PTP. A close friend of mine is being worked up for breast cancer right now.
She is 35 years old and is currently breastfeeding her 11mo daughter. At
her appointment for the biopsy (of the breast mass and swollen lymph node),
the surgeon advised her to wean in preparation for surgery. Based on her
ultrasound results, the mass is highly suspicious of cancer, which is why
the surgeon was preparing her for the likelihood of surgery. The biopsy
results will be back in about a week and if positive for cancer, she will
get genetic testing and an MRI. If the genetic tests reveal BRCA 1 or 2,
she will be advised to get a double mastectomy.

My question is this: if she does NOT end up needing a double mastectomy, is
it ok for her to just wean from the affected breast and continue
breastfeeding from the unaffected breast? I realize that if she has to get
chemo, she will no longer be able to breastfeed.

I would appreciate any feedback or anticipatory guidance that I could give
my friend. We are all in shock about the possibility of cancer and she is
feeling very sad about having to wean her daughter sooner than she wanted
to. Her daughter is sick right now and is wanting to comfort nurse a lot,
so it is feeling especially hard to try to wean her. Do you think she has
to do this? Is it ok for her to wait for the bx results? Or would surgery
likely happen soon after the results, giving her less time to wean? Does
she have to wean from the unaffected breast? What should she expect in
terms of how soon she would go home (ie., how many days' worth of milk she
should have stored up for baby while they are apart). I don't have
experience with this kind of thing, so would appreciate hearing from those
of you who do and how I can best support my friend in this.

Thank you,

Esther Reich, RN, BSN, CLC

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome