My older brother had bowel cancer back in 2007/08. As a precaution, the doctors wanted all his siblings to have a colonoscopy. 1 1/2 years after I put in a referral, the hospital finally called me yesterday to make an appointment.
It couldn't have come at a worse time! I just gave birth to my daughter 2 weeks ago, and I'm exclusively breastfeeding. I'm concerned about the diet you have to be on before the colonoscopy, and not being able to eat anything (apart from jelly) the day before. Not the best diet for my baby! I'm concerned about being under anaesthetic, and waiting for it to completely wear off before breastfeeding again (I've read online that it may require 24 hours of 'pumping & dumping' afterwards). I'm concerned about losing my supply due to the lack of food and only expressing milk for over a day. I'm concerned about introducing bottles & my daughter not wanting to breastfeed anymore (this happened with DD#3).
Has anyone had a colonoscopy while breastfeeding? Am I making the right decision in wanting to postpone the procedure for at least a year? Or am I over-reacting? It's not urgent (obviously, since I've waited 18 months already!).
I haven't had one while breastfeeding but when I did have one and go under a general, I had it in the morning, and by that night, it had completely worn off and I could function normally.
Are you going public or private? I went private and they gave me a good meal after I woke up, but am not sure if this is commonplace or not?
Given that they have taken so long to get an apointment it doesn't seem overly pressing that you have one and it would certainly be worth postponing it for your comfort if that's OK. What did the staff member say when you said you were breastfeeding? When procedures like this are deemed to be necessary it is usually possible to manage them so that breastfeeding isn't interrupted. You wouldn't need to pump and dump for instance - mothers breastfeed just after they wake up from a cesaean under a GE. Your body protects your milk supply - so the quality and quantity of your milk will be fine. I'm not sure from your post how old your baby is. It's probably not necessary to wait until you have completely finished breastfeeding to have a colonoscopy, but on the other hand, caring for a young baby is intensive and takes a lot of time and effort regardless of how they are fed - so having the procedure when your baby is very young is probablygoing to be a juggling act - and from that point of view may be worth postponing
I had one earlier this year DD was 10 months old & still feeding regularly.
Seeing as you only have to diet for 1 day it didn't affect my supply, i just had to make sure i kept up my fluids.
I BF my Daughter about 2hrs after i woke up, everyone said it was fine to BF afterwards.
Colonoscopy while breastfeeding?
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