I must share a post-op that was never something I was aware of, nor is there a ton of information out there about it. About 4 weeks after surgery, I developed some rib pain on my surgery side. It was a pretty quick onset and was very tender to the touch and woke me at night when I rolled over on it. Of course, once you have the “C” word, you are hypersensitive to any pain. As a precaution, I had an x-ray done and it was ruled to be an intercostal muscle pull.
By the next week, the pain had not lessened, but it had moved further down my abdomen. When I stood up to stretch one day, I happened to put my hand below my rib cage, and I felt this odd structure below my ribs. It is hard to see below my chest so I felt around and found not one, but two of these odd structures. The only way I can describe them is as two taut electrical cords. Not only can I feel them, but I can see them. It was the weirdest thing and to be honest, it freaked me out a bit.
I started googling as all good patients do, right? The only thing I could find was an Axillary Web Syndrome (AWS) which CAN happen post lumpectomy if you had several lymph nodes taken for biopsy. This looked almost similar to what I was experiencing, however AWS is typically seen from the armpit down through the wrist. It took a bit more digging to find that in rare cases, this can occur down the ribs into the abdomen and is a result of lymph drainage from surgery. In this event, it is called Truncal Cording. The unusual thing is that it is tender only to touch but is not affected by movement despite the feeling it is anchored in my ribs and my hip. I have returned to full workouts in the gym, and it does not really limit my movement. Note, the picture below is NOT my stomach. It’s hard to get a clear picture of myself to see it clearly, but this photo is exactly what I can see and feel.
I had messaged my surgeon and asked if she was aware of Truncal Cording. She simply replied to rest and that this was just due to me getting back to normal activities. No one else was a whole lot of help with it either. It seems a lot of folks have not really encountered it before but based on the pictures from blog posts of other breast patients, this is exactly what I am experiencing. I have linked a Reddit post full of women experiencing the same here including the poster of the photo above.
The good news is, based on my reading, this is something that can be resolved, primarily through exercise, stretching, and lymphatic massage. I will say this was not something I had on my bingo card for this journey, but I feel better knowing it is not something earth shattering.
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