A rough start.

As if my body hasn't gone through enough giving birth to Bronx, I have yet another medical hurdle to overcome.  It has been a very trying week.  I have asked many times 'Why Lord?  Why now?  I just want to feel normal and enjoy my sweet little baby!'

This past Wednesday I woke up feeling great.  I went to my dentist appointment in the afternoon and ran an errand.  As I was driving in the car to pick up the boys I started to feel some discomfort in my right breast.  The same side that I had the lump on.  You can click here to read more about that.  Within an hour, it was painful, and a few hours later I had the chills and sweats and it was excruciating pain.  I called my OB's office right away because I have had mastitis with the other kids, so knew the symptoms.  They called in a prescription for me and I began taking it right away.  Later that evening the pain was unbearable and I was vomiting.  I couldn't take it anymore, so Chelsea and Shana came over to sit with the boys and Derek took me to the ER.  I threw up a lot in the car.  Thank goodness I left home with a garbage can!  Things moved quickly in the ER.  They gave me morphene and IV antibiotics since I had thrown up all the meds I had taken previously.  We were there until about 2 am.  When I left the ER the pain was better, but still not completely gone.  They put me on Zofran for nausea, Hydrocodone for pain management, and then I was to continue with the Dicloxicillin.  

Thursday morning I woke up still not feeling well, and knew right away there was no way I could take care of the boys alone.  Chelsea was able to watch all 3 of them in the morning, and then my mom came down and took over for the afternoon, until 6.  I slept quite a bit that day.  The pain got a little better, but I had an awful headache all day.  Every time I would sit up or stand my head felt like it could explode.  By 6 that evening I was feeling well enough to handle the boys until Derek got home from work.  I just laid on the couch snuggling Bronx, and the older boys played and watched cartoons.  

Thursday night I slept well, and when I woke up Friday morning I was feeling a little better.  I did notice that a side effect of Zofran was headaches, so I stopped taking that right away.  I also cut the pain med dosage in half because I was just feeling too medicated.  Friday I was on my own with the boys, and it went well.  Bronx is a really good baby, and Boston and Brigham knew that I wasn't feeling 100% so they played nice together and listened well.  Brigham also took a 3 hour nap for me, so that was fabulous.   Friday evening I noticed that the breast wasn't looking any better. The redness had spread and the breast was extremely hard and larger in size than the left.  I called the hospital and talked to the on-call OB.  She said that if there were no improvements by Saturday, the next step was to have an ultrasound to check for an abscess.  I had also noticed a streak of red on the 'good side' of the right breast.  This was also a concern because the infection can spread to your blood stream.   

Saturday I woke up feeling fine, but the breast was still looking the same.  The redness was traveling up toward my collar bone area, and the muscle in my upper chest was also sore to the touch.  I debated all day about whether or not to give the antibiotics more time, or if I should just go in and get it checked out more.  Around 3:00, I decided I may as well go in.  I knew it wasn't something to ignore, and I sure as heck didn't want it getting any worse.  I took the boys to Glady's and headed to the ER.  I was hoping it would only be a few hours and I would be back home with different meds, but it was a 5 hour stay. The doctor that did the exam thought it felt like an abscess, so he ordered an ultrasound right away.  Thank goodness the ultrasound results did NOT show that.  It did show a lot of infection and inflammation though.  They gave me more iv antibiotics, and talked about admitting me.  My blood work had also checked out ok, so that was more good news.  I got two different antibiotics in my IV.  One of them I reacted too. I got really red and blotchy on my upper body, front and back.  My skin was hot but not itchy, however my head itched like crazy.  It was like I had bugs crawling on my head!  I wanted to cry. My ER nurse was pregnant with her second son, so she had sympathy to how I was feeling about being in the ER and away from my newborn baby.  She could tell I was not liking the 'admitting' orders, so she talked with the doctor about other options.  It was a lot of waiting around to see what the final call was going to be.    

I was finally discharged around 8:30 with an IV in my hand, and orders to go to the Infusion Center for 7-14 days for IV antibiotics.  They also prescribed Bactrim.  The on-call OB doctor that came and did my exam, and took over my case for follow up, mentioned MRSA.  She didn't say that I had it, and they did not test me for it, but they wanted to be proactive in treating me for it.  My discharge papers all say diagnosis is 'Cellulitis' and I am not sure what is different between that and mastitis.  Another question for the doctor on Thursday.  

I went to the Infusion Center at the hospital yesterday. Day #1 of 10 for my IV antibiotics.  It's a 30 minute drip, so it went fast.  I am so thankful it is not any longer.  I have my appointments all set up through August 6th.  One challenge with these appointments, is figuring out what to do with my boys!  Derek has very little flexibility at work, and since he is still new to his Finance position, it's hard for him to get time off.  It sucks. It sucks on a normal week, but these past few weeks I have really struggled with the demands of his job.  After a Facebook message to close friends and family about the situation, I had a babysitter lined up for the boys for ALL 10 days of Infusion appointments.  Such a blessing!  

I am feeling OK today.  Tired, but that's to be expected with a new baby:)  My IV doesn't bother me at all, it's just a matter of keeping it dry, clean, and remembering that I am very limited with my left hand. I find myself catching it on blankets or my clothes when I am getting dressed, so I am still learning. I put a zip lock bag over my hand while I shower, and then hold my arm up and out of the water.  I still haven't figured out how I will bathe Brigham & Bronx..  I may have to call in for some help on that!  Bottle washing is tricky but do-able & everything else is going in the dishwasher!  I am seeing small improvements, but still a long ways to go.  The redness has gone down some, but the breast is still quite hard.  Almost feels like half of an apple is wedged on one side of my boob!  I am convinced that the swollen lymph node in my armpit, and this breast infection are related.  This infection may have been brewing for some time, and just took awhile to come to the surface.  It's a mystery I guess..  I follow up with an OB doctor in the clinic on Thursday.

Boston has seen and heard more about boobs this week than any 7 year old should.  Yesterday he said:  'Your boob is looking way better!'  I guess the small improvements are noticeable to him too :)  Please pray that these antibiotics clear up the infection, and that after August 6th, I have a clean bill of health for a very long time! 

Early Thursday morning in the ER.  I was just thrilled to not be throwing up.

 ER Saturday.

 The infection going up my chest.

 Headed for the shower.