Breast cancer survivors regaining strength, range of motion via TCO’s cutting-edge therapy

By Susan-Elizabeth Littlefield

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    BLOOMINGTON, Minnesota (WCCO) — There are currently 4 million people in the U.S. right now that have a title in common: breast cancer survivor.

But for half of them, another health battle begins when the cancer battle ends.

At age 42, Julie Miller found a lump on her breast.

“I was extremely scared, and I was extremely scared that I wouldn’t live through it,” Miller said.

She did live through breast cancer, twice, but it was an arduous journey that included a double mastectomy and chemotherapy.

“With the medications and the surgeries and how your physical body changes, it’s really hard on your mental health,” Miller said.

And it was hard on her body, too. She survived, but with major scars to prove it.

“I couldn’t use my left arm at all. I couldn’t hold a glass, I couldn’t reach for anything,” Miller said. “I had to learn to type with my right hand only at work, and I was just kind of told that I had to live like this.”

But then, she got referred to Renata Braudy, a therapist at Twin Cities Orthopedics who is working to fill a health gap.

“The need is to provide a service people often don’t know about, to get people back to function, to have them feel safe knowing that if they are returning to lifting their kids, lifting weights, going back to exercise, they can,” Braudy said. “There’s a real need to get people back to doing things they need to do, safely and feel empowered.”

Braudy and her partner, Ingrid Weddig, started a dedicated Breast Cancer Care therapy program at TCO — a program that’s being well received.

“I think what we hear the most is, ‘You just gave me hope today because I now know that you understand what I’m going through and what my road looks like, and that someone can intervene and help us out,'” Weddig said.

They sure helped Miller out.

“Now I have full range of motion,” Miller said.

And the full range of healing as she is doing yoga, boxing and pilates. Miller says this program completely changed her mental health.

The Breast Cancer Care program is available at several Twin Cities Orthopedics locations in the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin.

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