Rewind three years earlier…my first child was born, 6 pounds 6 oz right on schedule. He latched on pretty much from the beginning and did great. It was 3 weeks after he was born I woke up feeling a bit funny. I was tired and my body ached. A few hours later I had a fever of 104 degrees. Mastitis, urgh. I went on antibiotics and was fine, until 3 weeks later when it came back, then 2 weeks later after that At this time I developed a lump in my right breast. They concluded a blocked duct and to have it drained. I went to the breast health clinic at Women and Infants Hospital thinking they would have all the answers. The doctor stuck a 4 inch needle into my breast to drain out what was in there; he wasn’t expecting to find what he did. It surly wasn’t breast milk and it was sent off to the lab. I felt amazing after he drained it. My tennis size lump was now gone.

I continued to breast feed as normal.

Five days later the lump had returned…I went back the Breast Health Clinic, again they drained it. I was thinking they knew what they were doing; they are all about breast health. I went back 5 times over the next few weeks. The last time I had it drained it was the size of a softball. He had to use 3 huge vials to get everything out. It was 4 days before Thanksgiving and we were headed to my in-laws for dinner. I cried the whole way up to their house I was in so much pain. My husband called my OB because I couldn’t even talk. She told me to put ice packs on it and come into the office the next morning.

In 12 hours my breast was the size of a softball and I was in so much pain it was unimaginable. I was barely nursing on that side because of the pain, but I didn’t want to stop yet. He was only six months old. My OB referred me to a breast surgeon who was absolutely remarkable. My appointment was at 4:00pm in his Warwick office a week later. Mark met me there to take our son home. He asked if I wanted him to wait. I said I’d be fine, after all they are just going to drain it again. I decided to stop nursing 5 days before and figured because I wasn’t producing anymore milk this would just go away.

Dr. Faulkenberry took one look at my records (I had to go for an ultrasound because they were concerned it might have been a tumor) and said it’s an abscess and we need to drain it. I thought that’s exactly what I was thinking. I’ve had a needle stuck into my breast so many times it didn’t phase me anymore. Go for it! That wasn’t the way he was planning on draining it.

It took 3 nurses to hold my arms and legs down as he made a 3 inch incision into my right breast, and when the abscess started draining it felt like hot lava pouring over my body. It was like having surgery without any anesthesia. I remember him saying “I’m so sorry Shannon I didn’t think it was this bad” as I was literally screaming. This isn’t my normal behavior when I am hurt. I usually withdraw and get extremely quite and don’t move. They had to call in back-up to hold me so he could finish. Dr. Faulkenberry put in a drain that was 3 feet long and gave me a few stitches to hold it in place. The nurses (they were so sweet) couldn’t keep the tape on me because I was sweating so much. I walked out of the office so thankful I was his last appointment and no one was left in the waiting room. They would have run.

He gave me a prescription for pain. I remember driving, shaking and quivering trying to make it to CVS. The woman at the drive-thru said hold on, and got it right away. I must have looked that bad.

Flash forward three years when I was having problems nursing my second son. Because he wouldn’t latch, I was pumping and giving him the breast milk with a dropper. Go figure my right side wasn’t producing very much, hence going to see the lactation consultant. When she saw the scar on my breast she asked what it was. I told her I ended up with an abscess from my first child and her exact words were “An abscess, are you sure. I’ve never seen that and I’ve been practicing for 20 years. Maybe it was something else”.

I never went back to see her and that is part of the reason why I am a lactation counselor today. That remark will stay with me for the rest of my life along with the pain of the abscess. I always said I would rather go through birth 100 times than ever have to go thought that pain again. Lactation visits are one of my favorite things to do. I love being able to make moms feel confident about the road they have chosen, no matter how they have gotten there and what obstacles they have overcome.

-Shannon