Breast Edema

Chan_go_foill

After lumpectomy surgery, chemo and then radiation, I quite suddenly developed redness and swelling in the affected breast. This scared the heck out of me of course, but it turned out to be nothing more than an edema, fluid building up in the skin, due to poor circulation caused by so much stress to that breast.

My doctor recommended massaging the areas where fluid tends to pool up- the inner side of the breast (pools there when lying on my side) and the underside (pools there when I am up). This seems to be working really well, so I though I would pass it along. I do this twice a day, in the shower in the morning and at night before I go to sleep. It's no longer hard feeling and everything gets moving now with just a little help.

I found also that I had to minimize the stretching I was doing to try to loosen some of the post-surgery loss of mobility, and I had to be sure to really get my fingers down on the chest wall, and just to use gentle pressure to increase my circulation.

Anyone else dealing with breast edema?

mamaof3bugs

ME ME ME~~my 'broken' boob is almost continually swelled with pooling on the inside lower portion where my bra cup ends.  I too have been doing some massage and it seems to help.  I guess I need to go see a LE specialist to see if I have truncal LE.  I am quite confused about the difference.  I hope you continue to get relief with the massage.  Angi

Chan_go_foill

I was beginning to think I was the only one!

Both my doctor and my surgeon said that the specialists were available to help me if I felt I needed them. I'm not familiar with what truncal LE is, but I found this article that seems to explain it pretty well:

 http://www.lymphnet.org/membersOnly/dl/reprint/Vol.%2016/V16.N1.%20Truncal%20LE.pdf

Once I knew my inflammation was an edema and I got the initial fluid build-up moving again, it's been pretty easy to maintain, as long as I stay on top of it and make sure to do it twice daily. It seems to be much easier to move now than it was initially. Getting it to loosen up at first was difficult.

NatsFan

Chan - I have arm and truncal LE.  I suggest that you check on the Lymphedema thread - there's a lot of really good info and some of the ladies who post on that thread are nationally recognized LE experts.  I also strongly suggest that you get to a certified LE therapist - they can evaluate you for breast and truncal LE, provide complete decongestive therapy (CDT) and provide you with education and training on proper self manual lymph drainage techniques.  Poor or improper MLD can in some cases make things worse in the long run, so you need to make sure you're doing it right.  It sounds like you may be at an early stage LE at this point, and you want to be sure to do everything you can to keep it early stage.  Good luck!

Chan_go_foill

OK thanks, I will check it out!