historically accurate Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 (edited) I'm kind of at a loss on what to ask the doctors at this point, so I thought I would turn to the hive. My 13 year old is on her second round of mastitis - she had an abscess in her right breast over the summer. She did a round of antibiotics, had 2 ultrasounds, and they proclaimed it a cyst. No further followup - it's twinged now and then around mid-cycle, but nothing major. Today, she has a lump and severe pain in her left breast. I called to get an appointment with her doctor and they sent us right to the ER so they could do an ultrasound. Ended up that the ER couldn't do an ultrasound anyway because she's so tender, so they prescribed the same antibiotics and we are to follow up with her primary doctor this coming week. Anyone have any ideas on how to stop this from happening on an on-going basis? She is wearing fairly good-fitting bras - she's a tiny thing, so she's hard to fit, but they aren't too tight nor are they horribly loose. She got all new bras after the round this summer since hers were a little on the tight side before. Any weird diagnoses that I should terrify myself with on webmd haha? Everything I can find is for nursing mothers. Oh, and to top it all off, I have the BRCA gene mutation, so I'm trying not to freak out, but failing at this point. Update 2/25/19: She had a 4 cm cyst as well as 3 smaller cysts in her breast. The radiologist drained the largest cyst last Wednesday. They cultured it, but no growth - they said they weren't sure if it would show since she had been on antibiotics for 4 days at that point. DD felt pretty good on Thursday and Friday. Over the weekend, the largest cyst started filling back up. She was back in severe pain yesterday. She was scheduled to return to her primary doctor for a followup this coming Thursday - I called and got her in this morning. She will be having the cyst drained again as soon as the breast center can get her in, and there is a call in to the breast specialist. Primary doc does not know if specialist will deal with a 13 year old; if not, we will be traveling up to the pediatric specialist center about 2 hours away. Good news - there is no sign of anything remotely resembling breast cancer, just lots of cysts. Edited February 25, 2019 by beckyjo 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Is she wearing a clean bra every single day? Is she changing if it gets sweaty? Any discharge? im so sorry for her and you! That’s terrible. Poor thing. I hope you get some answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted February 16, 2019 Author Share Posted February 16, 2019 9 minutes ago, fairfarmhand said: Is she wearing a clean bra every single day? Is she changing if it gets sweaty? Any discharge? im so sorry for her and you! That’s terrible. Poor thing. I hope you get some answers. Yes she changes it daily. She's not much for running around, but she does shower and puts on a fresh bra after Tae Kwon Do class. No discharge this time or over the summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusyMom5 Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Is it mastitis? Does she have other signs of it, like red streaks, fever, chills.... I'm just getting over a case, but I'm a nursing mom. I'd want a specialist at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Get a specialist. I know someone who had something similar but it turned out the primary source of the infection was elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted February 16, 2019 Author Share Posted February 16, 2019 2 hours ago, BusyMom5 said: Is it mastitis? Does she have other signs of it, like red streaks, fever, chills.... I'm just getting over a case, but I'm a nursing mom. I'd want a specialist at this point. I really don't know if it is mastitis. She didn't have a fever this morning at the ER, but she ran a low fever this afternoon - 99.5. That is with Advil for the pain. She complained of being hot and cold at the same time, but no real fever chills. Yeah, I think I'll push for a specialist visit this week when we go to the primary doctor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 I had mammary duct ectasia, but I am really suspicious about that diagnosis in someone this young with no lactation ever. I would push for a specialist and for more evaluations. In my case, I have a connective tissue disorder called Ehler's-Danlos. I had a really nasty case of mastitis with each of my kids. When my son was ten years old, I had an infection again, same spot, but they call it mammary duct ectasia when you are not lactating. Then one more time four years ago. My theory is that the spot that had mastitis got all stretched out and became a pocket in which infection is harbored. Because I have dysfunctional connective tissue that spot did not bounce back. But mammary duct ectasia is rare. NONE of the doctors who treated me for it on two different occasions, two different states, had ever had a patient with this diagnosis before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted February 16, 2019 Author Share Posted February 16, 2019 9 minutes ago, Harriet Vane said: I had mammary duct ectasia, but I am really suspicious about that diagnosis in someone this young with no lactation ever. I would push for a specialist and for more evaluations. In my case, I have a connective tissue disorder called Ehler's-Danlos. I had a really nasty case of mastitis with each of my kids. When my son was ten years old, I had an infection again, same spot, but they call it mammary duct ectasia when you are not lactating. Then one more time four years ago. My theory is that the spot that had mastitis got all stretched out and became a pocket in which infection is harbored. Because I have dysfunctional connective tissue that spot did not bounce back. But mammary duct ectasia is rare. NONE of the doctors who treated me for it on two different occasions, two different states, had ever had a patient with this diagnosis before. Interesting. My older DD's doctor told us that we (me and older DD) probably have Ehler's Danlos the first time we saw her. We have never been officially diagnosed though. From the symptoms the doctor listed for Ehler's Danlos, I would assume 13 year old would have it if I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 28 minutes ago, Harriet Vane said: I had mammary duct ectasia, but I am really suspicious about that diagnosis in someone this young with no lactation ever. I would push for a specialist and for more evaluations. In my case, I have a connective tissue disorder called Ehler's-Danlos. I had a really nasty case of mastitis with each of my kids. When my son was ten years old, I had an infection again, same spot, but they call it mammary