Breast lymphedema after excisional biopsy

Deedee, I'm minutes from heading off on a camping trip, so no time to write a long post. The documents Binney linked to will tell you what you need to know about lifting precautions. One thing that strikes me from your post, however, is that your issue is in the breast area, and our document talks about arm precautions, mostly.  I'd say that the precautions are still good ones for you, but add that if it were me, I'd be wearing a compression shirt along with a sleeve and gauntlet when lifting.  An UnderArmour or similar; we find that men's short-sleeve versions work better than womens shirts because they cut the womens sleeves too high up and they cut into our armpits. Try for a size that's incredibly snug but doesn't cut off circulation; lots of trial and error there!  The goal is to compress your problem area to minimize the opportunity for fluid to pool while you're lifting and afterward.  

Lifting weight is a very very good long-term LE strategy, because you can minimize the lymphatic response to the stress of hefting unaccustomed weight, by building strength so that lifting stuff is not unaccustomed.  Unfortunately, weight training does push our muscles to the limit, by design, and that in itself can provoke problems. So, the idea is to go slowly but surely, adding weights in tiny increments, not increasing reps the same time you increase weight, etc.  

Good luck with it!

Carol