Why is it, that after a woman has had breast cancer, the arm on that side can not be used to draw blood, or an?
Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at
12:33 am
Moonbeam – butterfly asked:
IV , or have their blood pressure checked ?
IV , or have their blood pressure checked ?
* Say the cancer was in the right breast, so now only the left arm can be used for the above mentioned.
Tagged with: Blood Pressure • Breast Cancer • Left Arm
Filed under: Breast Cancer
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Women that have breast cancer often have lymph nodes removed as part of their treatment. So basically it is a side effect of the lymph node’s removal…
Anyways they avoid taking IV’s and blood pressure in the arm where the lymph nodes were removed because doing such could cause lymphoedema. Lymphoedema can come from irritation to the arm, heavy lifting, pressure, IV ******… stuff like that and basically their arm BALLOONS up and can remain swollen permanantly. You can see why you might want to avoid that!
it can cause a condition called lymphodaemia the arm can fill with fluid and swell , especially if the lymph glands have been removed, dont worry though the phlebotomist who takes your moms blood will know this and will be able to get a blood sample from the other arm, or the back of the hand, if your mom s arm or hand gets too sore to keep using a blood sample can be taken from the thumb, as only a small ammount is needed to check the full blood count prior to any chemotherapy,it is best not to have any pressure applied to the arm on the same side as any breast problems. as it is easier to prevent lymphodaemia than cure it
Most of what you have been told is poppycock. In the earlier days of breast surgery, the treatment was only a radical mastectomy which included the breast, muscles and axillary fat and lymphnodes. In those patients because of the radical nature of the disease, lymphedema and angiosarcoma were true realities. Now that the majority of breast surgeries invole only a lumpectomy with maybe lympn node sampling, followed by radiation, only rarely does lymphedema become a problem. This has really just become a carry over wihout any good reason. Sort of like not swimming while menstruating.