Careful weight lifting may not worsen and may improve LE

Thanks, Tessu,

This was a study published in 2009. The media coverage of it inaccurately implied that full-on exercise (specifically weigh lifting) was just fine post-breast cancer treatment. As a result, many doctors and nurses across the country began recommending weight lifting to their patients without restrictions, and even tossed out other risk-reduction practices (like avoiding at-risk arms for blood draws and injections). All in all, it gave those of us with LE a hard time as we sought to exercise wisely and at the same time protect ourselves in our interactions with the healthcare community. (Okay, that last statement is very carefully worded and sounds pretty calm--the resulting furor was NOT calm, and a lot of damage was done to a lot of unsuspecting women. Sigh!)

Many of us pressured the National Lymphedema Network to better articulate the position for the medical community, and StepUp-SpeakOut asked Dr. Schmitz, the lead researcher, to answer our questions as they related to patient care. Her answers are here:

http://www.stepup-speakout.org/Weightlifting%20and...

There is also a website that offers excellent guidance for patients on exercise post-breast cancer here:

http://www.stepup-speakout.org/Handout%20doc%20for...

If you're working with a trainer or an exercise program such as Pilates or yoga, there's a printable article especially for trainers here:

http://www.stepup-speakout.org/Trainer%20doc%20for...

All in all, Katy Schmitz has since become an advocate for CAREFUL use of her studies, and has worked at promoting the reality that weight-lifting is to be started with great care and s-l-o-w-l-y, and that it is not for everyone, since we all respond differently to LE.

Whew! Hope some of that helps.

Onward (carefully)!
Binney

Hugz, you're an amazing inspiration!

And yes, the PAL program is the one Katy Schmitz developed for this study. It can be difficult to find a PAL-savvy trainer, so we need to be our own advocates on the exercise front.

I have bilateral LE and find weight lifting works fine for my left arm, but not for my right. So in order to avoid unbalanced strength training I use other exercises that I can do with both arms. Like everything else about LE, it's a lot of trial and error to find workable solutions for each of us. Which is one reason why Hugz is so important to all of us here--she's our one-on-one cheering section and exercise encourager.

Love it!
Binney