Anyone have surgery/anesthesia while BF?

NYBride0813

I have a cyst from my wrist that needs to be removed with surgery. I asked the orthopedist and he said the anesthesia and subsequent pain meds will interfere with BF, as in I won't be able to because its harmful. I thought I read on kellymom that anesthesia isn't an issue. Anyone BF after anesthesia with no issue? DS nurses 8-10x in a 24 hour period, barely eats any food, does not drink milk from anywhere but me so I'm kinda stuck here. I plan to ask my regular doctor because I really don't think this dr. knows anything about nursing.

MrsBeckO

I had to have emergency surgery 2 wks PP. The surgery was at 6am, I was told not to nurse for 4 hours but I waited until around lunch, so it was more like 6.  I was under general anesthesia, if that makes any difference. 

I would ask the anesthesiologist. Even though my OB had assured me it was safe after 4 hours, I still wanted to hear from the anes. that all would be okay.  

Osgirl

I had surgery when DS was 4 months old. I did have to pump and dump. I don't remember for how long after the surgery, but I do remember that surgery was early morning and I was able to nurse in the evening.

lkstor

My husband is an anesthesiologist and just said "when mom is awake enough to breastfeed, it should be safe.". GL!

Quazel

I had my gallbladder removed when DS was 3.5 months old.  The doc told me to pump and dump for 48 hours but both my LC and anesthesiologist (sp?) told me as soon as I was awake and felt physically able I could nurse. 

I did one p&d because I was too sore to have DS on me but other than that, I nursed.  They gave me the same pain meds I had for my c/s so it would be safe with bfing but I chose to not take any.

GL!

Traycee1242

I had a LEEP procedure done in November. I was under a general.

A lot of conflicting advice out there... My OB said she'd feel much more comfortable with me pumping and dumping for 24 hours. Better to be safe than sorry kwim?. I took her advice.... Glad that I did because we went to a movie and dinner later that night (10 hours after surgery) and the next day I couldn't tell you a thing about the movie, lol. It definitely was still in my system...

LittleEgypt

I would definitely get a second opinion, because it's doubtful that your orthopedist is the most knowledgeable. Unfortunately very few docs (even OBs and pedis) are very educated about BF, and even less of them about how BF works for an older baby/toddler. If it were me and I didn't have a doc/midwife to ask, I would probably just do it anyway, after anaesthesia wore off.

I was on pain meds (Percodan) for two weeks after my c-section, and the OB, MW and pedi thought it was fine. That is past the colostrum-only point, so it would have come through the milk.

Just curious - is the cyst related to tenosynovitis/mother's wrist? I have pretty wicked De Quervain's tenosynovitis, and am trying to resolve it without surgery. It effing sucks.

NYBride0813

I agree - he didn't seem to know anything about BF. I think his reaction was just to be as conservative as possible.

 I have no idea how I got the cyst - the dr. said there really is no way to know and nothing you can do to prevent it. I've had 2 cortisone shots that helped temporarily but now the pain is back. I am wearing a wrist guard I bought at the drug store so that I don't move my wrist too much.

LittleEgypt

NYBride0813:

I agree - he didn't seem to know anything about BF. I think his reaction was just to be as conservative as possible.

 I have no idea how I got the cyst - the dr. said there really is no way to know and nothing you can do to prevent it. I've had 2 cortisone shots that helped temporarily but now the pain is back. I am wearing a wrist guard I bought at the drug store so that I don't move my wrist too much.

Yuck - I haven't had a cortisone shot yet, but am doing PT and ice/ibuprofen 3x a day. Is it on the thumb side, like a little squishy spot?