Cancer treatment is the leading cause of lymphedema (limb swelling) in the United States.
Alpine Physical Therapy's Lymphedema Management Program is helping survivors better manage their risk by providing the gold standard treatment of Complete Decongestive Therapy (CDT).
 
There are two phases of Complete Decongestive Therapy (CDT):
Phase 1: Intensive CDT
Phase 1 CDT focus is moving lymph fluid out of the arm, hand, or other part of the limb to reduce swelling and other symptoms of lymphedema.

1. Manual lymph drainage (MLD): a gentle, directed massage technique used to move the fluid back to the heart.
2. Compression bandaging: the patient is bandaged with non-elastic wraps to further reduce the size of the limb and to prevent the fluid from returning. This wrapping is tailored to meet each patient’s needs.  ​
3. Exercise: exercises are carried out while wearing wraps to encourage the activity of the nearby muscles to move fluid back to the heart.   

Phase 2: Maintenance CDT
Phase 2 CDT focus is maintaining the results of Phase 1 on your own.

1. Compression sleeves and garments: the patient is fitted for compression garments and taught how to care for them properly.
2. Self-care: the patient is taught how to protect the affected limb, how to perform self- MLD, and how to properly use compression garments to reduce their risk of future lymphedema flare-ups.  
3. Exercise: Alpine designs an exercise plan for the patient for at home practice for continued health and well-being.  

If you have any feelings of heaviness in your limbs or swelling in any body part that is not controlled by water pills, follow up with our specialist today.
 
To learn more about CDT we invite you to stop by for a free 15-minute consultation. Antara Quiñones can be reached at Alpine’s North Clinic (406-541-2606) or click here for a full description of Alpine Physical Therapy's Lymphedema Management Program.

We’d like to announce the Oncology Rehab Program at Alpine Physical Therapy. Our team, which includes Josie Sweeney, DPT, Antara Quinones DPT, CLT-LANA, and Jessica Kehoe DPT, want to bring to everyone’s attention that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month.  We will surely all see lots of pink stuff this month in sports and in the news honoring this month, but we really want to remind everyone that the reason for all this media is to encourage early detection. 

Statistics show that nearly 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.  Early detection is the BEST way to beat this disease, and both the 5 year and long term survival rates drastically improve with early detection.

We encourage all women to talk about early detection with their friends and family.  If you are a woman aged 40-49 talk to your doctor about when and how often to begin getting mammograms.  If you have had a close family member with breast or ovarian cancer you are at a slightly greater risk, so no matter your age, be sure to talk to your doctor about your options for early detection.  Join us in vowing to start, or get back to, your early detection plan.

We’d like to share some great resources to help you.

The American Cancer Society (early detection).

The National Breast Cancer Foundation (early detection).

The National Cancer Institute (risk calculator).

The Oncology Rehab Team at Alpine Physical Therapy is now providing Missoula and surrounding communities with the following services:

• Rehabilitation from surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapies
• Certified Lymphedema Therapist
• Certified Cancer Specialist
• Expert swelling prevention, reduction and management
• Compression garment fitting

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For more information, be sure to visit our Oncology Rehabilitation webpage.

“Fit To Fight and UM PT researchers demonstrate the benefits of exercise for quality of life for those fighting cancer. This spring the UM Physical Therapy School led an introductory study on analyzing the outcomes and benefits from an organized exercise program for cancer fighters. The study concluded that ‘Subjects with cancer and cancer survivors demonstrated significant improvement in sit-to-stand and in the number of days that they report feeling healthy’.”

Help The PEAK Health and Wellness Center and Alpine Physical Therapy support this great non-profit by donating to www.FitToFightMT.org today!

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Abstract Proof
CONTROL ID: 2019899
TITLE: ASSESSING OUTCOME MEASURES AND OUTCOMES OF AN EXERCISE PROGRAM FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: A PILOT STUDY.
PRESENTATION TYPE: Poster
CURRENT SECTION: Oncology

Author Details
AUTHORS (LAST NAME, FIRST NAME): Ikeda, Elizabeth R.1; Sweeney, Josie1; Schmidt, Samantha S.2
INSTITUTIONS (ALL): 1. School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, Univ Montana, Missoula, MT, United States.
2. Alpine Physical Therapy, Missoula, MT, United States.

Abstract

ABSTRACT BODY:
Purpose/Hypothesis : Cancer and cancer treatment can adversely affect physical and emotional well-being. There is some evidence that exercise may be beneficial in improving function, strength, and longevity in patients with cancer. Purposes of this study were to: 1) Assess participants’ outcomes in exercise tolerance, strength, balance, function, and quality of life after an eight week program and 2) determine the appropriateness of chosen outcome measures.

Number of Subjects : The subjects were 5 women and 2 men, mean age 58.14 years, who had active cancer, ongoing treatment for cancer, or had completed treatment for cancer.

Materials/Methods : Pre and post testing consisted of; the modified Naughton treadmill test, the four stage balance test, a timed sit to stand test (STS), the CDC Health Quality of Life test (HQOL), and the Outpatient Physical Therapy Improvement in Movement Assessment Log (OPTIMAL). Examiners and exercise leaders were physical therapists, exercise physiologists, physical therapy students and exercise physiology students and were educated in the administration of the tests. The eight week program met twice weekly with group and individualized training consisting of stretching, relaxation, resistive exercise and endurance exercise. Subjects were given a membership to a local athletic club to encourage exercise between sessions.

Results : The subjects attended an average of 12 sessions (range of 8-15). There were no adverse effects of testing or exercise reported by the subjects or staff. Ordinal level data was analyzed by Repeated Measures ANOVA and the Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Test was used for nominal level data. There was a significant improvement in sit-to-stand (p=.028). There was a significant difference in the HQOL Symptom Module question 5; “During the last 30 days, for about how many days have you felt VERY HEALTHYAND FULL OF ENERGY?”, (p=.004) Pre-test average for question 5 was 5.3 days and post program average was 18.7 days. Six of the seven subjects improved in the Modified Naughton test. All subjects improved in most items in the OPTIMAL and HQOL tests. At the pre-test, all subjects were able to complete the 4 stage balance test without difficulty so an alternative post-test was conducted and this data was not analyzed.

Conclusions : Subjects with cancer and cancer survivors demonstrated significant improvement in sit-to-stand and in the number of days that they report feeling healthy. In this preliminary data, improvements were seen in all tests. Additional subjects will be recruited from this program that is scheduled three times per year. Outcome measures were satisfactory with the exception of the balance test, thus a different measure will be used in future testing.

Clinical Relevance : After an eight week exercise program, all subjects, including one terminally ill subject, more than doubled the number of days that they report feeling “very healthy and full of energy”. In addition to physical outcome measures, quality of life measures are important to attain a comprehensive assessment in this population.
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KEYWORDS: cancer, exercise, quality of life.