On the mend….day 18

I’ve been going to the doctor or urgent care for 18 days straight now and I’m not sure when it will finally come to an end. Ultimately, I’ve been dealing with this un-fun-ness for nearly 5 weeks. Remember when I wrote that after doing some research I thought I had determined I had an abscess as a result of mastitis? Turns out—I did. It also turns out that in the 25 years my doctor has been doctoring, I had the worst abscess he has ever seen. Oh joy. Lucky me. Drat. Why?!

Abscess: a collection of pus that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue on the basis of an infectious process (usually caused by bacteria or parasites)

Here’s what I wrote in my journal the day of “surgery” (8/24):

“Today I had probably the most painful procedure in my life done. I’ve been battling with mastitis for 2+ weeks and it finally developed into an abscess:( Basically that means pus has formed and collected in my breast and the only way to take care of it was to have a 1 inch incision cut on my breast (after about 10 shots of numbing medication – INCREDIBLY painful!) then squeezing and pushing for about 10 minutes to get all the pus out. I cried in pain the entire time. I held the hand of the nurse as well as onto her shirt sleeve. The incision (cavity) goes down about 3 inches and is now stuffed full of “new gauze” which aids in healing. I have to go back to the doctor every day this week to have it changed and before I get there, I’m supposed to take 2 Vicodin—which means it’s gonna hurt. I wasn’t sure beforehand if I just being a wimp, but Dr. M said he thought mine was the worst he has ever seen and also commented that there was about a gallon of pus coming out…not really that much of course, but a lot. My mom came to pick me up because the nurse didn’t want me to drive home on my own. She told my mom, ‘Your daughter is one tough cookie’ and even got a little teary eyed.”

I was prescribed two antibiotics and two pain meds and because I had to take everything at specific intervals with specific instructions, I made a chart so I could keep things straight. I was oh-so-happy to be done with that part!

I hurt like none other for the first week or so. I cried at every appointment that week. I cried before nursing for the first time with Ashley after the surgery. I cried when one of my little guys accidentally bumped my wound… I cried more in that short time than I did the entire past year. But, I’m happy to report that the crying is done! The hole is still about an inch deep and I am STILL going to the doctor every day to have the gauze changed. I don’t even want to think about what my medical bill is going to look like at the end of this. I see my doctor or a nurse on week days and on the weekends I have to go to Urgent Care. Ugh, ugh, ugh. I don’t even have to give my name anymore when I check in, they just wave me by. And I know the nurses far better than I ever thought I would—that happens when you see them every day.

Thank you everyone for your concern and well wishes!