Re: Anniversary & lymphadema
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Your BC stage and treatment is very similar to mine. I had a double mast, chemo, and radiation on one side in 2003-2004. The lymphedema developed on the radiation side for me in less than a year after treatment ended. So I've had it a long time and I hardly ever type, though I check this site on and off. Best thing for me was to go to a PT that had advanced training in lymphedema. My first therapist did not have that training. With my second therapist I got the right sleeve and gauntlet for me. I do the exercises and faithfully wear the sleeve, and now I wear a glove because the swelling progressed from my upper arm to my lower arm to my hand, but because I wear the compression everyday, the lymphedema did not get that much worse over the last 12 years. My therapist said everyone is different. Some people do better than I did, but she said she can tell that I am wearing the glove and sleeve, and that it makes a big difference as the years go by. At first I expected that with therapy and compression my arm would be like it was before lymphedema, but in my case it remains bigger -- but not a lot bigger. I feel lucky that the compression kept it from getting worse.
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