Need advice

Wonderland

First off, all of you ladies are AWESOME! I have learned so much from reading your informative posts. Now I need your expertise and opinion. Background: modified radical mast. left breast Nov. 2006; over 30 nodes removed; chemo; rads; and just finished 5 years of hormonal tx. I have not been dx with LE but I do experience post mx pain. I take precautions not to develop LE and thank all of you for educating me about those precautions.

Two weeks ago I started a new job. It is 8 hours of sitting at a desk in front of a computer. Right now I'm in training (all the training is done through the computer). Eventually the job will be sitting for 8 hours in front of the computer while talking on the phone and typing at the same time with very few breaks. (I was laid off from my job of 22 years - it had computer work but NOTHING to this extent). After 2 weeks of this, my left arm aches and is quite painful. My range of motion is diminishing. I have been doing stretching exercises to help alleviate the pain. I don't see any visual swelling but I realize that doesn't necessarily mean LE hasn't started developing. It hurts like a mother!

I am open to any and all suggestions you may have to help me. I'm beginning to think this may not be the job for me if it's going to cause me so much pain. Life is too short for this!

Thanking you in advance!

hugz4u

I have a desk job. If I do not walk during at least one break,pumping my arms like I am jogging I get a pain behind my armpit. This would be truncal LE. When I am stationary for about two hours I can feel the pain which is a fluid building up. Walking and 4 or 5 belly breaths usually resolves this issue but will build up again if I don't keep it in check.



I wonder if a 15 min brisk walk would help out Also maybe you are experiencing overuse to your arm, it may not be use to typing. That said I can't say that it is LE. I hope the expert gals come on an you some help.

Cindyl

There are days when I spend hours at my computer, and yes it's very bad and makes the pain and swelling worse.  If I get up and move around every 1/2 hour or so I do much better, I've also stuck a short foot stool under my desk so my legs and back can be in different positions.  A small rubber ball to squeeze... anything you can think of that gets you to change your position often will help...

carol57

Pre-LE I started working standing up. At first it was because when I got my first trifocal glasses, I realized that seated at my desk, I was tilting my chin way up to be able to see the monitor through the correct portion of my glasses. So I got a pub-height table to put in front of my desk--it's pretty shallow, so sits just fine literally pushed against the desk--and that height was exactly right for putting my hands on the keyboard, and for viewing the monitor. I do have a drafting (high) chair on wheels for when I'm tired of standing.

I found that there was a bonus, in that my near-constant backache got much better.  And now I feel there's an LE bonus, because I am in mini motion all the time as I work. Not actually pacing, but lots of shifting weight from one foot to the other, and I do tend to simply  move more compared to when I was seated and slumped in my regular chair.

I'm self employed, so of course I can give myself whatever kind of desk I like.  But I have other friends whose employers helped out with standing desks to alleviate back problems. Perhaps that's an answer for aches and pains related to typing, simply because it's so easy to shift typing stance and posture while standing. 

Carol

NancyD

Do you have a sleeve? At some point, wearing one may be the answer. I think, the earlier, the better. I wore mine before the overt symptoms of LE developed last March whenever I had extensive physical chores to do.



Now that I am unemployed (moving toward self-employed) and constantly on my computer or iPad, I wear it more often, usually for those extended periods on my computer.



I also wore it to work the last few months I was employed. It garnered a few comments, but for the most part it was unobtrusive since the office was over-airconditioned and everyone wore long sleeves or a sweater anyway.

(BTW my LE developed not because I was on a computer so much, but because I had a lousy shoulder bag to carry my company-issued laptop.)

cookiegal

I am suspecting the problem is more like frozen shoulder than LE. I developed really really bad arm pain that took a while to resolve. I had spasms in my arm for about 5 months and limited range of motion for about 2 years.

I actually think I got the LE from OT exercises and moving, but I am sure the other problems didn't help.

So if there is no swelling, I would carfully pursue OT, but get measured by an LE. A lot of us who have subtle LE have a tough time getting diagnosed. It was a real merry-go-round for me.

I was given a sleeve "just in case" but it was lymphedivas, and did not fit right.

For me the silverwave bi-lat 15-20 is a good "beginner" sleeve since it has little massaging ridges and it's not too tight anywhere, I know Binney has some concerns about it's design,but if I was looking for something preventative, I might consider it.

Wonderland

Thank-you everyone for responding! Cookiegal: I have wondered if it is the start of frozen shoulder. The pain has improved. I started taking more breaks and being more conscious of moving my arm throughout the day.

Thanks for all your advice!