I described this properly) due to happen on Oct 8.

Please can anyone guide me on what they have done to prepare for Surgery - I have lost a lot of weight and feel very saggy - I would love to get back to the Gym - but for now would be happy to get back to walking in the local Pool which is in a local leisure centre run by my local council - I would love to hear from anyone that after having Chemotherapy has attending a local swimming centre (undercovder, no sun) and not found it a problem - I am concerned about infection ect, have also heard about cholrine and chemo, I would love to be able to just walk up and down the lanes (as I have done before cancer entered my life).

I really want to tone up and just give my heart & lungs a good pump prior to surgery - Please anyone with information I would be so appreciative - have looked and researched everywhere for the pro's and con's on this issue - last resort will be waiting to hear back from my beautiful Breast Cancer Nurse - but would love to hear from other Breast Cancer Survivors.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

chemotherapy
mastectomy

2 Replies

  • Sharon_Korchma's avatar
    Sharon_Korchma
    Member
    12 years ago

    Hi Tonya,

    Thank you - I really appreciate you comments.  I have a brillant Personal Trainer that I was working with prior to all this happening, I have seen and spoken with her today, she is going to devise a plan for me to work on prior to surgery happening.

    Thank you for the great information in relation to the Mascetomy operation, will be sure to recover slowly - I am in no hurry as I do not work at the present moment, just want to survive this and then get back to the Gym and tone my now very wobbly body after losing lots of weight due to the Chemo.

    Congratulations on your win against Cancer.

    Sharon xo

  • TonyaM's avatar
    TonyaM
    Member
    12 years ago

    Congrats on finishing chemo and getting your blog up on this network! If you scroll down to the bottom of this page you will see a heading"resources".And under that heading,a pink dot next to" fact sheets and booklets" You can either download or ring the toll free number and have the BCNA booklet on Exercise sent out to you.It's very good and may possibly answer some of your questions. If your last chemo was on 3rd Sept then I guess you'd have to wait for a few weeks till your blood count was back to normal(esp.white cells) before going into a public pool.You say your surgery is on the 8th - now forgive me for being a party pooper but I'd be staying away from crowds and public pools so as not to catch any bugs before surgery.You don't want delays or to be coughing and holding onto your wound.With a mastectomy op,you'll probably be in hosp for about 3 days and come out with a drain.Have button down the front pjs and loose tops/shirts ready.Singlets/camis are good cos you may not be able to wear a bra for a few weeks.Get your breast care nurse to order your FREE Berlei post surgery bra and soft form from BCNA. It's so comfortable. It took me about 3-4 weeks to recover from my mastectomy-I was driving and back at work by then.It's a big adjustment so if you have any questions or need support then just blog back here at the network. I found pink pilates quite helpful and go to free ones run by cancer council.You might also be interested in the Encore program which involves gentle water exercise. Ofcourse you'd need to be all healed from surgery. I don't know if any of this helps you but take it easy,walking is good- give yourself time to recover.

                                             Tonya xx