April 2018 Surgery Support Group

Warrior2018

Hi. I’ve done the treadmill, stationary bike, weight machines, walking outdoors, yoga, kayaking, and just went back to pure barre today!

Popcornme

What kind of weight machines do you do? I find that I'm having difficulty with the shoulder press machine on the lightest setting

Warrior2018

I’ve done that one with 20lbs, 3 sets of 15 reps. But I had a partial mastectomy in both breasts with sentinel node biopsy, not auxiliary and mastectomy. I’ve read in other threads that it can take 6 months before you feel like yourself again after a mastectomy. Can you focus on isolating different muscles and work your way up to the more challenging exercises? Resistance bands are also good options for exercise and stretching.

Popcornme

warrior2018: thanks! I might have been too quick on that machine. I've been working on the lateral pull machine and 5 pound dumbbells and those seem fine. I just read that going quickly up in weights might be risky for lymphadema. I will be patient anfprogress more slowly this time.

Warrior2018

That sounds like a great idea Popcorn!

ljm33

Hi, I'm not an April surgery but I'm thinking maybe someone on here could give me some insight. (I also posted on Exchange City so sorry for the repeat). I had a mastectomy and tissue expanders placed in May. The left side was always more uncomfortable but I pretty much expected the pain and discomfort with expanders. I had my exchange last Wednesday and my left side is still in quite a bit of pain. I see my PS tomorrow and I'll definitely be asking her these questions but any thoughts would be appreciated.

My right side (where the cancer was) is completely pain free. But the left side still feels like the freaking expander is still in there. Really sore around the edges of the implant especially at the bottom outer edges. It's pretty much a constant ache but every now and then if I move the wrong way it stabs. I know pocket work was done there, but it's been almost a week and I'm ready for some relief. Did anyone else have this much discomfort after the exchange? All I read are stories about how the exchange is life changing and I still feel sore as heck. I just need patience, I know, but I've had enough already. Did anyone else experience this

ReadyAbout

I had bmx and reconstruction on 5/16 and I'm back to everything but running. I do spin, weights, elliptical, hiking, etc. I am definitely not back to my pre-surgery fitness, but I don't really care - I'm just happy to do anything active!

Warrior2018

That’s awesome ReadyAbout! I agree, it’s so nice to be able to be active, especially during the summertime.

virginiab

I had UMX April 26. No nodes removed. I am back to doing exercise videos most days: simple aerobics so I don't fall over my own feet, Sansone walking videos, and strength training videos aimed at seniors or first-time exercisers. With the videos I am using 1 and 2 and 3 pound weights.

Aussie-Cat

Virginia, well done on all that exercising!