Exercise After Breast Cancer

PHILADELPHIA (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- This year, more than 212,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States ... But the good news is there are more than 2 million breast cancer survivors. The not-so-good news is that many will have late side effects of their treatment, including a condition called lymphedema.

Bonnie Grant is a survivor. "I was 44 at the time of diagnosis. I said, 'Oh, I don't have breast cancer, do I?' and he said, 'Yeah, you absolutely do.

Honestly, at first there was a vanity thing going through my head," she says. "Does this mean I have to lose my breast? Does this mean I have to lose my hair?" Her worst fears were confirmed. She had 10 rounds of chemo, a radical mastectomy, reconstructive surgery, 30 radiation treatments and 18 lymph nodes removed. Almost a year to the day of diagnosis, her treatment was complete.

Five years later, Grant is still fighting. Now, it's to stave off a condition called lymphedema.

"Lymphedema is one of the most common late effects of breast cancer treatment," says Kathryn Schmitz, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Removing lymph nodes can cause this swelling condition. To prevent it, survivors are told not to lift more than 15 pounds ... Ever. Now, Schmitz is challenging that. "I cannot imagine it being acceptable for a doctor to tell a woman that she cannot use her arm fully for the rest of her life," Schmitz tells Ivanhoe.

In her study of 86 women, Schmitz found lifting weights left survivors stronger, more fit, and not more at risk for lymphedema. "They felt like they had their bodies back, like they were really capable again," she says.

Grant says the weightlifting has given her physical and mental strength. "I exercise every day," she says. "I live with a 78-percent chance, I think they pegged me at for recurrence; I don't even think about it." Her message to women like her? Keep fighting.

Schmitz is now in the next phase of her research with a $2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute.