Mastitis and Breast Abscess. Two things a breastfeeding/pumping mom
never wants to hear or experience. And this momma had both.
It
all started on Friday, February 27th. I started to feel a lump in my
right breast. As the day progressed it got red and hot to the touch. I
just left it be and started my weekend of breastfeeding.
See
we rented a scale from our local lactation place at the hospital for
the weekend. We wanted to see how much milk the girls were getting with
each breastfeeding session and see if we wanted to continue down the
road of breastfeeding or pumping. The girls got various amounts of
breast milk that weekend. Sometimes they got enough (around 80 mils)
and other times they barely got any in a 20 minute session (around 24
mils). Those times where they barely got any milk, I would have to pump
and supplement feed them. This was a long process and not to mention,
my breast hurt every time I pumped or they fed.
By
Saturday night, I couldn't bare it anymore, so I took to good ole google
and looked up my symptoms. Most said mastitis, clogged milk duct or
abscess. They recommended to keep pumping and breastfeeding, but also
massage. The massaging killed me. It made my breast hurt more than it
did before the massage. I started taking ibuprofen and just dealing
with it.
Monday rolls around and we have to take the scale
back to the lactation connection. I asked them to take a look at my
breast, but there wasn't a nurse there. One girl took a look and said
go to my OB ASAP. Then a nurse came in and she told me I have mastitis
and I need antibiotics from my OB. So I called them, they filled a
prescription and off I went.
I took the antibiotics as
directed and continued to pump. I was so over the breastfeeding because
the girls needed supplementing every time. By Wednesday, I was
starting to feel better and I felt the lump getting smaller. Good
news. But by Thursday night, it seemed worse.
This whole
time I was taking ibuprofen, pumping and just dealing with it. Friday,
March 6th, I got my hair done and it was amazing. I had a few hours
away from the girls while my mom watched them and I got to do something
for myself. But on the drive home, I could barely stand the seatbelt on
my breast. When I got home, I asked my mom what she thought. She said
go to the doctor, and so I did.
But I had to see a
midwife as my doctor had already left the office. She said I had a very
bad case of mastitis and I needed to go to the ER. I contemplated
going or not because I hate going to the hospital and it couldn't be
that bad. But in the end I went. And after being seen by the nurse
(after check in) she told me it was really bad, to move my car to valet
and they would move me to first for triage. Cue tears, calls to my mom
and dad and panic.
I didn't want to bug my husband who was
golfing until I knew more. Well it turns out I had a major breast
abscess and they were considering surgery. So I called my husband, left
him messages and waited. My dad showed up to keep me company and
support me. We kept my mom in the loop since she was watching the
girls. Finally my husband called and we told him the news and that I
would keep him posted. Well he left golf after hole 9 (I still feel bad
that he had to leave) even before my dad and I could tell him to stay
and finish since I had my dad there.
They did some blood
work, put in an ivy, gave me awesome pain meds and we waited for an
ultrasound. My husband showed up and we waited while tons of doctors
checked my abscess out. Finally we went to pre-op for an ultrasound.
But the surgeon checked out my abscess and said he didn't even need an
ultrasound to see how bad and deep the infection was....it was really
bad. Like the worst case he had ever seen and he deals with breast
stuff all.the.time.
So I had surgery. And I had to be
put under since it was that bad. Normally, a local anesthetic is given
and you are awake, but he said this would be way too painful. So I had a
thirty minute surgery to cut open my abscess and clean out the pus and
infection. Plus an irrigation of the wound. So crazy and finally out
of pain.
I was pretty bummed to hear that I would be
staying overnight since I needed a heavy course of antibiotics and they
wanted to monitor me. I went over 24 hours without seeing my babies.
Heartbreaking, but knowing my mom took care of them all day (until 10
pm) and then my husband was with them made it better.
I
have been recovering since then. My husband has to change my bandages
twice a day because I have an open wound on my chest. See you can't
stitch it up as it needs to drain and heal from the inside out. And you
can't put a drain in it either because it breeds infection. So I have
an open wound covered in bandages. The first dressing change at the
hospital was the worst. My pain killers hadn't kicked in yet and as a
result there was screams, whimpers and moans. So painful and gross.
But as the days go on, it gets better. And I know to take pain killers
before changing the dressing. The open air and the tender broken nerves
are too much to handle without pain killers.
But the good
news is, it is healing. I had my post-op check up last Wednesday and
things were looking good. And today I have another post-op
appointment. Hopefully it closes soon. It definitely has gotten
shallow and smaller, but still open.
Lesson learned. Go
to the doctor early on and get it fixed sooner. I was part of the 1%
who get an abscess from mastitis, so it doesn't happen that often, but
mastitis does.
And that is why I have barely been on
here. I have been on pain killers, trying to recover and helping my
mother-in-law and husband take care of our babies.
I
wouldn't wish this on anyone as it is quite painful. I even considered
stopping pumping all together, but I want to go as long as I can. So I
grin and bare it. Plus it is a lot less painful now than when I had the
abscess. At least the wound is on the side of my breast and not by the
nipple. But I can tell you it has really affected my milk supply. It
went way down! I am trying to get it back up, and continuing to pump
every 3 hours. I am also trying mothers milk tea, oatmeal and beer.
Let's hope it gets back up to normal before we go through our entire
freezer stash of milk. We are down a bin and a half. So sad to see it
go that fast.
For more information on mastitis,
click here. And for additional information on breast abscesses,
click here.
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