Good news!

That's good news about your lymph nodes Fi. I am the same age as you but am having 6 months chemo prior to a lymph node clearance. I have developed cording following a lumpectomy and this is apparently quite common following surgery. I had a physio appointment this week. They were really helpful and have sent me a list of additional exercises to do to help get rid of the cording/reduce pain and I'll be having a follow up appointment with them in about 6 weeks. Massaging the area is also beneficial - the physio explained the best way to do this - so hopefully you'll get good results from your physio xx

Ah, thank you so much for your reply, so helpful and comforting! 
All the best with the rest of your treatment.

Fi xx

Hi Fi

Great news about your lymph nodes! I am 4 years down the line from an 80mm lumpectomy (WLE) and just recently had my 4th year all clear - another yippee from me,

I had a small amount of cording following my op and when I rang the BC nurse (this was even pre-Covid) she didn't seem bothered at all and didn't refer me to physio. She told me to gently massage the area with my first 2 fingers along the 'line' of the cording with my opposite hand.  I did this a few times every day and it did actually disappear on its own over about 3-4 weeks if I remember rightly.  You could try this before your physio appointment to see if it makes any difference.

I was 51 when diagnosed with no lymph node involvement and the genomic testing wasn't around much (or not in my area anyway) when I was diagnosed and I didn't have chemo.  I could have kissed my oncologist when he said that I was very young   My friend's Mum had a similar diagnosis to mine  (ER+, so tablets) but it had spread to her lymph nodes so she would be an 'automatic chemo' but due to her age of 82 they decided it was better for her not to have it.  She is fit - was back playing badminton a few months after - so it does seem that age plays a huge factor vs quality of life/potential problems which may be caused by chemo. for the elderly.

Fingers crossed your score is good and you only need radio.  Radio is a doddle in comparison to what I've read about chemo.... My one piece of advice for radio is drink as much fluid as you can, it makes a huge difference to potential fatigue.  Out of 4 of us who went at the same time, 2 suffered badly and they didn't drink much - myself and the other lady drank loads and we were perfectly alright.

Hope this helps, Lesley x

Thank you so much for your advise, so helpful.

Congratulations on the 4th year of being cancer free! I’m looking forward to the day that I don’t have anymore appointments. My car is on auto pilot to Epping and Harlow hospital atm!

xxx

This is really helpful as I think I have cording but with covid, there are no face to face physio classes. Radiotherapy next for me too so will up my liquids.

I know the area very well, having been born in Epping. A nice place to live.

My physio session took place via a phone video call so perhaps this is something that might be available to you?

Hi Fi

That’s great news about your lymph nodes. 

Best of luck with your Genomic test.

Best wishes

Daisy53

Just had a tel call about 4 weeks ago and that was it. Covid has not helped. am keeping going with exercises.