[Cocolatte]

HI there
I went to an ENT yesterday who has advised I get my tonsils out due to recurrent infections.
He has booked me in for April. I am breastfeeding DD who is 4 months.
I'm not ready to wean her yet but am concerned about a few things:
Anaesthetic in breast milk?
Pain relief meds in breast milk?
Being physically able to bf (I've heard recovery is pretty painful)
Anyone been there?

[kristylee21]

Hey,
I had a Tonsilectomy when DD was 6months old and exclusivly breastfed. I was told to express out the milk for 24 hrs after the anaesthetic for which i was in the hospital over night anyway and DD had a bottle ( admittedtly she ran out of expressed milk i had for her after about 4 feeds and didn't drink much formular after that because she didn't like it... but it was only one day and it didn't harm her in any way) I opted to have no pain relief after the operation apart from a panadeine which was safe for breast feeding and i wasn't in all that much discomfort anyway so i dont believe i would of required any more pain relief. I was feeling fine by the time i was discharged from the hospital and was back to breast feeding as normal, no problems.
Eating and drinking was sore for a few days for which i just took the panadeine again but not really what i would concider a terrible recovery.
Hope my reply has helped

This post has been edited by kristylee21: 22/03/2012, 07:43 AM

[lucky 2]

I'd check with the anaesthetist but most anaesthetic drugs are safe for breastfeeding, make sure he/she knows you are bfing, remember women have c/s under GA at times and they breast feed straight after birth!
Analgesics can be ordered that are compatible with bfing, no need to be in pain at all. Women have narcotics post c/s and breast feed, things like Oxycodone and Codeine (as in Panadeine forte and Panadeine).
There will be options and most drugs are compatible with breast feeding.
There is a pinned topic in this forum which has a link to Medication and Breast feeding information with a list of expert contacts for accurate and up to date information about bfng and drugs.
Re bfing after the op, you could bf lying down, you would need a pump is you are missing feeds, you could build up a bit of extra milk for during the op. You will need some supportive friends and family to bring baby to you or milk to the baby but hopefully hospitalisation will be brief. Is it a day stay procedure?
All the best.

[CharliMarley]

Lucky2 has all the information, but if you want to speak to someone about this, I recommend the lovely Dr Rodney Whyte, who is the guru of everything breastfeeding and medications.
His email address is: r.whyte@southernhealth.org.au
Telephone number: 03 95942361

He is a lovely pharmacist, who will probably speak to you directly if you phone him. The ABA love him.