Investigations and breast feeding
Investigations and breast feeding Hello All,
I discovered a lump four months ago just after I started breast feeding - I put it down to a breast feeding related growth and thought not much about it. This week I decided just to check up at the doctors and he was terribly reassuring - but… put me on an urgent referral to the hospital (appointment on Friday) “just in case”.
At the moment I’m generally calm but I have one major concern - my 5 month old son is still being exclusively breast fed. Indeed he refuses to take milk from a bottle and we haven’t started weaning him onto solids.
I have therefore got several concerns - the organisational one:
how am I going to deal with Friday? - the letter warns that I may have to spend all day at the hospital and tells me not to bring a young child if at all possible. But I’ll need to feed him every 3-4 hours (he feeds on demand and on a hot day it can even be more often as he gets thirsty) - both for himself and for me (even if we could force formula into him for one day, my breasts would become unbearably painful and full of milk).
I’m trying to get my husband off work for the day and get him to take our son out while I have tests and then back for feeding and I just hope the hospital will be ok with that and will allow me to have “feeding breaks”.
Then the diagnosis one - do I need to feed just before an ultrasound or whatever? I guess a breast full of milk will be even more dense than a normal “young” breast.
Finally I have a worry about what if the worst case scenario does happen and I’m diagnosed with cancer: will I be admitted straight to a treatment ward and if so, how is my son going to eat?! At the moment I’m guessing this is unlikely, but to be on the safe side I’m going to get some breast milk storage bags tomorrow, get the pump out and bottle up the milk in the freezer - so that at the very least we/my husband can get him used to bottles with “normal” tasting milk (I understand formula tastes bad for a breast fed baby).
I’m not worrying that the milk is bad for him - he’s clearly thriving on it and has been for the last 5 and a half months.
Best wishes to everyone,
Emma
Be Strong xxx Hi Emma
Gosh poor you what a time to be dealing with this when you have a gorgeous new baby son…im just so glad they are taking you seriously…took me 18 months to be heard…i would definitely take both your baby and huuby with you…of course you can feed him between tests…best to try and feed before the mammogram as it will squish all the milk out of you…they just dont like kids running round…hes dependent on you so you come as an item…on the formula front should you ever need to use it…i started expressing breast milk into bottle which both mine took to straight away and then swapped to formula…in my experience if they are thirsty they will drink…mine preferred formula…doesnt say much about my milk…
Sending you lots of love and luck
Anna xxxx
Thank you! Thanks Anna, your comments are really helpful!
Emma
hi emma
i was wondering if u could phone the clinic you will be attending to find out what will be happening during the time you will be there. i presume they have a breastcare nurse there that could advise as to what may be the best solution all round. when my son was 4mths old i went in for routine breast checks [family history] . i took a breast pump in case my son didn’t feed prior to checks, luckily he did and doc waited patiently while he did, my son even kindly emptied both boobs so i didn’t need the pump. it was apparently something they were more than used to and the lady doc and nurse had a cuddle before we left. i did take my mum with me to help [hold baby etc] . my son was also esclusively breast fed and refused anything but and refused a bottle also, he also fed on demand.tell your hubby HE IS comming with u , remind him that he will only worry if he doesn’t. will be thinking of u let us know how u get on.
nicci
oh forgot to say
if your feeding , hospitals can let you take your baby in with u. i work in a hospital and we do it often on our ward. the patient has someone come in with them to look after the baby whilst they are in theatre or being treated. wouldn’t be the first time i’ve seen a father walking round the ward at 2am trying to settle a baby while his wife sleeps. you may not be taken in for treatment that day. i would phone the clinic and find out more about the day and what happens. as for being organised , just take your baby change bag and pack a couple more nappies and clothes than you normally would plus toys. check what hospital protocols are for patients with breastfed young babies. when i was diagnosed it was a one stop clinic and although i didn’t get the pathology back that day, i was told that surgery was likely .to that end i was not admited to hospital for another month ,so i’m not sure what circumstances would mean you would be admitted on the day ,unless you had an infection that required immediate treatment ,but the breastcare nurse can no doubt give you all the information if u ring. if you ring have a list of questions ready so you don’t forget to ask . i always find that if i’m nervous i forget to ask something that i wanted to know.
love nicci
Thanks Nicci,
This is really helpful and reassuring. I have tried contacting the hospital nurses (there was a number on my referral letter) - but they only work Tuesday to Friday, so I’ll phone back tomorrow. Your post has given me ideas about what to ask them - and you’re right, I’ll write a list of questions.
The issue with my husband was that he had something really important at work that day - but we’ve managed to get that sorted out - the boss was very supportive. I’ve also got some friends from my antenatal class who live very close to the hospital who have offered to look after our son after the tests are over - so that my husband can return with me for any discussion with the doctors.
Thank you so much for your help!
Emma
Hi Emma
As the others say I see no reason why you can’t take your son into hospital with you. Breast lumps are common during breastfeeding so this is a situation they must experience a lot.
I wouldn’t worry too much about being referred urgently. Guidelines say that if you are over a certain age (35, I think, though it may be 30) and you have a palpable lump you should be referred. A lot of GPs ingnore the guidelines so it sounds like you just have a good GP.
I’ve never heard of anyone being taken straight in for treatment following a breast cancer diagnosis. I was given a week to get my head around my diagnosis before meeting with my breast care team again. Even then I was told there was no hurry to start treatment. I was told that once a diagnosis is made a few weeks makes no difference to prognosis. Hopefully, it won’t come to that with you and that your lump will just be related to your recent pregnancy and breast feeding.
One thing that is encouraging is that you seem able to breastfeed with ease. It is common for babies to refuse to feed on the ‘bad’ breast when cancer is present.
Good luck. I hope everything truns out well for you.
Lola x
Thank you all! Thank you all for your help and advice. I took my son along today and everyone was very nice and kind - indeed I think his smiles made the wait more bearable not just for me but for others at the clinic too. Anyway, I am pleased to say that in my case I was diagnosed with a swollen lymph gland probably left over from mastitis. The doctor said it would probably go away when I stop feeding. So a big sigh of relief here.
Thank you for helping me through the wait and I wish you all the very best of luck!
Emma
Hi Emma
WHAT A FANTASTIC RESULT…you have made my day…one less person to be diagnosed is such a great peice of news…you must be feeling very relieved…now you can relax and enjoy your gorgeous little boy.
Lol Anna xxx