Barb help/support - 'you may have to give up breastfeeding for your own health'

I have just been told I may have to give up breastfeeding in order to regain my own health.

Here's my story.

September 2009 - C section delivery of lovely baby girl, but placenta fragments and is difficult to remove.......a week after she is born my uterus hasn't shrunk down so I am sent for US.........which shows a lump of retained placenta the size of a 50c piece.

October 2009 - get some tablets from Obs which will induce contractions for 2 days to see if my body will expel the fragment.....2 days of painful contractions, back for another US.........it hasn't worked. Booked in for D+C on the day my daughter is 1 month old. D+C removes the fragment, I feel pretty good afterward, and am relieved it is all over.

November 2009 - sneeze while getting up out of chair holding baby and tear my rectus diastasis and muscle. Hideously painful. Take medication for the pain and wait for the healing process to work. Doesn't get better in a week, so off to the dr. Pain is so bad I need a towel across my stomach for the 3km drive and can barely manage it. Can't wear pants due to the pain. GP thinks it is just a bad tear, and see how I go for another couple of weeks.

December 2009 - muscle tear improving but theres another pain now, deeper, and around at my back too. Back to the GP who is puzzled and thinks I need an US and review by the Obs. Taking panadeine forte and voltaren which are not touching the pain, it's worse than contractions. Go for US with trepidation........and shock the specialist OB doing the US - I have a massive organised blood clot in my uterus (size of an orange), my uterus has flopped forward closing off my cervix, and I have pus in my uterus. See Obs who is shocked and books me in for emergency D+C that afternoon. Another procedure, major dilation done this time, quite painful recovery with 8 days of leaking pus. Great over Christmas.

January 2009 - book myself in for Obs review as I am now paranoid and want to be on top of things. Go for review, get US - yep, another pus collection. Dr has never seen this in a woman of my age (ie not 70+). Try dilating and draining with catheter in office (yuck). 2 days of pus and a week of 2 diff antibiotics which play havoc with me and my daughter. Apparently the tilted uterus and kinked cervix are related to a lack of oestrogen - normal when bf. But that means that to combat it i may have to give up bf..........leave in tears. Back today, yep its back again. Book in for d+c, hysterscope and Mirena - the hope is that the Mirena threads will keep a way out open for any fluid. But I can't keep this up, a GA every month or 6 weeks is apparently not great.

I cant give up bf!!!!!! Mentally I am clinging to it as the only thing my body is doing right. I cant exercise as it causes pain, cant wear anything at all fitted on the middle due to pain. But I am a champion bf. Why should my 4 month old have to go on formula?? I am prepared to do whatever to keep bf even if that means going to theatre every month until she is 1 - but i dont know if that is medically feasible.

Barb, i am looking for support and encouragement any if youve ever heard of recurrent haematometra and pyometra in a 38 yo bf woman and any suggestions.

Wow, you've really been through the wringer.
I have no medical knowledge, but just want to salute you for your dedication to your little girl.
All the best :hug:

Mirena is safe to use while BF, so if it works and effectively treats your problem, there should be no reason at all for you to not keep BFing but if it doesn't work, I hope you are still able to BF :hug:

Can they give you oestrogen supplements? As far as I know the only bad effect of oestrogen (i.e. the combined pill) when breastfeeding is that your milk supply can reduce substantially - but there should still be some milk, and you could continue part bf-part ff, or even mostly bf-some solids-some ff.
hugs
Kate

wow - you have done so well to make it this far. I hope that someone comes on and gives you some medical advice, I just want to give you :hug: and hope that the Dr's find something to help you and keep you BFing

I just wanted to say what an excellent job you have done and what a thing to go through. Your daughter really has a very strong mother and she will learn this quality from you so you can be very proud. In saying that, she doesn't want her mother to suffer and if to give up BF is the best way for you to get better, then she will want that. Of course BF gives a wonderful bond and I understand exactly how you feel with being good at something, but you need to look after you too. You have given her a good start if it comes down to that and never feel guilty that you ever had to give up.

Big hugs to you!

Dear Feathertop,

What a really difficult situation to find yourself in. I have to be honest and say this is out of the range of advice I can give you on this website.
However, it seems that your doctor has put in place a treatment plan and is optimistic that it will be successful. So let's hope that that is the case.
It is important to let your doctor know how important it is for you to breastfeed. I know from our point of view it sounds crazy, but breastfeeding is not important to everyone. Sometimes there is more than one treatment option, but a dr will advise ceasing breastfeeding, because they just don't realise how important it is. Before you contemplate ceasing breastfeeding I would at least seek a second opinion. It is extremely rare that breastfeeding has to stop for a medical condition to be successfully treated.
I will see if I can get any more information for you
Warm Regards
Barb

Oh hun, :hug:. I'm no dr, but when you say your uterus is filling with a pus as a result of a lack of oestrogen, I am somewhat suspicious that this is the only reason.

I would be tempted to go and get another opinion as to what is causing the uterine problems. To just say stop bfing to allow your body to create more oestrogen sounds like the dr is *hoping* that will do the trick this time, since the other things haven't. It would be dreadful if you stopped bfing, only to find that the problem wasn't cured.

I know of a close friend who had multiple problems after a c/s that resulted in a massive infection. She had several operations and was in pain for three years, until the final operation cleared out the last bit of 'stuff' left behind from the infection. She successfully bf until her daughter was over two years of age. While it's a completely different scenario (and probably different medical issue), I wanted to reassure you that it is possible to get medical assistance and treatment without necessarily quitting bfing (or being impacted by continued bfing).

:hug: again.

I just wanted to giv eyou hugs & wish you lots of luck :hug: I think you have done amazingly well so far, hopefully they will be able to find a treatment that still enables you to BF.
I wonder about kmn's suggestion of oestrogen supplements, have they considered / suggested this?

A few more suggestions - what sort of specialist treats the 70 year olds with this problem? And can you arrange to see them to get their opinion?
Is there follow up for the elderly (e.g. physiotherapy) to reduce recurrence??
This is probably no longer the domain of a specialist obstetrician, more a gynaecological surgeon.
If you are in Melbourne I would recommend getting an opinion from Anna Rosamilia.

bump - barb any advice?

Barb's response is the 7th one down!