Preparing for surgery - what should I do?

[Anniej]

Hi Nat, Lymphodema can happen after LN are removed . The fluid has to find a different way around the body. I would have thought that the diagnosis of no LN involvement could only be done after results from a biopsy, but perhaps your consultant has info from your US and so is confident.Getting fit for surgery is a good idea , although a WLE, which I had, is pretty easy pain wise. I had full LN excision, which is a different ball game, so did my arm exercises religiously. You aren't having that, so I assume will not need to do arm exercises. Being overweight, as I have discovered, is not good with BC. The more body mass there is the more oestrogen there is, and as your tumour is ER+ve then you may want to look at your diet . Letrozole stops the body producing oestrogen so you could help it along a bit. Diet is quite a contentious issue, and is a matter of personal choice. I would say have a good, healthy rainbow diet to help the healing process and combat fatigue. Once you start rads you can't lose or put on weight as that would alter the measurements. Exercise has been shown to be very beneficial in combating cancers. There are leaflets on this site about all these issues and they are in pdf format. Forgot to welcome you to this very special club! Sending a bunch of flowers your way. 💐

[riversidedawn]

I understand that you are only at risk of lymphodema if you have your lymph nodes removed. If yours hasn't spread to the nodes you should be ok.

Keep on with your training and work on flexibility in the arm and shoulder. I was a fit gym bunny before my diagnosis 3 years ago and added yoga to my routine which really helped post surgery.

[Ms Merton]

Is it lymphoedema you're worried about?  Your risk of getting it with SNB is extremely low indeed unless you are over-weight, much more over-weight than you are! Main risk factor for developing it is getting an infection in the arm.  Exercise and staying a healthy weight have been shown to reduce your risk of developing lymphoedema.  However, don't do repetitive training with weights after surgery without consulting your surgeon and BCN or Physiotherapist. Hope you can have the lumpectomy as that is a relatively simple op with not much down time afterwards. Xx

[Nat223]

I was diagnosed with breast cancer (ER+, HER-, grade 2, no lymph involvement) about 6 weeks ago. I've been put on Zoladex and Letrozole to try and shrink the tumour before surgery. I had an Oncotype dx test which said chemo wouldn't be helpful.  It's likely to be xmas before I have surgery - if the tumour shrinks it will be a lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy with radiotherapy . I'm 46 and pretty fit - and wondering what I should do to prepare for surgery. I've seen lots on what to do after surgery - but little on preparing. I want to do all I can to reduce the risk of lymphoma. So - would doing more arm strengthening with weights before surgery help? What about weight reduction? (I'm at the upper end of 'average weight'/ teetering on 'overweight' on BMI scales). I've got 3-4 months to prepare so want to do all I can.... thank you!