How can I tell if it is this or that

Polyana · February 2011

Hi,worried about LE and have it on my head. after surgery back in Dec 3rd I startd excercising my arm and getting a full move, I stopped after that not paying it much attention. I started rads..and started feeling tightness on my skin where the surgery is and up to my axillary, therefor when I move my arm it feels like the first days after surgery a bit tight...no swelling or pain I can see or feel but I some how tend to believe that my right arm is larger than the left which has no issues.

I read about possibility of cancer nodes or somthing similar..could this happen even if you have LN removed? In such case what are the symptoms just to keep them in mind? I mean what sort of cancer that ould be found in the arm if not LE?

Thanks and looking fw to hear from you

Binney4 · February 2011

Hi, Polyana Smile ,

If you're worried about LE, there are a couple of things that can help.

First, ask any one of your doctors for a referral to a well-trained lymphedema therapist for an evaluation and baseline arm measurements. She or he will be able to tell you whether there's any LE in your arm, and what to do about it. Here's how to find a well-trained therapist near you:
http://www.stepup-speakout.org/Finding_a_Qualified_Lymphedema_Therapist.htm

Second, learn about ways to reduce your risk of lymphedema. Here are two pages with information about that:
http://www.stepup-speakout.org/riskreduction_for_lymphedema.htm

http://www.lymphnet.org/pdfDocs/nlnriskreduction.pdf

Rads can make your arm and chest feel tight, so very gentle streches might help with that. Just don't overdo it -- take gentle care of yourself! Smile

Be well,
Binney

MicheleS · February 2011

Polyana~ I have 2 threads from just last week! "could this be LE" and "update: could this be LE"

The wonderful ladies here helped me figure out what to do.

How can I tell if it is this or that

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