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The result can be a buildup of fluid in your arm and hand , causing swelling (lymphedema).
CNN: Mastectomy: Surgery to treat or prevent breast cancer
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Strauss currently wears a compression sleeve and glove, gives herself light-touch massages, and does non-weight-bearing exercises to treat her lymphedema.
CNN: Weight lifting benefits breast cancer survivors
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But the new study results have convinced her to talk to her lymphedema specialist about adding light weights to the mix.
CNN: Weight lifting benefits breast cancer survivors
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Lymphedema is more common after surgeries that remove most or all of the lymph nodes in the under arm area because there are few if any lymphatic drains left intact after such surgeries, she says.
CNN: Weight lifting benefits breast cancer survivors
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Karen Strauss, a 50-year-old breast cancer survivor who developed lymphedema four months ago, is excited about the findings because she may be able to return to some of the exercises she did before developing breast cancer.
CNN: Weight lifting benefits breast cancer survivors
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"For women who already have lymphedema, this is good news because we have not known how to get them back to moving and grooving again, " said Weiss, who is the director of breast radiation oncology and breast health outreach at Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.
CNN: Weight lifting benefits breast cancer survivors
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Dr. Marisa Weiss, the president and founder of the advocacy group Breastcancer.org, and the author of the forthcoming new edition of "Living Well Beyond Breast Cancer, " said the new study is good news for two groups of women -- those who have lymphedema and those at risk of developing it.
CNN: Weight lifting benefits breast cancer survivors
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"If regular weight lifting with a sleeve in a supervised setting is OK for women with lymphedema, then it is reasonable for women with breast cancer treatment who are at risk of developing lymphedema to go back to some of the things they enjoyed in the past, " she said.
CNN: Weight lifting benefits breast cancer survivors