Pain Relief from breast cancer surgery. How do you cope?

For women that have always been active one of the hardest things to cope with is not being as strong physically as you were before BC surgery.

On the other hand there are women that have never been very active so they don't always recognize their lack of strength after surgery.

To date, beginning is June 2006, I have had a total of eight surgeries. I am hopefully going to have my final fix-up surgery Dec 17th. This is to replace the partial implant that shifted dramatically on my left side. I still may back out. The thought of another surgery and that lovely JP drain in me again is something that scares me.

So, once I have the okay to start moving and being active again the stretching begin.

There are so many women that end up with frozen shoulder and limited range of motion after BC surgery. The way to avoid this is gentle stretching move, where you use as much range of motion as you can.

Here are some ideas to get you started.

1. Stretch several times daily. It only takes a few minutes at a time.

2. Use good deep breathing. This will help you relax and expand your chest.

3. Pilates basic mat exercise for your upper body use a lot of range of motion.

4. Don't forget to stretch both side and your neck, upper back and shoulders.

5. Use a soft squeeze ball to regain the strength in your hand.

These are only a few ideas.

What did you do to regain your strength after surgery? I would love to hear from you.

Happy Thanksgiving

Breast Cancer and exercise

The thought of exercising when you are already feeling tired and sick can be daunting. So the way to start is a little at a time, even 5 mintues can make a difference.

Many people think that you have to exercise at least 30 minutes to receive the benefits. Not true! It has been proven through repeated studies that any exercise is better than none and that you can breakup exercise throughout the day and still reap the rewards.

Breast Cancer patients and survivors need to keep their bodies moving. Yes, we need our rest but sometimes too much rest and not enough movement can make you even more tired. Think back to times when you were down with a cold or flu. You might have stayed in bed for a day or two, then when you got up the first few times your heart started beating fast from this tiny exertion. This is because you hadn't been moving around.

Studies prove that after only 72 hours the body starts deconditioning. So it is important to move if only a 5 or 10 minutes several times a day.

This doesn't mean you have to go out on a power walk. All you need to do is some range of motion gentle stretching and or some isometric stretching along with good breathing.

Chemothreapy caused me to breath shallowly. So just taking in good slow, (deep as I could) breath was an exercise in itself for me at time. Other times I might be able to go for a walk. Each day is different, so you have to take it one day at a time.

Once you start moving you will feel the benefits which will hopefully keep you focused on taking care of yourself by moving your body.

Check out the videos on www.confidentclothingcompany.com to see some of the simple exercises you can do without the need of a gym.