Port removal on Monday morning

triples15

Super Moderator
Hello again everyone!
Don't necessarily know that I'm looking for specific info or advice, more of just a venting of my anxieties! But if you have any advice/info/support I'd love to hear it! :)
I had my monthly port flush last week and we could tell something was awry. Flushed slower and with more resistance and I could feel pressure/coolness in my chest. So I had a catheter-gram (dye test) on Friday which so the catheter has come loose from the port and the saline/dye was just leaking directly into my chest. Ugh. They said it needs to come out right away due to the fact that the catheter is nearly broken off completely and could become free standing in my bloodstream if it becomes unattached entirely.
Anyway, I think I have posted on here before about my daughter's refusal to take a bottle. Well she is almost 8 month old and still refuses. She absolutely will not suck on anything that is not my breast! We've tried many different types of bottles and sippy cups. We sometimes give her sips of water out of a bottle or a cup and she will drink that way somewhat. So the dye test was a little stressful to begin with. The radiology dept. told me to pump and dump for 24 hours. My breastfeeding medicine specialist told me that was not necessary at all, and I could feed her as soon as the procedure was over, so that was what I did.
So for the port removal they are going to use twilight anesthesia (or conscious sedation). The breastfeeding medicine specialist said that as soon as I am awake enough from the procedure it is safe to breastfeed! Yikes, makes me a little nervous but I do trust her. However, I still wish so badly Maya would take a bottle because I'd rather err on the side of caution and pump and dump- but I don't want to add the extra stress of having her irate/stressed when I am recovering from the procedure, especially since the doctor says it's safe to bf. So my plan is to breastfeed her in the pre-op area right before they administer the anesthesia. She usually goes 3-4 hours between feedings so she should be good to go until I feel good enough to feed her. My mom is coming along and is going to feed her some baby food and water while I'm having the procedure/recovering to try to make sure she's ok until I'm ready to feed her. Ugh.
My other big concern is how sore I will be after. I was super sore after the thing was placed, but I'm assuming/hoping I won't be nearly as sore just having it removed. However, it is stitched down so I'm sure there will be some level of pain with it. It is on my left side which is where Maya always lays her head and is the side I hold her on. I'm struggling with perhaps not being able to pick her up or let her lay her head on my chest for a few days. It will be really hard. Ugh.
Anyway, sorry for lengthy post. Guess I'm just feeling more nervous about this than I initially thought I was. Hopefully everything goes to plan with the breastfeeding and I'm not too sore afterward!
Thanks to anyone who made it to the end of this post! I would also welcome any info from people who have had a port removed and what it was like (pain level, length of procedure, etc.). I'm not having a new one put it at this point. I've only used this one twice since it was put in 3 1/2 years ago. So I'm going to go without for a while and then eventually have a new one put in on my right side. I know that may sound a little crazy but I don't want Maya having to dig her head into/lay on it for the next however many years. Plus the docs now say they would actually prefer to have it on my right side. So that will be a procedure for another day.
Ok I'm really done now! Thanks again everyone.

Autumn
 
K

Keepercjr

Guest
Autmn

You don't need to worry at all about exposing her to anesthesia through your breast milk. I have a friend who was a surgeon and she echoed the same good advice to me when I had to have a procedure when my daughter was almost 1. Radiology has NO training in breastfeeding and meds passing into milk and I wouldn't listen to them for a second. When I had my gall bladder out 2 years ago I had to spend the night in the hospital before the surgery and and even though kids weren't allowed to visit in the room they let my daughter come in (she was almost 2) and I told the nurse I was going to nurse her. She told me I shouldn't (antibiotics) and I said "I know but I am going to do it anyway" and she said "ok". No big deal.

As for being sore - I think you will have to cross that bridge when you get to it. There is no way to know how you will feel afterwards and worrying about it before hand won't help. And babies are surprisingly intuitive and if you are super sore there and need to have her adjust for a few days she will do it. Just explain to her and show her why it hurts. Even at 8 months old she will have some understanding.

I'm sorry that you are having to endure this with a baby but I promise you that when it is over and you are reflecting on it you will see that it wasn't really a big deal after all.
 

triples15

Super Moderator
Caroline,

Thank you SO much for your words. They bring me more comfort than you will ever know. ;)

So good to have it reinforced that breastfeeding after anesthesia is perfectly safe. As I said, I completely trust the breastfeeding medicine specialist, but I was still feeling a tad bit uneasy. Especially with the mixed messages, but as you said, the radiologists/surgeons have no training in breastfeeding. The specialist I see is a medical doctor who specializes in breastfeeding medicine and research. I think I will go with what she says over a radiologist or anyone else.

