Tell me the honest truth - can muscle grow back?

The main Breastcancer.org site has a section on Exercise that may help with some of your questions and concerns until more members post with their own experiences.

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Jennie, Like you I have had muscle removed as my chest wall was involved with BC. I have a hole or divet next to my clevage by my implant. I could get a fat graft to fill it but that costs too much so I unfortunately live with it. Yes, I am unhappy too as I can't wear anything lower than a high scoop or high v neck. Crewneck is my best bet. I't been about 7 years and I just tolerate it.

I have Lymphedema and push ups will definately put you at risk. Yes there are some exercises you should be doing and are helpful for "at risk arms" Please join or read our Lymphedema thread here to gain more knowledge and ask any questions. We are a super friendly bunch that are Lymphedema smart.  You don't want Lymphedema because that beast is much harder than BC treatment. And It never goes away if you have stage 2 such as me. Early stage is reversible if caught on time. Not trying to scare you, just want you informed.

I am not sure about your doc saying "muscle will grow back" Maybe you can strengthen and build your existing muscle but growing, hum (like bionic or something)never heard of that.  I have seen my friends motorcycle accident legs. He has muscle missing  due to injury and there is no way that will ever fill up again. Its been years.

Please educate me if I am incorrect as I am no expert in this field but I am always willing to learn.

Regarding nerve regrowth, I had a student doctor working on me and said, "Don't worry, new evidence says your nerves will start to grow back" and I said "Honey, before my nerves grow back I will be dead, period." He was speechless. It has been years since that comment and yes I have a bit of feeling back in places but it's not your normal feeling, It's more like after a few minutes of hitting your funny bone, feeling when I touch it. Not nice at all. Eeeks these docs will drive you crazy!

Joanna - If you had any nodes removed, then you are at risk for lymphedema (LE), despite what your surgeon said.  Surgeons unfortunately are not generally knowledgeable about LE and will often give patients little to no education about LE and risk prevention measures - instead the patient is often given an "all clear" for physical activity with no guidance. 

My surgeon also did not put any restrictions on weight lifting once I healed, so I incorporated it into my exercise program.  I was eager to build back lost muscle, so I increased weights and reps rapidly.  Now I have arm and truncal LE and will have it the rest of my life.  Thankfully, once I was under the care of a certified lymphedema therapist, she designed a safe weight lifting program for me.  I started with light weights and limited reps, and have increased them only very slowly over the years.  So you can lift weights, but you need to start out small and increase slowly and carefully, being alert to any signs of LE - a heavy feeling in the arm, tingling feeling in the arm, swelling of any part of the arm, hand, or fingers, or any other feeling that doesn't seem quite right.  As others have said, I encourage you to check out the LE section of BCO and the www.stepup-speakout.org. website.

I found out I had LE when I started googling my symptoms - cording, a heavy feeling in the arm, and swelling/redness in the elbow.  I had the cording and swelling/redness shortly after surgery, but my concerns were dismissed as normal healing.  I realize now that they were not.  The heavy feeling and additional swelling came once I was cleared for exercise after my BMX.  Again, my concerns were dismissed, and I didn't get proper care for several months.  Finally I pushed hard for a scrip for an LE evaluation and was dx with early stage LE.  Fortunately I happened to get a fabulous certified lymphedema therapist who got the swelling under control and taught me LE management techniques.  She then started me on a weight training program to build up arm strength safely.  She had me start with one pound weights and very low reps.  I felt like an idiot as I'd been routinely using 12 pound hand weights prior to b/c, but by that time I knew enough about LE to know that I did not want to progress to the later stages.  So I went along with it and gradually built up my strength. So yes, you can lift weights, but it must be done slowly and carefully, preferably under the guidance of a CLT. 

Quite honestly, I've never heard of shaking and tapping the arm as an LE prevention measure.  Manual Lymph Drainage is part of LE maintenance, but stroking done as part of MLD must be done only after an initial clearing of the remaining nodes, and the stroking must be done in a precise way in a precise order to move the accumulated fluid away from the affected areas towards the lymph nodes.  But since there is some evidence that there is a genetic component to LE risk, the fact that your mom doesn't have LE after all these years is good news. 

With 7 nodes removed, you may skip the push ups or weightlifting for now, and ask your surgeon for a scrip for an evaluation by a certified LE therapist just to make sure. The therapist will evaluate for LE and your risk of it, and can help you design an exercise program to safely bring back your strength and build some muscle. LE is incurable once you get it, so an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Ditto to everything Natsfan said. I too have a wonderful LE therapist who nipped my LE in the bud. I have been working out in the gym for a good 6 months now, but as Natsfan describes, slowly and steadily and with tiny weights. All the same, I am much stronger now than I was 6 months (or 12 months) ago.