Bilateral axillary clearance - advice sought
Hi my name is Deb - I was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer in February (lobular).I had a bilateral mastectomy with left axillary clearance on the 8th March. I returned to theatre a week later f...
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Hi @"Deb P", you might not need to wear the garments all the time for the rest of your life if the lymphoedema is very mild.
I didn't have to wear the compression garments 24/7 until very recently (so several years of self-massage, physio massage when I felt I needed it and wearing the sleeve from time to time kept things in check as the lymphoedema was quite mild) but a bad fall in September last year where I broke my other arm and bruised my ribs resulted in me not being able to do the self-massage properly and the lymphatic fluid built up around my ribs / core as well so it has taken a while to get things back to (almost) normal. My physio has said that now things are better and currently stabilised I can take small breaks from wearing the garments, especially as the weather is much cooler and so my arm tends not to flare up everyday now. Also, if I'm going out somewhere nice I may not wear the sleeve if my arm is looking / feeling reasonable. Much as I hate wearing the garments they are the most effective part of the treatment regime once you've got the right fitting ones.
If your physio has taken measurements you can easily monitor how things are going and it may be that your physio will let you ease off a bit once they know how the garments and other treatment options (i.e massage / over-bandaging / laser etc) are working for you but they will be the best ones to advise you about your particular situation.
Btw, we banned the "p" word from our household as the whole "just be positive" thing was enough to make me positively murderous! xx
I didn't have to wear the compression garments 24/7 until very recently (so several years of self-massage, physio massage when I felt I needed it and wearing the sleeve from time to time kept things in check as the lymphoedema was quite mild) but a bad fall in September last year where I broke my other arm and bruised my ribs resulted in me not being able to do the self-massage properly and the lymphatic fluid built up around my ribs / core as well so it has taken a while to get things back to (almost) normal. My physio has said that now things are better and currently stabilised I can take small breaks from wearing the garments, especially as the weather is much cooler and so my arm tends not to flare up everyday now. Also, if I'm going out somewhere nice I may not wear the sleeve if my arm is looking / feeling reasonable. Much as I hate wearing the garments they are the most effective part of the treatment regime once you've got the right fitting ones.
If your physio has taken measurements you can easily monitor how things are going and it may be that your physio will let you ease off a bit once they know how the garments and other treatment options (i.e massage / over-bandaging / laser etc) are working for you but they will be the best ones to advise you about your particular situation.
Btw, we banned the "p" word from our household as the whole "just be positive" thing was enough to make me positively murderous! xx