The Mastitis

I'm sitting here wondering what it is about me that makes me so prone to ailments... in this case, it happens to be The Mastitis. I call it that because it reminds me of "The Plague" -- it just needs an article before its name to emphasize how dreadful it really is. For those who don't know, Mastitis is a breast infection that sometimes occurs in breastfeeding moms. I realize that there are many people that check our blog and don't want to hear all about breast infections. Those individuals should stop reading now, because I need to document this. It has definitely earned its spot on the blog. Furthermore, I am so supersticious that I believe that as soon as I put this in writing, The Mastitis will miraculously vanish, making a liar out of me (that's what I'm hoping for!).

The Friday before Twyla left (nearly three weeks ago), I came down with Mastitis. I immediately went to our favorite urgent care, recognizing the all too familiar ache (I had Mastitis twice with the twins) and the throbbing pain in my head. Urgent care gave me an antibiotic (Cephalexin) and sent me on my not-so-merry way. I spent the next three days in agony with fever, chills, and migraines (spinal headache). I had to take Ibuprofin around the clock, even though it's kind of contraindicated to be taken with my blood thinner Cumadin. I begged my nursing student sister, Marci, to get me a Vicadin (I didn't care how she came by it), but she firmly refused.

Well, the migraine went away along with the accompanying flu-like symptoms of Mastitis. I smugly believed I was on the road to recovery, silently congratulating myself for catching it in time. But of all things, my breast never improved! I did the warm compresses, I took my medicine religiously, I nursed the baby -- nothing worked for almost two weeks. The PA at my OB's office started talking about me having a consult with a surgeon. One morning, I woke up and the Mastitis seemed to have resolved itself -- yea, victory! The very next morning, it was back with a vengance in a new spot. I decided on Monday that I had no choice but to go to the doctor and get a new prescription for another round of antibiotics (Dicloxacillin). At my appointment, my OB proceeds to tell me that my boobs "look really big" and tells me, prior to noticing the mastitis, that this might be my problem. Hmmm.

Last night, I had shooting pain in the boob, non-stop for hours (I'm talking scream out loud and hold an ice pack to my boob in front of visitors pain). I start sweating at the thought of nursing Isabella on that side and rationalize to myself why I can just skip that side and go to the other. I contemplated going to the ER just to get a narcotic, but I just hated the thought of bringing Isabella into that environment and exposing her to all those sick people (since I'm nursing her, I can't just leave her at home with Jake for hours). Anyway, yeah, this has been a big deal. I can't ignore it in real life, so it goes on the blog. Every night at bedtime prayer, we pray for it to go away. So now you know.