Baseline Measurement for Lymphoedema

I'm so sorry @Nadi, that is rotten luck. K xox

Oh bad luck!! You don't need that, but it's doable and possibly improvable. I have found a good therapist to be invaluable but once you know how to treat it, you can do a lot yourself. Best wishes. 

Well don't I feel lucky. I am one of the 5%. SNB, lumpectomy (Nov 2015), chemo (docetaxol) and radiation and here I am only now just diagnosed with Lymphoedema. 

After wearing bra for a number of days, exercises, swimming etc, the swelling in breast decreased but didn’t fully disappear and still just feels Not Quite Right especially after exercise. 

I managed to get an appointment with first lymphodema specialist that I saw — we covered a number of things, but the main thing was she taped my breast with Kinesio tape and suggested putting a rectangle of Mobiderm plaque textured material in my bra below my nipple  — both to help by providing additional compression.   Even with the new bra and lymphatic self massage, I still feel like I get too much swelling, so I’m glad to have that to add to the arsenal (this is war, right?).  My partner came along and videoed the kinesiotaping as I am wanting to be doing this for myself (or with help from my partner if needed).  I looked up the tape - not too pricey for a roll of it and each application lasts 3 to 5 days.  

This is starting to look like migraine management - figuring out how to manage it, then just following through.  No one signs up for any of this, so just have to make the best of it and grateful for the help from folk on here and the lymphodema physios. 

@irb_03 that’s a good suggestion, I’ve started a running log of medical questions, and for ones that I can’t find answers myself and that I need answers for, I’ll send off.  Thanks!

@Lynn65, it's hard to prepare for what you don't know. I almost always come away from appointments,  particularly with a new specialist, and as I process the information from the appointment,  more questions come up. 
Late last year I had an appointment with yet another specialist, an over the next few days more questions came up in my head. I found that there was a practice email address, so I wrote my questions in one document and emailed it off as an attachment. I had a response within 48 hours 
Just might be one way around it, particularly with infrequent appointments 

A migraine kept me from attending the aqua class Saturday but I’ll give it a go in the coming week.  

@kmakm thanks for that link - will check it out.  

@Sister thanks that’s good to know that aqua sessions will probably be similar to Encore.  And for the heads-up warning on hyper extending in the water - I would never have thought of that!  I’ll keep that in mind. 

Buying new bras today.  I think the compression even with old stretched bras (wearing two sport bras as suggested by a friend who used to be quite athletic - it does add extra compression even for a tired bra!  A simple idea that would never have occurred to me. 

I used to do aqua years ago and the Encore sessions weren't really very different from those.  A word of warning as many instructors don't know enough to mention it but be careful not to hyper-extend when you're in the water - really easy to do as everything relaxes a bit.

@Lynn65 No we don't have Encore here in Victoria sadly.

Check this out, it might be of interest:

https://www.counterpart.org.au/stepping-wellness-2018/

Thanks @Sister that’s a good suggestion.  We don’t seem to have Encore in Victoria (or near me), but I did join a gym 10 weeks before diagnosis (!) and that does have aqua classes.  I have checked class times — and have signed up for tomorrow morning - they have a few options that I can try out. 

Thanks @Rosie_BCNA - I did have a look at that one, but wasn’t aware of the second one - I’ll put a note to check it out for May.