underarm cording

[Fleming11]

I had a lumpectomy and 3 sentinel nodes removed 6/08, and experienced underarm cording for a number of weeks post surgery - maybe even a few months.  I went to PT where they did lymphatic massage for the seroma I had and taught me about lymphedema prevention.  I wear a sleeve when I fly, and use kinesiotape whenever I feel like I might be starting to swell.  So far that has taken care of everything.  This morning I noticed that tight violin string like place in my armpit and tonight it is more painful.  Coincidentally I am to have a follow up breast ultrasound next week, but am wondering if I should wait even that long (8-9 days).  

Question:  is cording a sign of lymphedema or something different?
If something different, will kinesiotape and lymphadema type approaches help it at all?  I don't recall the cording ever being helped by anything but "just give it time".  So, why would cording start spontaneously?  

[Fleming11]

Many thanks for responding so quickly.  So I am gathering from reading all the related threads that I do not need to worry about cancer spread, but that the cording will just come and go.  And that massage can help and raising/lifting the arm?  So I am interested in hearing more about such tips that might help with alleviating the cording before it spreads and gets worse vs. just waiting it out.

As for the LE, PT said I had some swelling and that I should always be alert for swelling and take immediate action (such as wearing my compression sleeve, or applying kinesiotape as she taught me, pulling the lymph from my breast (which is where I tend to swell as opposed to down the arm), under my arm on my side and then up and just across to the other side of my spine so that the lymph can "drain" more easily on the unaffected side of my body.  So, I suppose I have never been officially "diagnosed" with LE, but have had precursers, if you will, such that LE prevention techniques are suggested to avoid full blown LE.  That seems to be the strong advice of my PT group - do everything you can to avoid LE b/c it is painful and you don't want it if you can avoid it, for once you get it, it is not fun!  Which was my concern with this cording - could it be an early sign of LE that needs treatment (PT, or just home massage and raising my arm and not carrying heavy things with my affected arm, etc. - which I plan to try now anyway) to avoid LE; OR is it TOTALLY unrelated.  I gather you think it is totally unrelated?  In which case massage might be helpful, but the other treatments like kinesiotaping are unnecessary?  

Thanks for your time!  
Ginny

[japdip]

Cording is something that is it's "own thing" ... appears spontaneously but usually goes away in time on it's own. You don't say that you were ever diagnosed with Lymphedema and any treatment for that condition would NOT aid in the treatment of cording. It's just time and patience for that problem. If you had a seroma that would have been treated by drainage and not by LE treatment. By drainage I mean either the placement of a drain or drained with a syringe and needle by your Surgeon. There is NO prevention for LE; just precautions that you may take but I don't see that you have ever had LE from what you stated in your post. LE and cording both occur without much reason most of the time.    Regards .....