Is cording lymphedema?

VL22

I've had so many issues just trying to get chemo started, I just assumed the issue under my armpit had to do with my infection. Now I realize it is cording. First, is this lymphedema? Can I go to a PT for this whil getting chemo or wait until after? Will doing my own stretches help? Thanks

Jackster51

I'm not an expert in this in any form.. but I also got cording after surgery.. Went to PT - but home stretching worked the best for me... Like a lot of stretching the arm. In doorways... sitting on the floor with arm stretched behind me.. Try and get a professional diagnosis before you start anything... as maybe it is your infection? Hard to say but gentle stretching on your own I don't think could hurt anything.. I hope you find resolution quickly.Oh and to add - I am 5 years out with no Lymphedema as yet.

Rrobin0200

I had mild cording, and when I went to the PT, she indeed said it was mild lymphedema. Stretching and massage several times a day helped me. My cording finally popped..it sounds like a branch breaking...and once it popped, it went away for good.

ChiSandy

Cording is most likely an individual clogged lymph channel so obstructed that it becomes palpable and even visible (I say “most likely” because there are several theories). Lymphedema is swelling due to lymph fluid that has pooled and stagnated so that it can’t flow back through lymph channels into nodes in order to be circulated out into capillaries and into the kidneys to be excreted. The reason it can’t flow is that one or more lymph nodes have been removed or otherwise compromised—usually by surgery or trauma. Both phenomena are disorders of the lymphatic system, which is relatively poorly understood because there is so little education about it in med. school. Visible cording is more common in thinner people, LE more likely to strike the obese or even moderately overweight.

Some of us got stuck with both. It was a cord in my forearm that caused me to make an appt.with the city’s top lymph system expert; by the time I saw him 6 weeks later, the cord had popped but after I told him I had some finger swelling during a transatlantic flight, despite wearing compression, he diagnosed subclinical (Stage 0) LE—so that Medicare would pay for PT. I did once get a flare up to Stage 1, but it receded. Still, I always wear compression for exercise and long flights.

Anonymous

It's a good idea to see a lymphedema specialist. You can see one during chemo.

Lots of stretching at home got rid of my cording. I would put my hand high in the doorway and pull away gently. I never had popping though.

ksusan

My PT and nurse don't consider it to be LE, but a related phenomenon.

VL22

Thanks so much for all of the responses!