#BreastCancerRealityCheck

The hashtag  #BreastCancerRealityCheck is currently used on Twitter to add some reality to the pink ribbon party the breast cancer awareness month October seems to have evolved into.

Awareness what breast cancer may mean for weightlifting:
1. Dealing with continued swelling due to an interrupted lymph system: learning lymph massage, learning kineseo taping, having to wear compression shirts, avoiding upper body strength exercises, or any exercises that lead to increased swelling.  Lymphedema sleeves are not allowed in competitions.
2. One may need to argue about long sleeve compression shirts in competitions. They are allowed according to IWF rules, although not everybody knows this.
3. Getting a Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE), since breast cancer drugs are on the forbidden list in and out of competition.
4. Suffering through side effects of said breast cancer drugs that will lead to inferior performance in weightlifting.
5. Figuring out clothes: women's don't fit after a mastectomy,  and men's can be too wide in the shoulders while being too narrow in the waist.
6. Being grateful for any services that are offered at no cost. Out-of-pocket health care related costs amounted to close to $5000 this year.
7. Of the 221 women registered at the World Masters Weightlifting Championship, 27 (=1 in 8 is the rate reported for US women) are expected to get invasive breast cancer during their lifetime. Little do they know. Bad things happen even with positive thinking, healthy life styles, or low cancer risk.

World Masters Weightlifting Championships 2016

Achieved my hope and focus during the recovery: to compete in the World Masters Weightlifting Championship.
Result: 4th place, lifting a total of 100 kg. This is 10kg less than before the surgery, but it is awesome to be able to do this 5.5 months post mastectomy.
I am so very grateful to be able to be at this event and participate, and be a good example.

Do long flights increase the risk of lymphedema?

Recently I traveled oversees on a 7-8 hour flight. I did not wear a lymphedema sleeve. I don't have one. I do have a long-sleeve compression shirt that I carried with me for weightlifting training. But I did not wear this either. Instead I frequently used lymph massage, just in case. When traveling one has to be careful about things surrounding the flight, rather than air cabin pressure. Namely being careful with carrying too much stuff or lifting heavy luggage, making sure to move, and staying hydrated.

Air travel and lymphedema has been looked at in an observational study for women treated for breast cancer traveling to compete in dragon boat races in Australia. There are many factors, such as wearing lymphedema sleeves, cabin pressure, hauling luggage, medications, and more. The conclusion of the authors was that air travel did not cause significant change in BIA ratio (to check on increase in lymph fluid) in the ‘at-risk’ arm for the majority of breast cancer survivors who participated in dragon boat racing, and that the wearing of a compression garment for women without lymphedema was unlikely to be advantageous or harmful.

Reference: Kilbreath et al. Effect of air travel on lymphedema risk in women with history of breast cancer Breast Cancer res Treat 2010; 120:649-654