Kicking LEs butt!! Exercise & Self Care Log
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also, GMA, don't know if it is of any value, but I've been told to avoid exercise of any type early in the morning, as the swelling is more likely to be more acute right after waking up and it doesn't help.
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Lia, my trainer started me with one pound free weights measured me first and then again the following week to check if any change.
He was or is working on his PHD in athletic training, specialty of cancer survivors and works with the local cancer institute so I did trust him, it seems to have worked. I now do higher weights but still keep them lo and pull back if I get any achies in arm
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thanks proudtospin! actually I had not thought of that; I'll try to check directly at the universities in the city to see if they have any such specialty in athletic training or thesis proposal etc. I'll email them! :-)
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Lia, I am not sure where you live but I could give you my trainers e mail and he might be able to refer you to someone. The little guy is getting quite well known now in NJ and he has picked my poor brain for a couple of his thesis at times!
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thanks so much proudtospin :-) but I live in Chile (Santiago), so I don't think it very likely he'll have many connections here :-)
today I tried for the very first time a diving suit (to brave the cold chilean waters...) and these things are A PAIN to put on!!! hahahaha my hubby had to give me a hand and only afterwards told me that I could have used talk powder. Which was provided in the dressing room... it was a workout on its own to put it own, but it looks great, I got it and this Friday off I go to the sea for the remainders of summer :-) I so hope my sleeve arrives this week!
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sorry, should have realized from your postings that you were out of the US
apparently in the US the major of athletic training or physical therapy is becoming more popular, we all seem to be aging at least here!
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carol, How is your knee doing?
Lia, Please let us know how you are doing with the sea experience. Water is excellent for LE as it acts like you are wearing compression. Do keep in touch with us.
Walked a brisk 45 minutes today and strectchs as usual.
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Hugz, thanks for asking! The knee is making me crazy. A week after it swelled, there was no improvement and more of the leg started swelling--my thigh and one side of my calf. I was wearing a knee compression thing-y, but still the swelling wasn't budging. I have little discomfort-just the occasional twinge--so last Saturday I went to a walk-in clinic, because I began worrying that perhaps I hadn't injured my knee but had a DVT that was causing the swelling and minor discomfort. I had flown all day from California the day before all this started, so it's not a crazy idea. But testing ruled out a DVT, and now another week has nearly gone by and I'm still swollen. I've only been home on weekends recently so not a lot of time to seek help, but work lets up after tomorrow so I'll work on getting some answers. Meanwhile, I needed compression for my whole leg and ordered an inexpensive Allegro leg garment from Brightlife, which will be waiting for me when I arrive home tomorrow. To help before I get home, I bought a pair of too-small runner's tights--like Spanx on steroids! These have a lot of spandex in them and I can wear them under pants when I work. They seem to have done the trick, at least partially, because after three days in the tights, the swelling is pretty much back to just the knee now.
The physician I met with on Saturday who checked for a DVT said I shouldn't rule out lymphedema migrating into my leg.
But I simply cannot go there.
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Carol, That is just to weird. I have a sneaky feeling that it is related to the chair exercise though. Oh... it must be driving you nuts to know what it is. Have you discontinued walking for a couple days to see what happens? I know that NOT WALKING would be like a swear word to you.
You were so smart to pop on the tight runners pants, I would have not thought of that but will now.
Today I walked my butt off!....ummm....Just a minute.....Let me check something.......Nope my butt is still there.
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I've had two days of no walking and no change in the knee, but I need to be patient. Good for you to get so much walking in yourself, Hugz.
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Quite pleased with my walking efforts. This a.m. did my best ever. My (approx) 2 mile in 33mins! That's fair motoring for me and the weather is sweltering right now, though I did that early. Oh yeah, did 5 mins warmdown on Deadmill. (Shouldn't call it that I suppose, but I'll be still looking at it sideways at it for a while yet) . Did well with my pulse rate. 133. Was trying to get it up.
Sorry Carol that knee is still acting up. I hope you havent done anything really detrimental. Hurrying up to be patient, is easier said than done.
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Oh Carol....I agree....just don't go there. That's too much. It's just a swollen knee....it will be better in no time, right?!!!!!
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well it's been 5 years since my DMX surgery and I have been traveling a lot on planes with no problems.But this week I am leaving for Asia and the first flight is 15 hours.a friend of mine who already has had LE recommended I wear a sleeve during these flights.I have read other info which says not to if I have not had it yet.I am having trouble deciding what to do.
