Please post your experience with arm swelling and/or pain with/after airplane flights

[Lani]

I would like to start a thread inquiring whose lymphedema, whether manifested by swelling or pain, or both began with or was worsened by airplane flight and whether utilizing a sleeve prevented further swelling on subsequent flights and/or improved the pain.

It would help if you let us know whether you had sentinel node biopsy or axillary dissection (and how many nodes were removed, if you know), whether you had any post-op complications from the lymph node biopsy (infection, seroma,etc) whether you had radiation therapy (type, length, # of rads) and when your swelling and/or pain in your arm developed and what you have done for it.

Did you hear about a sleeve from your surgeon, your oncologist or your physical therapist (or here!) and what other lymphedema therapy you have had (manual drainage, bandaging (by PT, self), pump device, hyperbaric oxygen, etc), also whether you consider yourself a string bean, or "well-upholstered"

Let's hope we can collect enough info to forward on to the researcher whose lecture I attended (she herself, a PhD, not an MD) was a breast cancer survivor (twice) and lymphedema sufferer)

Thanks for contributing!