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All February 09, 2024

Regaining your strength after breast cancer

Taking back your quality of life with the SABC program

Posted 2/9/24 - 5 min. read

Breast cancer and its treatments are tough on your body and mind, making it harder to carry out everyday tasks and continue the healing process.

While there are many options for breast cancer treatment, most people undergo a combination of surgery, chemo, hormone therapy and/or radiation.

While not all patients will experience side effects in the same way, all treatments for breast cancer have some short-term side effects.

Some breast cancer treatment side effects people experience include:

  • Fatigue
  • Reduced mobility
  • Insomnia (trouble sleeping)
  • Weakness
  • Lymphedema
  • Numbness (neuropathy)
  • Pain

The good news is most side effects can be managed, and many can be reversed.

It’s important to discuss with your cancer care team how you can best manage your treatment side effects and breast cancer symptoms to improve your quality of life.

Breast cancer survivors sit together all wearing pink shirts and pink breast cancer ribbons.

The SABC program

Strength After Breast Cancer (SABC) is a program specially designed to teach breast cancer survivors how to effectively manage treatment-related side effects and return to previous activity levels while reducing their risk of lymphedema. The program is delivered under the supervision of a trained oncology physical therapist.

While many people impacted by breast cancer may be fearful of developing lymphedema, we know that supervised exercise and activity can help to reduce the incidence of developing or worsening lymphedema in those affected.

SABC emerged from the Physical Activity and Lymphedema trial, conducted by Dr. Kathryn Schmitz in 2009, which showed that a progressive strength training program is safe for those impacted by breast cancer who have or are at risk for lymphedema.

The trial has made significant progress in helping hundreds of survivors regain their strength, endurance, quality of life and reduce their risk of developing lymphedema.

Managing lymphedema

There can be many causes for lymphedema, including lymph node removal surgery, radiation and other medical co-morbidities, that can disrupt the body’s ability to process lymphatic fluid.

This disruption can cause a back-up of fluid in an area causing swelling or lymphedema. Lymphedema may occur right after surgery or radiation, or months or even years later. From there, it is a slowly progressing disease.

Lymphedema should be addressed by a trained medical professional to prevent further progression.

Exercise guidelines, based on current research, follow the same recommendations as the SABC program for managing lymphedema. Those guidelines include:

  • Avoid inactivity and deconditioning
  • Build up to 150 minutes per week of activity
  • Safe, supervised strength training at least 2 times per week
  • Start low, progress slow

In general, the effects of exercise on several body systems can impact the performance and overall function of the lymphatic system, which in turn can reduce the impact of lymphedema on daily function.

Physical therapist helps stretch a patient's arm while they lay on a table.

Becoming eligible for the SABC program

The SABC program can be performed at any stage of the cancer journey – from the time of diagnosis, including before surgery or other treatment, during treatment and throughout survivorship.

While you can start the program at any point, your therapist will need to confirm you are cleared for exercise after surgery and don’t have any limitations for weight training or exercise.

You don’t have to worry about having previous exercise experience either. You will progress through the program at a pace determined by your therapist.

All of the exercise programming in SABC is tailored to the individual, but there are a couple commonalities:

  • Your initial evaluation will determine your exercise level and risk of lymphedema followed by a program of stretching, strengthening and aerobic conditioning. At the initial evaluation, your therapist will monitor you closely to determine any functional impairments you may be experiencing while providing education on self-monitoring and building the confidence to continue this active lifestyle.
  • From there, your program will include 4-6 supervised sessions with a certified therapist to ensure safety and correct form. Those sessions are spread across 6-12 weeks to accompany at-home exercise homework provided by the therapist.

A diagnosis of breast cancer is never welcome; however, it is our mission to improve the quality of life of all those impacted by the disease.

If you or a loved one has been impacted by breast cancer, ReVital and the SABC program can help.

You can find a center near you or request an appointment to work with one of our ReVital Cancer Rehabilitation specialists today.