It’s definitely not cellulitis. If I would have followed that doctor’s advice (and he wanted to give me a shot of abx right there at the clinic) I would be so very much worse now. As it is, with care when she latches on it’s only wincingly painful, not stabbing like it was yesterday.

What bugs me about the whole stupid visit is how he tried to scare me about cellulitis while simultaneously showing how little he actually knew about breast infections. Here’s a sample of the conversation.

Me: Hi, I have all the classic symptoms of ductal thrush. I’m very prone to yeast infections and I’m nursing a newborn who also has a yeasty diaper rash. I’d like some Diflucan.

Doctor: Hmm. Let me see. (looks at my breast) Well, this isn’t thrush. You see, yeast rashes always have a classic appearance…

Me: (thinking to myself) Oh hell.

Doctor: …that this does not have. This is cellulitis.

Me: Cellulitis?!

Doctor: Yes. And it will double in size in 24 hours so I’ll need to give you an antibiotic shot.

Me: Uh… I don’t think I’ll be getting a shot today. I…

Doctor: Well, if you start the antibiotics today I suppose that might be okay…

Me: Doctor M**** I don’t think I have cellulitis. I’m sure this isn’t bacterial, why, I have shooting pain on letdown which is usually a dead giveaway and….

Doctor: (condescendingly now) But you see there is no way for the yeast to get inside the nipple. I have been an ER physician for sixteen years and I have seen many yeast infections and there is always a very specific rash. The immune system will keep the yeast from getting inside the breast, there is no way, it is cellulitis.

Me: …

So. Anyway. Obviously I wasn’t going to get my Diflucan and at that point I gave up. On the off chance he was right (ha) I filled the abx and stuck the bottle in the fridge. I monitored the slight redness and it has not grown at all in 24 hours, let alone doubled. (ETA: and if I had begun the antibiotic the redness likely would have grown, as the bacteria who are fighting the yeast would have been killed. Antibiotics + fungal infection = bad, bad scene)

My mother came with me to pay for the whole shebang and hold Trixie and she’s now out $65 for nothing. How irritating.

At least now I have a nice broad-spectrum antibiotic should we need any.