Post-surgery

Warning:
Please do not read if you have a weak stomach.

Wow, what a week! For a few months now, I have really been looking forward to Thanksgiving Break so I can relax, knit, drink hot cocoa, and listen to Christmas music. At least I have been able to listen to Christmas music...
So here's what happened to me...
About a week and a half after Grant was born, I got what felt like a plugged milk duct. Well, I massaged it, kept nursing, and it never got any better. On the 4th I came down with my first fever. It only lasted a day, so we didn't think much of it. I kind of self-diagnosed myself with mastitis since the pain was getting worse, it was turning red, and nursing wasn't helping. I nursed, pumped, massaged, put heat on it, and it didn't get any better. I developed another fever the night of the 11th. By this point I would burst out in tears when I nursed because it was so painful. On the 12th I finally called the doctor and they had me start on an antibiotic right away. They didn't want to see me, they just called in the prescription, because of course it was mastitis, right? Well a week went by and there was absolutely no improvement--in fact, I'm positive it got worse. The pain was so much that I felt like screaming all day. The thought of nursing the baby would make me cringe because now, it felt like the baby had bruised me and that on top of the swelling was no bueno. I called the doctor again on the night of the 25th and he told me I should have called if the antibiotic didn't work after a few days. Well, I learned my lesson. He told me to go to the emergency room, so that's what we did. The doctor there told me it was mastitis and gave me stronger pain medicine and a different antibiotic. They also gave me a shot of something heavenly and I was on top of the world Sunday night. I was feeling really good. Well, my fever came and went and came back on Monday so I just stayed in bed all day. Monday during the night I started puking up all the water I drank during the day. (Ew!) Tuesday came and I had a high fever still. The antibiotic wasn't helping at all. I called the doctor yet again and they said to go back to the emergency room because they thought I might have an abscess since the antibiotics weren't working. So we went at about 4 in the afternoon back to the ER. I was scared for my life...and, well, it hurt so bad I thought I was dying. They did an ultrasound on my chest and sure enough found a big abscess that was fairly deep under the skin. For small abscesses, they can usually just poke you with a needle and get the pus out, but this was too big and too deep for that. They called a surgeon while we stayed in the room for over an hour. The surgeon came in and took a look and his reaction scared me just a little. He was surprised it was so red and swollen. He says he sees these types of abscesses only once or twice a year. So they prepped me for surgery. By this time I was so scared I didn't know what to think. I've never had a surgery before, let alone a surgery where I've been put to sleep. Well I don't remember a lot after that. I woke up in the recovery room and was very cold and I remember asking the anesthesiologist a ton of questions but I don't remember what they were. I eventually got moved up to a regular room and stayed there overnight. I was very sad that we had to start feeding the baby formula. Who knew there could be so many complications from breastfeeding!? I now have a drainage tube sticking out of my chest connected to a bulb with blood, pus, and milk in it. Yeah, you think that's gross? You have no idea!! It's coming out of me!! I think it is extremely gross and I have to clean it out. Anyway, I go back to the surgeon on Monday, when he hopefully will take the tube out so I can feel normal again. I'm not sure if I'll be able to continue breastfeeding at this point. I am still pumping a little bit for the baby right now.
On a happier note, please enjoy this picture of Grant :)