Concept2 Forum

Hi Ladies, I am returning to this forum after an extended absence. I am wondering if there are any breast cancer survivors out there? I am not finding much when I do a search to find any threads. I am looking for information/discussions about the benefits/risks of erging/rowing and lymphedema. I have gotten conflicting information......would love to start a new thread, unless there is one out there that I can't find?
Thanks!
Martha

I know it's been a while since Martha posted, but I wanted to put up an answer in case she or anyone else reads this and is looking for answers.

I am rowing with a history of breast cancer and a double mastectomy without reconstruction. As Martha said, there is a lot of conflicting info out there. I don't believe we really know what is causing lymphedema or who is likely to get it.

I started REALLY REALLY slowly. I started rowing 500 meters a day and then upped that slowly. It was mildly painful at first. I stretched my arm a lot after rowing by lunging forward with my arm high on a doorway to help stretch across the chest. I'm sure you know the stretch - it helps. I also use heat sometimes after a workout. At first when I rowed, the muscles across my chest and around my armpit would spasm badly. But that settled down a lot. I still can't do really powerful rows. I try to improve on my 500m time but my chest muscles (pecs I guess) just won't take that. So I stick to longer, slower rows without pain.

At this point, I'm doing about 3K a day and I'm still increasing that. I'm rowing about 10 minutes at a time, and slowly increasing that too. I am going insanely slow building up endurance and time on the rower, but I only feel mild discomfort these days when I row. Overall, the pain in my arm and chest have greatly diminished so I think the rowing has had very positive benefits. I have never had any problem with lymphedema. I check my arm frequently and make sure I don't see any swelling starting.

I believe most BC survivors will be able to row if they are cautious. You should know that supposedly one of the risk factors for lymphedema is repetitive movement of the arm. Rowing certainly falls into that category. You are at higher risk of lympehedema probably if you just had surgery or if you had a large number of nodes removed. I would not consider rowing at all until a few months out from surgery.

I will never win a speed race, but I'm doing pretty good distance-wise. The sustained exercise is what really counts. It will no doubt help me keep a recurrence at bay. The improvement in my fitness has been amazing. And one of these days I'll get that 1 million meter T-shirt.

Row on, sistahs! Row for life!