Archive of a Breast Cancer Survivor
02.05.05
Time Will Tell All
AWS. Auxiliary Web Syndrome. Another term is called “cording.” And
95% of all women develop some form of this muscle deformation post-surgery
due to removal of the lymph nodes. I cannot tell you how long after the mastectomy
I developed the cording, but I do know my arm would not move well in any direction.
At first I thought this was due to the breast reconstruction, but that was
not the case. I learned of this problem when I went to the physical therapist
one month ago. He gave me literature pertaining to the issue because it was
evident to him the minute he started to treat me. The ropes stuck out hard.
How would I know—my underarm was numb, and still is two months after
the surgery. Since I have begun physical therapy, I possess 95% range of motion
in my arm going forwards. But it is still difficult to raise my arm sideways
and I have to “think” about the process, visualize its momentum.
Atrophy. And it’s the re-training of those muscles that I must exercise—tied
down to the cording of my lost nodes. It isn’t enough, the work that
I do, but time—time will tell all. Just like everything else: the chemo,
the fast growing cells. Time and patience. Time will tell, and through it all,
it has to be enough.