Hi, i had a WLE and 7 lymph nodes removed 4 weeks ago. I have recovered well except for my arm mobility. I could raise my arm to 90 degrees after a week…and there it has stayed.
On the phone i was told i was not pushing the excercises enough (believe me i am!) and after 2 weeks the BC saw me, took one look at the ligaments straining out of my armpit and said she’d never seen anything like it and i’d probably need surgery to fix it.
Yesterday i saw the consultant on another matter, showed him my arm and he said it was the most extreme case of cording he had ever seen, but there was no other way to fix it than to continue with my exercises.
I am really distressed about this, it is FAR worse than anything else they’ve done to me. I’m convinced they have messed something up in the op as i have a large ridge of scar tissue, away from the scar, but under my arm, i think the ligament is caught in this and that is why it stands out so prominently.
Has anyone else had it this bad? I can’t do my job as a primary teacher if my arm is this restricted. I’m having a mastectomy in 2 weeks and feel like that will put me back to square one anyway.
I can relate to the pain and suffering you are going through. I had a mastectomy and full lymph clearance last Sept, followed by chemo and radiotherapy. I too developed cording, but it was 10mths since my op. It was extremely painful. The cording went from my axilla, down the inside of my arm into my elbow and 2-3 inches in forearm It happened so suddenly. I think it was due to me pulling the wheeliebin 2 days before.
I was very fortunate, my GP referred me for urgent physio. But 2 days before I overstretched while closing the car door and it ‘popped’. Very painful at the time but slowly got better. I saw the physio, who told me that what was needed was stretching exercises - which she gave me and 5 days later I was able to do the full range of shoulder movements again. I know I had eased up on my exercises but I have continued to do them twice daily since as I never want to go through that pain again.
It maybe worth speaking to your Breast care nurse to see if she can get urgent physio, but it maybe ok to leave until surgery - though unbearably painful, as it will be overstretched while undergoing your mastectomy.
I had cording, where it was very prominent in my armpit. Probably not as bad as yours, but I found that after improving for a couple of months after my mastectomy it then started getting worse again. The exercises, if anything, seemed to aggravate it. I have always swum regularly, but didn’t for months after the mastectomy because I was having chemo. But once I could swim again when the chemo was finished, it started getting better. So don’t panic yet, I think you probably just need to adjust your expectations here, and give it more time.
I still have some cording and i had my mastectomy 5 years ago, the excercises do help but i found massaging the area with pure aloe vera gel has helped loosen up the scar tissue, my lymphodema nurse advised this about 3 years ago and it is certainly less of a problem now.
Good luck its a pain in the backside to have all these after effects, but it is managebale
Nikki x
I too had cording and was referred for physio - the lady I saw was brilliant and she stretched the cords with her thumb in a massage type way, it was great when they popped. I was also given stretching exercises and this helped a great deal - ask for an urgent referral.
I hadn’t a clue what was going on in my armpit and now realise that it’s cording, stretching all the way down to my elbow, it’s so painful when I stretch, an I have been doing my exercises. Think I’ll mention it to the breast nurse tomorrow as I’ll be seeing her then.
Nikki I think I’ll take up your suggestion too and get some gel, aloe vera seems to be good for all sorts of things!
xxxxx
I had similar problems with cording, my Physio told me to massage the underarm lightly before doing the excersizes, I have to admit it worked for me, it seems to warm up the area before stretching and does not cause so much pain.
Hope this helps some of you, you think it’s never going to get better but it does, everything heals with time, we just want to be well again and feel normal.