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so I was exercising yesterday with my sleeve and gauntlet ( which I believe are a too tight fit). All I did was trampoline, PT stretches, and 1 LB weight exercises by PT. Arm felt fine after but looked puffy at the very upper arm area, or at least I think it did. I can't get a hold of my therapist unt Monday and can't see her for 2 weeks. I asked her very forwardly what I'm supposed to do if I notice swelling. She basically said if you swell without the sleeve after an activity then next time wear the sleeve. But it was HER activities and possibly a too tight sleeve that caused it. Am I supposed to continue the exercises? Scared! Do I do the stretches ? The simple bending wrists, head tilts, bending at the elbow type stretches? I really don't want to put the sleeve on until someone looks at it. Should I do stretches without sleeve or do nothing other than hydrate and elevate until I talk to her? I know exercise is helpful but is it helpful if you might be puffy? I really can't tell for sure especially since I'm in no arm pain or discomfit. Thanks!!!! I have a million questions today lol
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Hello ladies, newbie here so forgive me if I ask questions previously asked!
Lymphedema just crept up on me and has now landed in one leg. The last two days it looks like it may be moving into the other leg. I've been really discouraged and depressed about this. I'm all by myself so if I lose the use of my legs I'm toast.
I do the exercises faithfully that the LPT has given me and wrap the leg the way I'm supposed to. So many of you are doing heavy duty exercises. Did you start where I'm at and build up to where you are now? It's amazing that in about 6-weeks time I'm barely able to walk when I was able to take the stairs two at a time! Is there hope for me to also build up to where you are now? Need some encouragement!
Sue
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Milehighgirl, for some incredible inspiration, take a look at this information about Deborah Cordner Carson, who is an elite, internationally ranked cross-fit athlete who has lymphedema of the leg:
http://www.lymphnet.org/resources/deborah-cordner-...
Deborah is amazing, and I heard her keynote address at a National Lymphedema Network conference in 2012. If you poke around on google, you can find a video or two of her talking about her LE.
So, now that you have a goal to shoot for (well, cross fit competition may not be your goal!), it's important to learn about precautions for weightlifting, resistance training, cardio and other get-stronger-by-pushing-yourself exercise. Even yoga, which is demonstrated to have wonderful benefits for dealing with LE, often includes elements that push the limits of what we should do when we're returning to exercise and especially when the LE is not yet stable.
You can learn a lot about exercise with LE here: http://stepup-speakout.org/Handout%20doc%20for%20...
And when you start exercising again, if you take a class or work with a trainer, here's another version of the document that is meant to be given to trainers, teachers, instructors, etc: http://stepup-speakout.org/Trainer%20doc%20for%20...
You might share these documents with your LE therapist, who should be the one to guide you to the point of stability of your LE. There's been some great research to show that exercise is good for us, including weight lifting, and you'll read about those studies in the documents I linked to. But all the research studies required the participants to be stable in their LE--not that swelling was gone, but that there'd been a good period with little to no change, no serious flares, etc. before starting the exercise.
Take heart--lots of us work out pretty hard, and we've had competitive athletes in our forum, too. We also have some wonderful women whose LE just doesn't want to cooperate, and they exercise carefully and cautiously. So there's no guarantee you'll be the athlete you once were. But I prefer to look at it glass-half-full and say that there are many reasons to believe you can safely pursue your goals, so long as you're smart about it. Get educated --the documents above will get you started--and make it clear to your therapist that a return to physical strength is a priority for you.
And do post here! We all dump our frustrations when exercise bites us (I'm currently furious about a tiny knee injury that blew up my leg, arghh!). And we celebrate our steps, miles, races...whether a half mile or a half marathon.
Welcome! I'm glad you posted your question.
Carol
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Thank you Carol. I'll go through the links when I get home from work tomorrow. Hoping this is short lived! Sue
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Just a note to remind myself to step it up a bit. Been a bit lazy and need to kick butt even more than what I have been doing.
All the rest. Hang in there and keep breathing and moving.
milehighgirl. You aren't so alone with us to encourage you. That is why these threads are so great. Bring it on and pour out your soul. We are good listeners.
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Well frustrations has hit. I have always been in the mild stage of LE, torso being the worst with the upper arms the next.. Now the hands seem to be swollen. I seem to swell with any activity.. guess I'm in the catch 22 situation and don't know what to do. The LE therapist reminds me not to beat myself (blame) over the things I do.. Life happens... I need to move fluid, but if I even gently walk, 2 minutes of Lebed, or cook dinner etc - I swell. What am I to do?? any ideas? I have a computer job - I need my hands. Encouragement please..
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Gma, You are certainly in a bind. Worse off.... you want to exercise and can't. I won't help you much either by telling you I just did my walk but I want you to know I hear you and really hope our experts chime in.
Make sure you are wearing your shaper cami if you can. Try my tai chi breathers that my LEist reccommended. You deep breath and move your arms slowly for a few breaths. Very easy and shouldn't hurt you. I have them posted on this thread and I think I made a thread called tai chi breather. I will see if I can bump it up. It moves your fluid , maybe that will help without swelling your arms.
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I think the tai chi breather is a good idea for gmafoley to try, too! Brilliant suggestion, hugz!
