I can't straighten my arm! Advice please...

Aoibheann

I have cancer in my left breast and lymph nodes. As I was stage iv from the  get go my b.surgeon decided not to operate.  However the bone in my right arm was eroded and last Sept. I had a pin inserted followed by radiotherapy.  I followed the exercises I was given by the PT faithfully and I had full mobility in my arm. Fast forward to Feb. and I noticed my right arm was swelling and felt tight. I asked my onc and the nurses what was happening and they dismissed my concerns as it had nothing to do with chemo. I went back to the orth. surgeon who x-rayed and mri'd the arm and told me all was well and go back to onc.  At this stage I couldn't squeeze my arm into coat sleeves etc. and self-diagnosed LE. I went to PT who said it might be LE. She measured my arm which was 61% bigger than my left. She wouldn't do MLD as she was afraid of pushing the lymph fluid around my system and cause the cancer to spread. I have a port on the righthand side of my chest and that interferes with massage (I tried to do it myself). She bandaged my arm and we got it down to 8% and I've been using compression sleeves since.  It's gone back up to 15%+.

The problem now is that my arm has become permanently bent at the elbow.  I asked the PT for exercises to straighten it but she said the problem was related to the arm surgery and was degenerative and nothing could be done. I think it was caused by LE and because I have my arm bent when I'm resting it in a raised positiion. It's so f***ing difficult to manage when my right arm is my primary arm and I'm told not to use it or put any weight on it because of the eroded bone and LE.  

Sorry for the long-winded post but what I want to know is has anyone else had this problem, is it related to LE and what to do about it, please

Leah_S

Aoibheann, I don't know what is causing this, but is the PT you're seeing an LE specialist? If not, you might want to change. I don't know how your medical system works in Ireland so I can't be more specific than that.

Best of luck with your treatments.

Leah

Aoibheann

Leah, she is one of the PTs attached to the hospital I attend and is the ONLY person there that has done a course in LE.  She is a lovely young woman but I feel she is very inexperienced and is 'learning on the job'.  I guess I'll have to find a PT privately that specialises in LE.