Multiple surgeries for Mastitis (breast inflammation)

[adedwards23102]

On April 12, 2012, I had my 1st surgery for a breast abcess.  Subsequently, I have had 4 more surgeries (1 on the left breast & 4 on the right breast).  My most recent surgery was March 7, 2013.  The right breast does not want to heal.  I need to know if I need to be concerned about the recurring breast abscess in my right breast.  Currently, I still have a drain tube in the right breast and it is still draining (2 months later).  What questions should I be asking my doctor?  How plausible is it that I may have inflammatory breast cancer (I just recently read about it)?  Any and all information is greatly appreciated.  I look forward to hearing from someone who has experienced the same thing.  Thanks for reading.

[zouzi]

Hi,
A breast abscess is usually lanced and drained.But if the infection keeps coming back after incision and drainage, a wide excision of the infected area may help. Has your doctor done that and made a culture of the infecting organism? If not,then it should be done so that a proper antibiotic treatment can be focused on the offending organism.
It is also possible that your infection keeps coming back because you have some other illness which could affect your immune system, such as diabetes.In this case, the systemic illness has to be controlled before the infection will heal properly.
I don't think you have IBC..It's true that.this rare type of breast cancer can be difficult to diagnose,because it may be mistaken for those of mastitis.The clue is, that IBC gets no better when it's thought to be an infection and is treated with antibiotics.
Have you been diagnosed with GM ?(granulomatous mastitis) Because the abscesses can occur in any part of the breast and tends to recur. It is postulated to be an autoimmune condition with no definite triggering factor, and treatment is prolonged, using immunosuppresants.If you haven't seen a Breast Specialist,I would advise you to do so to find a solution regarding these recurrent abscesses.I heard that to help diagnose GM, your doctor needs to do a special test to look for 'corynebacterium'.
If you have been diagnosed with GM, Med Help has a Forum "User Group"that deals specifically with this condition and you might find it helpful.You could also post in that forum to get additional information.
Please click on the link below.

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/granulomatous-mastitis/show/707

Best wishes..

[bluebutterfly2222]

Hi,

I am sorry to hear all you have been going through with your mastitis!

MH has a user group with 188 members for people with granulomatous mastitis. I think you'll find a lot of good information and support if you visit that forum. I am providing a link to it below:

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/granulomatous-mastitis/show/707

Best wishes,
bluebutterfly