Breastfeeding with only one breast is possible. Juliette, suffering from breast cancer, did it. For the Journal des Femmes, she talks about her pregnancy, her breastfeeding, the discovery of her illness and the way in which she overcame it.
Aged 38, Juliette is married and mother of two young children (5 years and 16 months). She is a freelance photographer and author of the blog “I don’t know how to choose”. After many years in the Paris region, she now lives by the sea in Normandy. Juliette discovered her breast cancer at 34, while breastfeeding her baby boy. Today, she is breastfeeding her little girl… From one breast. In this touching testimony, she tells us about her journey and her desire to breastfeed her children despite her illness.
I first felt a lump in my breast, which I put down to breastfeeding.
I first felt a lump in my breast, which I put down to breastfeeding, telling me that it would go away quickly. But it wouldn’t go away… After several weeks, I finally consulted a midwife who prescribed me a breast ultrasound. One followed mammography, then a macrobiopsy, and finally the announcement of the cancer. It was a shock, I was very afraid of not seeing my son grow up, of missing all the important stages of his life. But quickly, I knew that I had non-invasive cancer, with a very good prognosis.
Things then moved very quickly: biopsy in June, official announcement of the disease on July 1, followed by a mastectomy three weeks later. On August 15, I was officially in remission: after analysis of my breast and a sentinel lymph node, the doctors confirmed that the cancer had not spread and that I did not need any further treatment.
The disease made me want to be even more present for my children
The disease gave me a sense of urgency, I realized that everything could stop overnight (we all know it, but let’s say it becomes much more concrete when you are told that you have cancer …) and that we had to make the most of it. It probably accelerated our move project, from the Paris region to the seaside in Normandy. As for motherhood, it made me put a lot of things into perspective, I was already concerned about offering the best to my children, but it made me want to be even more present for them.
I expressed my milk 8 times a day for 1 month to start and maintain my lactation
The establishment of breastfeeding was complicated, but not necessarily because of my background : my daughter was breastfeeding badly, we had to work together to get there. I saw a lactation consultant several times. I expressed my milk 8 times a day for 1 month to start and maintain my lactation while we find the solutions… My daughter also had powdered milk bottles during this first month. And then after 4 weeks, something clicked, everything we had put in place paid off and I was able to switch to exclusive breastfeeding.
I didn’t want illness to deprive us of breastfeeding
It was important for me to breastfeed her: I had breastfed her brother for a year and a half (I had continued for a few more months after my mastectomy), I wanted to offer him the same thing, I didn’t want the disease to deprive us of that. For me, it’s something visceral, it’s my way of mothering, it was important to me that it work. There was a little “revenge” side too, I wanted to prove to myself that it was possible!
My advice for women who have had a mastectomy and want to breastfeed
I advise them to keep in mind that it’s possible (you can breastfeed twins, so one breast is enough, the body adapts to the baby’s needs), and to surround themselves well, in particular by calling on a IBCLC lactation consultant. I almost gave up and it was really thanks to the support of my husband and my consultant that I got there: they say it takes a village to raise a child, you really shouldn’t hesitate to ask help to all these inhabitants.