Your story about the nurse also struck me because that is one of the things I have also been thinking about. Will I nurse her in the post-op recovery area if she is hungry? How will they react since they are telling me not to feed her? Or will I try to get out of recovery super quick so I can get the heck outta their eyesight and feed her? I guess they really can't stop me so we'll see!!

And regarding the soreness, you're right, I need to stop worrying. My mom is always telling me not to borrow trouble because I tend to worry about every little detail and all the "what ifs?". I will have to step back and allow my husband and my mom to pick up the slack if in the beginning I cannot hold her comfortably. It will be tough but I can do it! :) And she will be FINE!

I agree, in the future I will probably look back and say that I was freaking out over something that turned out to be not so bad! Thanks for making me feel so much better!

Take care,

Autumn
 

mamaScarlett

Active member
I had conscious sedation about 5 times during the course of BF with both kids. I never pumped and dumped. The only time I p&d's was when I had full general anesth during an appendix surgery.
I would not worry about p&d for this. The surgeon's and/or staff will tell you to p&d bc they simply do not know or specialize in bf and meds. However if you ask the bf specialists, across the board they say most anesthesias and the vast majority of meds are safe to keep using while bf. It depends on many factors, dosage, time on the med, etc. If the bf experts tell you something is or isn't safe, then go with that they say.
Kellymom is a great bf resource. This past winter while I was nursing my 6 mo, and on ivs, I called infantrisk.org for specific info on meds and safety. They are pretty much the worlds authority on BF and meds, run by Dr. Thomas Hale. Those are the 2 resources I've leaned on while nursing my 2.
Best wishes!
 

triples15

Super Moderator
Thanks a bunch mamaScarlett!

Yes, I had checked out Kellymom and bookmarked the page about anesthesia/sedation. It looks to reiterate exactly what I was told. It's nice to know that between the breastfeeding medicine specialist, kellymom, and Dr. Hale's info. we can figure pretty much anything out. And of course getting info from you girls! If I hadn't read so much on here about being misinformed about breastfeeding and meds I might have just taken what I was told by the doctors about pumping and dumping at face value! Ugh.

I doubt you'll see this before I leave in the morning but in case you do............With the conscious sedation were you pretty much asleep? Or were you awake and just loopy? Also, how did you feel coming out of it? Was it easier to wake up from than general anesthesia? I'm just wondering how quickly I will be "with it". I can't remember whether I've ever had twilight anesthesia before but it seems like maybe I have and just don't remember!

Thanks again!
 

mamaScarlett

Active member
You're probably in twilight sleep right now! :)
But, no you are not aware of anything. It is exactly like you have fallen into a deep sleep and just kept there until they wake you up. My surgeon this past winter told me this type of anesthesia starts to leave your body almost as soon as it begins working. Thats why they have to monitor you so closely as the surgeons work. I was concerned about nursing my little guy through this, but he assured me the levels would be totally undetectable in milk or blood.
On a side note, as my surgeon began administering the sedation ivs, he held up a picture of his newborn twins and reassured me, he'd tell his wife to nurse them right after this same procedure. And thats what I fell asleep to. Very kind!
 

triples15

Super Moderator
I'm back! :)

Everything was easy peasy. I fed Maya just before they took me back. They were really accommodating and understanding. I was worried they would think I was crazy! They ended up giving me so light of a dose of twilight anesthesia that I never fell asleep. I just felt super calm and relaxed. In fact I talked the doctor's ear off the entire time-probably distracted him, not a good idea in retrospect! They put up a drape so i couldn't see anything that was going on, but I could hear it. Luckily in my sedated state I didn't think much of it at the time but I could hear this scraping sound. The doc said I had a lot of scar tissue ans some of it was sort wrapped around the catheter and the sound was him scraping through it trying to free it. Yuck! He said I'd probably have a lot of bruising and be pretty sore.

So yep, pretty sore but other than that doing pretty well! It's been super hard not to pick up the baby, especially when she is crying and reaching for me. I've actually just been trying to stay out of her eyesight quite a bit and let my husband and mom take care of her. It's harder when she sees me. Hopefully tomorrow evening if my shoulder is feeling better I'll be able to lift/hold her. The doc said he did a couple layers of stitches, as well as glue, so hopefully it holds!

MamaScarlett, that's so great about your surgeon reassuring you! Funny because I had the exact opposite. Just as they were about the push the sedation she reminded me to pump and dump for 24 hours! lol. Luckily I was only in recovery for one hour (mandatory) and got outta their sight in plenty of time to feed her. From the time they gave me the anesthesia to the time I fed her again was about 3 1/2 hours.

Well better run but wanted to update. Thanks again Caroline and Mama! I felt so much more at ease after hearing your stories!

Take Care,

Autumn
 
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