I had the surgery on Tuesday evening, left the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. Went back to the surgeon to check the wound on Friday night. And on Saturday morning I realized that breast milk was leaking from the wound! It was mixed with blood.
I was totally horrified. But these articles calm me down greatly! :) Thank you for those wonderful writers. :)
http://archive.blisstree.com/live/leaking-breast-milk-after-surgery-for-breast-abscess-or-lumpectomy/
http://www.breastfeeding-problems.com/breast-abcess-even-with-milk-leaking-from-wound-you-can-continue-to-feed.html
There are several more, but those two are the most applicable to my situation.
My wound are still dripping with reddish pink milk, after changing the dressing for several times a day, I gave up and just wear breast-pad. Easier to just change the pad, and the wound is not plastered with the wet blood-milk-soaked gauze. I still took antibiotics and will see the surgeon again this coming Tuesday.
The surgeon told me not to nurse with the affected breast... but I did that twice in these two days out of desperation with the engorged breast. The incision was made very close to the areola, so I didn't want to do it more often too.
It's been a long time since I posted. I wanted to post this to add encouragement for those breastfeeding mothers with the same problems. :)
Update:
The wound was fully healed reaching the two months mark after the surgery! Oh yeah! :D I did use a product of Bee Propolis (from my cousin) on the wound. After weeks and weeks of wet open wound, the wound dried up in days and closed, leaving only a tiny hole where the breastmilk still leaks for another two weeks before closing up completely. :)
I'm still breastfeeding with one breast. :)
8 comments:
Glad to see someone else out there is going through this. I have a large mass I need to have removed but have been waiting to reach the six month mark of breastfeeding. My surgeon says with the size and location I will more than likely leak a lot of milk and he thinks the quantity will make me want to stop breastfeeding. I am hopeful that minimally I can feed from just the other breast. Have you been able to feed exclusively on one side? Or have you needed to supplement with formula? Also how much leakage did you experience?
Hi Amy,
Yes. I successfully breastfeed from my left breast since the operation. My baby is still eating very little now (at almost a year old), so most of her nutrition is still from my milk.
The first few days (maybe up to a week or more) after the operation, the leakage could fill a breastpad in a few hours. But my right breast had always have less milk than the left since the beginning.
One of the consequences of breastfeeding from only one breast is the size. They are very much different now. :P But I'm more than thankful I can still enjoy this breastfeeding experience.
Hope you will have a smooth operation and continue your breastfeeding journey afterwards.
Hi, I am glad that I found your article. I just went through a surgery (a week ago) to remove a lump from my left breast. The incision is at the top of my areola and milk has started to leak from my wound. My baby is 3 months old and I really wish to continue with breast feeding. How did you extract milk out from the breast you had the surgery, by pumping or manual express? I tried pumping but I cant really extract the milk out and I ending up manual expressing.
Hi Mei Ing,
Unfortunately I couldn't express the milk from the breast, because the incision was very close to the areola, and any movement I made to express the milk was pulling on the stitches. I still pressed the breast a little bit to relieve it from the pressure, the milk was just absorbed by the breast pad. The breast dried out in the end, the leak from the wound stopped when the wound healed at about two months after the surgery. My baby drank from the other breast with no problem.
I don't know about your case, but if you can express it manually, then it's great! I think it would be great to be able to use that breast for breastfeeding when it is healed later on.
My baby is now 21 month-old and still exclusively breastfeed from my left breast. :) Wish you a speedy recovery and a wonderful breastfeeding journey! :)
Hi Vera, thanks for your quick reply and well wishes. I press my breast to relieve it from being too engorged. I can't press the aerola area as it will pull the stitches as well. How long did it take your breast to dry out?
It is great to hear that you are still breast feeding your baby and I hope I can be like you too!
Hi Mei Ing, my breast stopped being engorged after about a week, but still leaking milk until about two months after the surgery. As the wound healed, it dried out. All the best! :)
Hi there I had an operation due to mastitis last week, they did not close the wound and the milk is leaking from it. How long did it take for the wound to close up as I am at my wits end and it's feeling a bit lumpy again because I can't feed or express the incision is basically on the aerola
Hi i had a surgery 4 days back, left open wound. Incision is just along the aerola border, so can't feed or express. Milk is leaking from the wound . Is this normal? Also will not expressing or feeding till wound heals make it worse again ?
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