HALIFAX – A Halifax physiotherapist, who is also a breast cancer survivor, is offering free services to breast cancer patients and survivors as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Erin Clements, the owner of Bridgeview Physiotherapy, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011.
“I went through multiple surgeries. I had a lumpectomy and reconstruction. I also went through chemotherapy as well,” she said. Clements has a history of breast cancer in her family.
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However, Clements, who is now in remission, said she noticed a difference between her recovery and other women’s recovery.
“I wasn’t having a lot of the same issues that other women were having…like loss of range of motion, loss of strength, functional things,” she said.
“I knew what to do with myself. I knew how to do exercises. I knew how to do functional things that would get my function back.”
Clements said many breast cancer patients are uncertain what their bodies are capable of afterward, which is why she is offering free physiotherapy assessments, treatments and consultations to patients and survivors.
“A lot of it is they’re very nervous and scared about what they can do. They’re told not to do things after their surgeries. They’re told they’re going to have lots of fatigue from chemotherapy. They don’t necessarily know they can still do exercise,” she said.
Changes to body after cancer diagnosis
Gayle Gray, 68, of Halifax was diagnosed with breast cancer in January. After the initial shock wore off, Gray said she focused on fighting her cancer with chemotherapy, a mastectomy and radiation. But she said she could feel the weight of it on her body.
“Everything on your body changes when you’re going through your chemotherapy. It affects you physically. It affects you emotionally,” she said.
“When you’re finished with that, you have a lot of scars that throw you off a little bit. Then you have to go into your radiation and the radiation does things to your body again.”
READ MORE: Glass of wine a day may increase women’s breast cancer risk: study
Gray said she was nervous about how to move her body after her surgery, which saw doctors remove a breast and the lymph nodes under her armpits.
“You think ‘Oh I can’t move, it might affect the stitches’. If I try to lift something, I might pull something and so you really don’t know.”
Gray said the experience with Clements has been particularly comforting since the physiotherapist knows what she is going through. She said Clements has been a resource for her, from teaching her how she can move to improving her posture.
“She could explain to me about the muscles, about the damage to the tissue, how the tissue is changing, what physiotherapy will do to get me back on track,” she said.
“It’s given me confidence and it’s letting me know I’m probably not going to have any limitations.”
As a physiotherapist, Clements said she is focused on helping the women get back to a normal routine and to adjust to changes that have happened to their bodies.
“If they would love to play golf again then that’s what we’re going to work on. If they just want to lift their grandchildren or children, that’s what we’re going to work on,” she said.
“You will always have scar tissue if you had surgery. But we can make that scar tissue move better for you. You will maybe have strength losses…but doing strengthening exercises can offset that loss of strength.”
The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation states one in four cases of cancer in Canadian women is breast cancer and one in 30 women in Canada will die from the disease.
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