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Still sewing
Wed, 03/08/2011 - 20:33
#1
hi all
Any keen sewing bids and/ or embroidery people out there? I'm a bit worried about needles as am trying to avoid infections/ lymphodena., but don't want to give up on a favourite hobby, especially as the nights draw in. Any advice would be gratefully received.
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Very keen cross stitcher. Am still stitching but remembering to be very careful with needles. Like you dont want to give up on one of my favourite hobbies. Cant think of any precautions to take except to be very careful.
Hi there, Im a keen cross stitcher as well and was told as long as I was careful with the needles I could carry on, and to take regular breaks. I can cross stitch for 7 hours at a time (late at night and at weekends) so that will have to stop. But all in all I am going to continue, because I find it very relaxing
I was advised to use a thimble. Made me a bit ham-fisted at first but with practice it did become easier. J xx
just to say that when my cording started the physio asked me if i sewed or knitted, aparantly it can make you get cording, its the repetative movements
old and lumpy can you explain what cording is. I am starting chemo tomorrow. I do a lot of sewing, cross stitch. I find it very relaxing but am now wondering should I carry on. I had lumpectomy and 14 nodes removed 11 were cancerous, am I likely to get cording.
Hi Poodlepatch,
As I understand it, cording is when the lymph pipes (for want of a better word)in your affected arm get stiff and hard (not unlike the effect some people get in their veins with chemo). You can evidently tell if this occurs as it feels just like you have hard cords running down you arm.
I was told that gentle stretching and bending of the arm is a good thing as it helps to keep the pipes (someone will know the right name) more supple. Also, I remember being told it usually happens in about 3-6 months post op. if it's going to - but that might be a dose of long-term chemo brain, so check with others who do know!
Thimbles are so we don't prick the fingers on the affected side, as cuts can increase the risk of getting lymphoedema, which we do not want! Take a bit of getting used to, but a small price I reckon.
My consultants seem to be OK with gentle repetitive movements, such as sewing, knitting or typing at a computer (!) so long as you don't do them for hours on end without a break and a stretch... kind of common sense really, I guess.
cording is something to do with the lymph system tightening up and making it difficult to move. It can happen anywhere along a line going from your waist through your arm pit down under your arm to your little finger. but more normally in the arm. It feels like an elastic band.
all those stretching excercises are supposed to help. I would think if you have not got it by now you are going to be alright. if you get it a physio can teach you how to get rid of it.
if you love the sewing and it relaxes you I would not let it put you off, it might not happen.
many thanks revcat and old and lumpy
Always good to have thoughts and info from others.
I've been sewing since my primary in 1999 and still do since my secondaries in 2009. Never had a problem, I do patchwork, make kids clothes for grandchildren and knit and crochet. I never sit for long, get up and move about a lot, otherwise I seize up. Apart from that I've done loads, now I am retired it is mostly all I do.
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Thanks so much ladies for all the positive feedback; as always, it helps to hear from those who have gone before. I have done some very simple stitching - my daughter gave me a lovely home-made felted brooch that needed a bit of additional stitching but I was very very careful. Embroidery and/ or cross stitching is more intensive of course, so maybe I shall just have to get used to using a thimble, which I must admit I usually avoid like the plague!
Sorry for the delay responding, but have just been through first chemo session; 1 down and 5 to go!