LACTATIONAL ADENOMA (BREAST TUMOUR)

Has anyone had any personal experience with this?

I have a large one (benign thank goodness) but am likely to need it removed after baby comes. I'd like to know if anyone has had surgery to have it removed and how the breast feeding went before and after surgery.

Thanks

Deborah

I had a large, benign fibro-adenoma removed from my right breast in 2001. It was taken out a year after I first discovered it, as it had grown from being smaller than a pea to being 45mm x 24mm when removed! I was actually about 8-10 weeks pregnant with Kiya at the time, but didn't know it (I didn't find out I was pregnant until around 20-22 weeks).

My lump was encapsulated (contained in its own "shell"), and pressing down on the breast tissue without being attached to anything at all. It was located just behind and above my nipple.

In my case, I was knocked out under general anestetic (sp? Jax?) then the surgeon cut a slit about 1/3 of the way around the edge of my areola and literally popped the lump out in one piece. They then stitched the cut up. It was done in that particular place so that I would not have a noticable scar, as it would run along the change in skin tones. I went into hospital at 9:30am, was in theatre by 11am, and woke up around 1pm. I was home by 4:30, but they did keep me in a little longer than necessary as I have a blood disorder, and everyone wanted to be satisfied I wasn't going to start bleeding!

I was on regular panadol and codine for a few days afterwards (not allowed Nurofen-type drugs) but all in all it wasn't too bad.

Before surgery I'd never breastfeed... once I knew I was pregnant and would be breastfeeding I massaged the scar-tissue lots to soften the area and make the milk flow easier. I do have problems breastfeeding from that breast, but mine are from an after-surgery hitch rather than the surgery itself.

My Mum is a nurse, and she was changing my dressing for me a couple of days after the operation when we realised the dissolving stitches had dissolved too soon! Half my areola to the nipple literally fell forward, which is a most unpleasant sensation! Mum put it back into place, and held it there with some steri-strips. We went to A&E to ask if any serious damage would have taken place and they assured us it would be fine. My best guess now is that when Mum put it back, it became misallined slightly... like the tube-thingys inside the breast that deliver the milk to the nipple, and the holes out of which the milk is sucked by Baby are not quite matching up properly, which makes it harder for my children to pull the milk out. Both my kids have preferred feeding from the other side.

Sorry about the novel!