[kriket]

I know this is a total one in a million situation but I came across this article and was wondering why she was told to stop BFing. Just curious.

Quote:

She was instructed to stop breast-feeding in preparation for excision of this giant mass.

There are some graphic pictures you've been warned.

http://www.residentandstaff.com/issu...2007-11_02.asp

 

[Belle]

Woah. Graphic pics are an understatement.

It sounds like everything pointed to a benign condition. Even after the removal of the mass in her right breast. It was probably not necessary to quit breastfeeding. Especially since halting breastfeeding resulted in her getting plugged ducts. She may have been able to continue breastfeeding on only the left side during the time that she had the operation.

 

[johnsmom]

Wow! I kind of wish I'd heeded your 'graphic images' warning.
I can think of very few health conditions that would genuinely require a woman to stop nursing, despite what they might be told by doctors.
This case, however is directly related to breastfeeding. From my understanding(I could be wrong, not great at the medicalese), as long as she is lactating, there is no point in removing the mass because it will continue to grow. So, unless she wants to live with a hugely mishapen breast for the duration of her nursing relationship, she needed to quit in order to have the mass removed. On the other hand, it is a benign condition that doesn't pose any health risks to her or her nursling, so having it removed is really for cosmetic and not health reasons.
It's a tough one, because I'm a passionate advocate for nursing into toddlerhood and beyone, but I'm not sure I'd volunteer for 2 or 3 or 4 years of living with a large, protruberant growth on my chest.

 

[bri276]

I have no idea why she couldn't have at least continued to breastfeed from the unaffected breast, possibly needing to pump & dump temporarily depending on what medications she had to take...

yikes. that looks really painful.

 

[PatioGardener]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Belle It was probably not necessary to quit breastfeeding.

:

I agree. Sometimes after breast surgery lactating moms get drainage of milk from the wound - but that heals with time as may actually help (great antibodies in milk!)

Totally sucks that she got the massive abscess too - I bet that hurt like crazy AND will likely reduce the ability of that breast to produce milk in the future.

 

[Momily]

OK, I admit that I know very little about this -- but if a mom chose (for whatever reason) to only nurse on one side, would the other side dry up? Would the side she nursed on increase supply (after all if 2 breasts can support twins, does it stand to reason that 1 can support 1 infant?)

If so, this seems like a logical conclusion -- limit nursing to the other side, the child gets the benefit of breastmilk and of nursing.

Like I said, I don't know much so I could be overlooking something huge.

 

[La Rune]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Momily OK, I admit that I know very little about this -- but if a mom chose (for whatever reason) to only nurse on one side, would the other side dry up? Would the side she nursed on increase supply (after all if 2 breasts can support twins, does it stand to reason that 1 can support 1 infant?) If so, this seems like a logical conclusion -- limit nursing to the other side, the child gets the benefit of breastmilk and of nursing. Like I said, I don't know much so I could be overlooking something huge.

If a mom chose to nurse only on one side, the other side would not dry up. The side she nursed on would increase supply.

That's how it's going in my house, anyway, and it's been working for 5 months.

 

[EviesMom]

I nursed my older child on the right side and the baby only on the left. (The left was always the higher producer anyway in my opinion from pumping, how full I felt, etc.). DS got plenty of milk, and DD was nursing less and less, then weaned fully just recently. I've started nursing DS on both sides now, and milk production on the right has picked up again.

I don't really understand why she couldn't nurse only on one side instead, but I can't fault her for wanting to be done after all of that! Although maybe they used the med they described in the article, which is contraindicated for bfing.

 

[momtoS]

I am a breastfeeding advocate.....

BUT

OUCH....She may have felt too AWFUL to do much....including breastfeeding...

POOR WOMAN

 

[User101]

I'm going to move this to health and healing. It's really outside the purpose of the Lactivism forum to judge someone's medical reasons to breastfeed or not.

 

[bri276]

to clarify, I wasn't judging her at all, I was responding to the fact that the doctors TOLD her to stop nursing.

 

[User101]

Right, I know. And it's fine to discuss. It's just not Lactivism.

 

[kriket]

I wondered where to put this, I didn't want to judge, just be armed with info if (heaven forbid) something like this ever happened to me, someone I know or someone who reads this thread.

 

[PikkuMyy]

I looked at the photos. If the mass was going to continue growing, she'd end up after nursing with one breast that was enormous and one that was small. That had already happened when she decided to stop and have the surgery. The skin would be much bigger on the larger one and she'd have to have more surgery to make it the same size it was before or deal with the physical and psychological issues of having one long flabby breast and one regular one. She is already dealing with that as it is. Not to mention that the skin of the breast with the growth was becoming necrotic.

I'd do the same thing she did, and I'm very pro BFing.

 

[Chinese Pistache]

OUCH! Poor woman!

That said, I don't know why she couldn't have continued bfing on the unaffected side. I know a few women who've nursed on one side for various reasons (low producers, rejected by baby; one with a breast abcess). The other side stopped producing, though not completely. But then, even if she weaned, she'd still likely make a little milk for several months or even a year after ward.