A Letter from a Grateful Lady:
I
can honestly say that if I had
known before what I know now, I
wouldn't have spent so much time
worrying about it. I started
down the road to inducing
lactation in January 2010. After
four months of diligent
stimulation to my breasts, I can
honestly say there have been no
apparent changes to my breasts
to date. As my yearly mammogram
approached, I was getting myself
worked up into being a good
worry wart. Both Ken and DrJim
have emphasized letting the
technicians know that you are
re-lactating because if they see
changes showing up in your
x-rays, they need to know the
reason why.
I considered not telling anyone,
as I am nowhere near producing
milk yet, so I figured: "Why
even bring it up?" But in all
honesty, because my mom had
breast cancer, and I am diligent
about having my mammograms, I
figured I needed to let them
know that I am
inducing lactation, and it is by choice.
In case they saw some sort of
changes from my previous
mammogram, I needed to be
upfront about it. So, how do I
explain what I am doing? I
decided to take a clue from how
things went at my annual OB/Gyn
visit, where I was up-front
about it and wound up discussing
my lactation program with my
doctor.
The day for the mammogram
arrived and after getting
registered, I was led to the
imaging department where a
wonderful female technician (who
I had the previous year) went
over my paperwork with me. I
took off my top and bra, and
decided to get the whole thing
off my chest...so to speak! As
the technician was getting ready
to place my breast on the paddle
for the first image, I took a
deep breath and told her that I
should let her know about
something going on with my
breasts. I had her full
attention.
I briefly explained that for the
past four months I had been
doing nipple stimulation to help
me control my periods. There! It
has been said. The technician?
Well, her eyes popped open, as
well as her mouth, as she tried
to process what I had just said!
She admitted that she had never
heard of that before. She
wondered if it had made any
difference with my periods and
was very interested in hearing
more.
I told her that previously I had
gotten very sick with migraine
headaches during my period each
month. Since starting the nipple
stimulation, my period sort of
surprises me and just shows up,
without the migraine and the
nausea, which is wonderful. I'd
rather NOT be sick to my stomach
in bed with the shades drawn.
She eagerly took all this
information in and then asked me
if it made my breasts bigger? I
told her that it had not yet,
but that it could! She was VERY
interested in learning how she
could make her breasts bigger
naturally, with stimulation.
So, this all led to some very
interesting conversation and I
tried to enlighten her with as
much information as possible.
The subject of adult nursing
never came up, and it never had
to. That is a private topic for
my husband and me. But I have to
admit, it is a great way to let
them know they MAY see changes
or differences on my mammograms.
By explaining to them what I am
doing to control my periods, no
one questions that explanation.
My mammogram went fine. Because
of our conversation, the
technician showed me my images
from the previous year, and
compared them to the ones of
this year. They showed that my
breasts were a bit less dense,
thus making it easier for the
radiologist to read them. I was
grateful she took the time to
show me the difference. I have
fibrocystic breasts, and I hope
over time to make them less so,
by inducing lactation.
So all in all, I had no reason
to get so worried over my
mammogram visit. I feel good
that I was honest with letting
them know I was doing something
that may change the makeup of my
breast tissue, in case it looked
alarming to them on the images.
But, it was great to simply
blame it on my monthly period
and how that was my method to
get it under control and make me
less sick and my period lighter.
Sure was a great excuse!
A Grateful Lady