The Importance of Physical Therapy for Breast Cancer Patients
CADILLAC -- It is the 4th of the month and time to call your buddy as a reminder to do a self breast exam. It's also time for this month's Buddy Check Report.
In our series we talk about a variety of treatments, from radiation to chemotherapy, but there is another therapy that plays an important role in recovery: physical therapy.
Breast cancer patients work with radiologists and surgeons to battle the disease, but recovering afterward can require help from a different kind of specialist.
Occupational Therapist Ilia Arnold says, "How high can they reach? Can they do their hair? Can they put their bra on again? Can they shower and get the armpit on the other side. That's our job to ask them what are you limited in, what functionally can't you do that you could do before."
Lumpectomies and mastectomies can create scar tissue and can lead to limb swelling lymphedema, which can greatly limit a person's ability to move.
Arnold says, "Unfortunately this is something some women have to live with for the rest of their lives and take care of for the rest of their lives, but the severity may not be there."
There is help though; doctors can refer patients to an occupational therapist three times a week. The visits include physically increasing mobility, but also teaching patients things they can do everyday to get moving.
Arnold says, "It's fun, you give them information and they really take it like a gift and you know they are going to use it because they're going to do what it takes to keep going to keep functioning to keep doing the things they couldn't do."
While Arnold says she helps learn how to deal with their outside challenges, it's the patients who often inspire her on the inside. She says, "It's awesome, first of all, their spirit is fabulous. They're go-getters; they want to do what it takes. They're not going to let anything get them down."
Arnold says there are some things you can do after breast cancer treatment to reduce the risk of stiffness and swelling: wear a compression sleeve when you travel, don't get your blood pressure taken on that arm, or donate blood from that arm, wear sunscreen, and limit weightlifting. But the single most important thing you can do is to keep moving that arm.
