New Sports Bra Study: how it affects your running/breathing

If you are a running nerd like me, you may have seen this recent post:

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The verdict is that sports bra under-bands can have an affect on your breathing and therefor your running economy. For myself, I don’t have large breasts, so my sports bra’s aren’t terribly restrictive, however, I do notice that I have favorite bras I wear for races…..and after reading this it clicked. The ones I like, often have more compression from the front around my breasts, and less around the band that encircles my ribcage.

I just bought a bra from SHEFIT that is adjustable on my shoulders as well as the band around my chest. I originally bought it because it opens in the front, for ease after a lump removal, but now It has me thinking I should test it out when I get back to running.

Do you have bras that adjust around the chest band that you love? Let me know!

Surgery and Recovery

As I opted to have my radial scar removed via incision, this is my surgery and recovery story.

Tuesday Feb 13 I went to have a tiny radioactive pin inserted into the tissue that would be removed. This was a lot like the core needle biopsy I had a few weeks ago. Last time I felt the entire process, this time the surgeon explained that some people don’t respond to the lidocaine and she gave me something different. The nurse assistant put me into the mammogram machine, as they took some pictures to find just the right spot to insert the marker. This time the marker was inserted, I felt nothing as I looked down to see a rather large needle sticking sideways out of my chest. As we chatted, the nurse shared that she was just getting into running. Her first half marathon was coming up in a few months. She shared that running outside at night still scared her, so for Christmas her partner had bought her a treadmill, so much of her running has been on a treadmill at night after work. I told her it’s quite normal to feel that way and if running on a TM made her feel safe, that was what she should do.

It’s right on my chart that I run, along with my very low blood pressure and the fact (knock on wood) that I am in my mid 40s and not on any medications. The nurse who took my vitals for surgery the next morning laughed and called me a unicorn, which made me wonder….just how many of my peers are on regular medications to control chronic medical issues. It also made me thankful for the ability to run and the good health it has brought me.

On Valentine’s Day we checked into the Duke surgery center and I was immediately taken to the OR prep room. I would be given a similar sedative to what people get when they have colonoscopies, a medication intravenously. The wait both seemed way too long and much too short. The last thing I remember was entering the OR and hearing music, the all female team saying hello, confirming I was having surgery on my left breast….and then I woke up in recovery with a man asking me about minimalist running shoes. A funny way to come-to, he was looking at my records and started asking my thoughts on minimalist shoes and getting back to running after a long hiatus (at that moment I wished I had a coaching business card or something) A good sign that much of the staff at Duke stays healthy by running. I did meet more triathletes and runners at all of my pre-op appointments than I usually do just around town. Recently a study came out about the differences of health benefits between female and male runners. It was interesting as women need to run less than men for the same, if not more health benefits.

The first night post-op was pretty sore, I fell asleep almost immediately, but woke up with swelling pushing on the incision from midnight until about 4 am.

A friend recommended SHEFIT bras for the compression, and because they come on and off like a jacket, rather than over my head like usual sports bras. Thank goodness for the recommendation because I never would have been able to get on and off my sports bras that I am used to putting on over my head. If you are reading this with any type of shoulder or breast surgery coming up…I can’t say enough good things about those bras. The back and straps both adjust, they are made of a soft, yet firm material. My chest felt supported and compressed and whenever I needed to take it off and on for bathing it was really easy.

The first several days I was pretty tired, I napped often around 2 pm. My post-op plan was to rotate Tylenol and advil. I found that the advil really helped with the swelling, the Tylenol mostly just helped me get to the next dose of Advil.

Today is day 7 in my recovery. I walked 2 miles with friends on Sunday, 2 miles on Monday with a little strength work, and 1 mile with the dogs on Tuesday. Today I decided to try an easy jog on the treadmill. Much like my nurse, running outside makes me a bit nervous, so I hopped on the treadmill in the garage, knowing I could easily hop off at any moment. I opted to run uphill, as impact is a bit less when you run up a hill, so I ran-walked 3.75 miles with 2000 ft of vertical elevation. Mostly I just felt out of shape, and a little itchy from the scar pulling.

Speaking of the scar, for a 1 inch piece of tissue removal, I was surprised at the size of the incision. It’s also very clearly in the shape of a lower case “b.” B as in Bell? Or maybe as in Brave, though really none of this is brave, just something many of us do because the alternative is not great either.

Meeting with a Breast surgeon

I officially dropped out of my March 50 miler, and am contemplating taking my name off of the Hardrock 100 waitlist. With December spent healing from failed root canal, and January getting needled in my lymph node and beast, I have been less than interested in long runs. Not to mention more tired and sore than usual. I am not upset about it all, I think I have accepted that this winter I will spend more time on the couch, catching up with some good books than I will on the trails. 

February is shaping up to be more of the same. I met with a surgeon at the Duke Cancer Center this week to discuss the biopsy findings. The conversation was very helpful. A study looking at radial scars and FLA reported a 2-30% cancer risk…thats a huge range! The surgeon explained that my situation is more like 5%, but possibly higher because I have some other risk factors. 

She was open and honest said there were two really good options. Option one is to have more extensive mammograms every 6 months for the next few years, and maybe more biopsies since I have such dense breast tissue thats really hard to see anything in, or I can have the tissue removed and just be done with it. 

On the one hand, the more conservative approach seems kind of nice, (no one wants surgery!) but on the other, if I have learned anything about my past medical issues….its best for me to nip things in the bud. Rather than every 6 months be right back here having breast pain for several weeks after biopsies, and not getting to do things I love, like be outside and walk the dogs, run and lift I am opting to have surgery to remove the tissue. I don’t want to spend the next few years getting re-poked if I don’t have to.

First I will have a small radioactive “seed” placed at the location, similar to the core needle biopsy I just had. It will help guide the surgeon to the area that needs to be removed and it will come out, along with the little metal clip that was placed to show the location of radial scar. Then I will have an excision biopsy (small surgery) to remove the tissue. 

I was told this should hurt less than the two biopsies I just had, but time will tell. I will report back.

In the meantime I have been exploring some different types of movement and body awareness classes that don’t require much muscle activation. One in particular I like is a Feldenkreis class at Balanced Movement. It’s learning about how to make smaller refined movements in the body that bring awareness back to movements we may have lost as we age, sit, or engage in repetitive movements ( like running). We have had a lot of focus on the hips, pelvis, ribcage and diaphragm. I have noticed more ease of moment and a bit more relaxation of my diaphragm, which has translated a bit to my nervous system being a bit more relaxed as well as down my legs to my hips and ankles.

What a crazy life, last year I was gearing up for one of North America’s toughest races, Hardrock 100, this year; well not so much. I’m gearing up for some time on the couch with some good book recommendations from friends.