duct ectasia when you are not lactating. Then one more time four years ago. My theory is that the spot that had mastitis got all stretched out and became a pocket in which infection is harbored. Because I have dysfunctional connective tissue that spot did not bounce back. But mammary duct ectasia is rare. NONE of the doctors who treated me for it on two different occasions, two different states, had ever had a patient with this diagnosis before. Ok, take this with a grain of salt. I have a dairy cow and I have learned more about lactation from her than I ever learned from human medical professionals. My understanding is that mastitis heals up but the healing doesn’t create smooth tissue. It creates jagged ragged tissue. The perfect place for random bacteria to hang out. The cow that I have that had mastitis in one quarter never really cleared up till lactation ceased. I constantly battled it i that quarter. In fact, the scarring was so great that that quarter never really produced again. all that to say, you’re probably accurate on the bolded. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 Did they culture this to determine what type of infection it is? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 I don't know much about mastitis, but I do know about cysts. Some breasts are just prone to them. Caffeine was a big contributor for me when I was younger. Poor babe! Hope she feels better soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WendyLady Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 I have some trouble with my left breast, sort of in the tissue that leads to my armpit. I have found some underwire bras cause problems. Also, sports bras can be an issue, either smashing too much or allowing too much bounce - there's a fine line and it seems to change all through my cycle. Sometimes running just before my period causes pain on that side, and seems to increase cyst issues. Hormones, bounce, too tight, not tight enough. Those are all problems for me. I'm so sorry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scholarly Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 I don't really have any advice, but my daughter had mastitis when she was 3 years old. After antibiotics the fever and redness went away, but she was tender there for a long time and the swelling took many months to go away. While she hasn't gotten it again (she's 5 now), her tissue was obviously still recovering for a very long time afterward. It was easy to see on her because she was, of course, completely undeveloped and also often went shirtless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted February 17, 2019 Author Share Posted February 17, 2019 19 hours ago, itsheresomewhere said: Did they culture this to determine what type of infection it is? No, they didn't. They said it was probably the same thing as over the summer, looked back through her records, and prescribed the same antibiotic. I don't think they cultured it over the summer either. She's not getting any worse or better so far today. A little bit of discharge now, but no fever today at all. I'll be calling the doctor tomorrow to get her in and see where we go from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, beckyjo said: No, they didn't. They said it was probably the same thing as over the summer, looked back through her records, and prescribed the same antibiotic. I don't think they cultured it over the summer either. She's not getting any worse or better so far today. A little bit of discharge now, but no fever today at all. I'll be calling the doctor tomorrow to get her in and see where we go from here. They should have biopsied and cultured it. No excuse for not. Edited February 17, 2019 by itsheresomewhere 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arliemaria Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 I haven’t read everything because I get too emotional thinking about these things, but my mom was not breastfeeding and they treated her for mastitis multiple times before she ended up in the ER after debilitating pain—she drove herself to the hospital during labor/transition(!!!). She was not someone with a low pain tolerance, but could not get off her bathroom floor. It was inflammatory breast cancer. Please read about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 21 hours ago, fairfarmhand said: Ok, take this with a grain of salt. I have a dairy cow and I have learned more about lactation from her than I ever learned from human medical professionals. My understanding is that mastitis heals up but the healing doesn’t create smooth tissue. It creates jagged ragged tissue. The perfect place for random bacteria to hang out. The cow that I have that had mastitis in one quarter never really cleared up till lactation ceased. I constantly battled it i that quarter. In fact, the scarring was so great that that quarter never really produced again. all that to say, you’re probably accurate on the bolded. Thanks for the affirmation! I appreciate the explanation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 21 hours ago, beckyjo said: Interesting. My older DD's doctor told us that we (me and older DD) probably have Ehler's Danlos the first time we saw her. We have never been officially diagnosed though. From the symptoms the doctor listed for Ehler's Danlos, I would assume 13 year old would have it if I do. Maybe, maybe not. It can be hard to pinpoint when your case is not screamingly obvious from dislocations or some such. It took me more than a decade of escalating injuries, symptoms, and joint pain before I was diagnosed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 Update 2/25/19: She had a 4 cm cyst as well as 3 smaller cysts in her breast. The radiologist drained the largest cyst last Wednesday. They cultured it, but no growth - they said they weren't sure if it would show since she had been on antibiotics for 4 days at that point. DD felt pretty good on Thursday and Friday. Over the weekend, the largest cyst started filling back up. She was back in severe pain yesterday. She was scheduled to return to her primary doctor for a followup this coming Thursday - I called and got her in this morning. She will be having the cyst drained again as soon as the breast center can get her in, and there is a call in to the breast specialist. Primary doc does not know if specialist will deal with a 13 year old; if not, we will be traveling up to the pediatric specialist center about 2 hours away. Good news - there is no sign of anything remotely resembling breast cancer, just lots of cysts. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Poor kid! I hope you’re able to get some answers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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