I'm taking it easy this week as I continue to seek answers on why my leg is swelling after the infamous one-legged exercise, which I now know is officially called a one-legged squat. I saw a doctor yesterday, and she believes it's caused by a Baker cyst behind the knee, and possibly the squat move was the final straw that caused the cyst to trigger swelling. I'll have an ultrasound early in the week to find out for sure, but in the meantime I'm wearing a compression stocking and simply pouting a lot for my therapy. What I really want to hear is that this is NOT lymphedema. There's hope for that!
I did work the upper body in the gym yesterday, but I've backed off my walking and cardio, and I'l not going to work on legs until I get green light to do so as part of some kind of rehab program. Sigh, sigh, sigh.
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Carol, Well... then my tai chi breathers are in order for you to. I have bumped them up on the threads. My mom has the Bakers cyst for a few years now. At her age her doc doesn't want to fool with it as he figures it will just come back. Yes she is swollen at the knee and is already fairly crippled so cyst makes it worse for her to walk. You no doubt will get yours drained or whatever they do, because you are still a spring chicken.
My mom is ancient, almost as old as a sequoia tree.
That would be a excellent thing to have instead of LE because it is just not as nasty as LE. So in this case I hope it is a cyst if I am going to hope for anything. Funny how we are practically willing to have any other disease but LE. You might be able to try a weighted hoola hoop for a great cardio if you really get the hips moving. You shouldn't be putting much pressure on your knees as it is all in the hips. You can get a weighted hoop for 25 bucks or so.
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hugz, I'll have to stand in a mirror and see if I can swing my hips without using my knees much! Sounds like a Cirque de Soleil trick!
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Yah but I have no cirquie de soleil body! I just tried it now and if you concentrate on your hips you might be Ok. If you don't concentrate then my knees moved a bit. I did notice that I put pressure on each leg slightly as I hooped but really didn't use my knees. I got the hips going mostly. You can get the ones that collapse for travel. Mine does. It is Danskin but reebok makes them too I believe.
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gmafoley, all of you are way ahead of me on the LE. I'm going to pray that an answer comes fast for you. My left leg went down a hair this morning but I noticed that my right foot had some swelling that wasn't there before. Grrrrr. I think I'll set the alarm for early tomorrow morning and do some easy exercises. Sleep well all. Sue
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Oh so sorry girls, I have a stinkin cold that has kept me down a few days so I couldn't motivate myself or anyone for that matter. However I do see light at the end of the tunnel and look forward to my walks..........HOW ABOUT YOU! Come on let's move and kick LE in the butt.
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ooohh, sorry for the dang cold, chase that thing out of your world!
me had lovely time in the pool this AM and did upper body strength stuff, feeling fine tonight as the weather geeks say we are going up into the 50s this weekend!
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3.5Ks x 2 on Dreadmill yesterday and day before. Burned 200Cal each time. THis a.m. weather nicer, so roadtime = usual 2 mile.
Hope you ditch your cold very soon Hugz.
Carol, hows that knee coming on?
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Oh, Musical, I'm very frustrated. An ultrasound found a Baker's cyst in the back of the knee and bursitis in the front of the knee. Everything is still quite swollen and it's uncomfortable to bend the knee. Feels like sausage that will burst, although (thankfully) it's only a little ouchy. I just got the report today so am still learning what it means and what to do about it.
I did do 4 miles of speedy walking yesterday and went to the gym to work abs and upper body, and that felt great. The walking predictably aggravated the swelling. Besides swimming using only a flutter kick, I'm still at a loss for how to exercise without stressing my knee. Maybe a rebounder? I've never tried one, so if anyone has experience with it, tell me if it's possible to get the heart rate up using it, and if it seems like a likely way to avoid stressing the knees.
Oh, and the stated cause of the cyst and bursitis is long-term overuse...i.e. age. Ack! I liked it better when I thought I had injured myself--not a sign of age, and something that gets better. These apparently do not. I plan to get a second opinion, just in case there's another cause that does have a surgical or rehab fix.
Musical, I'm glad you're enjoying some road time. Proudtospin, a pool is such a great resource! Hugz, I hope that cold leaves the premises soon!
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Carol, So sorry to hear the knee is being so frustrating for you. Gentle Hugs! Ive heard of bursitis but not sure what it actually is. Are you saying if it is, there is no surgery and it doesn't get better? Oh what a horrid predicament for you. For a girl like you thats extra awful. Lets hope something turns up. Please keep us updated. Youve been such a help to us and now we'll all be hoping for you Im sure.
A rebounder could be an option as it would probably take a lot of jarring out of the knee and I'd imagine it does get the HR up, but Im no doctor. Just thinking of years ago when I tried a rebounder and a trampoline. Only caveat .... if you dont have good balance the potential is there to can off a rebounder. Theres not a lot of room for error like a tramp.
Its amazing you still did 4 mile!
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