I’m now 51 weeks after SNB and lumpectomy surgery (but who’s counting!) and I’ve just found I’ve got cording in my armpit. I suffered a bit of this a couple of months after surgery, but vigorous exercise and painful self-massage dealt with it. I’ve continued to do lots of exercises, so I’m surprised and annoyed that it’s happened again.
Has anyone else experienced this so long after surgery - and does anyone know how long it’s could continue?
Sarah x
Anyone? Please!
Hiya, bet you feel pretty p***ed off! I had snb and wle last march (2010), got good movement soon after but have had achy breast and inside of arm and armpit for the last few months. Had worked myself up about it but on monday at my routine surgical check my lovely surgeon, after a very thorough check, said its nerve pain, and its really common and can happen for a long time after surgery and that even a year after surgery is quite early days. She didnt say cording, but just wanted to let you know you’re not alone with new stuff happening. Bc-the gift that never stops giving. Hugs xxx
vickie
not a year later, but I went into the physio for a check up today and she said you have the very first signs of cording. I have 5 micro cords.
And i could not feel a thing! it was only when she pushed me into a certain position and squeezed that i felt them, tiny things, deep in my armpit. I did have something shooting down my arm a few week ago but I had massaged that away.
Given how small and unnoticable these are i can quite imagine that they would take some time to develop into something worse.
odd question she asked–do you type/embroider/knit apparantly these repetative things are what she has found in her patients with cording and is doing a personal survay.
They can do things for it, and so I would go to your doc and get a referal to sort it out
I think I’ve managed to deal with it myself, at least for now. Did some really hard and painful massage on the little bugger - ooh how it hurt - and it seems to have done the trick. I was just surprised at it popping up so long after surgery.
Sarah x
I still get it 3 years after last surgery if I carry things that are too heavy, wear a watch or bracelet that constricts me (which i rarely do) etc.
Hi Moser
Did you have lots of lymph nodes removed? I thought since I had only had two taken that I was unlikely to get problems but it seems I was wrong. I’ve never even considered limiting what I do on that side but perhaps I should.
Sarah x
i only had a sential node removed. However when my physio was working on the cords she told my to pick up anything i felt that i could cope with, she was just worried about small repetative actions.
Found out later that the radiology departement has a masseur there who specialises in sorting cording out during the treatment
Hi OAL
I think you may have hit the nail on the head! I spent hours at the weekend weeding the garden, but because I have a bad back at the moment I was doing it using a long handled fork and a litter-picker - exactly the small repetitive actions that you described. Within 24 hours of that I found the cording.
So now I have an action plan - give plenty of welly to the cords in my armpit, and get my OH to do all the weeding!
Thanks
Sarah x