Is that necessary

Is it really necessary to have something as nasty as Mastitis around to screw with breastfeeding? A woman's body has this powerful ability to provide all the nourishment a baby will need in it's first year + of life. What are we rewarded with? Clogged ducts and painful breast infections. About 2 weeks ago I found myself with a painful right nipple. I assumed that it was an infection (I know better now) and called my midwife. She asked me if I had a number of other symptoms, which I did not. She said it sounded like I was starting to get a plugged duct and told me a few things to do to prevent that from happening. A couple days later I found myself with a very hard boob and Googling phrases such as "breastfeeding white spot." That Google search led me to the bathroom where I proceeded to stick a small needle into the "white spot" on my nipple. Sounds kind of gross, but man did it do the trick. Milk came streaming out of that little sucker and I no longer had a clogged duct. A couple days later I had an even harder boob, but this time there was no "x marks the spot" place to relieve the pressure. I applied hot compress, forced Copper to nurse on it constantly, massaged, and pleaded with my boob to release the goods. Finally at the very last feeding of the day when my mood could get no moodier, I felt the steady stream of sweet milk running down my stomach. Ahh, relief. A few days later, the most sore, hard, 4 times larger than her twin, boob ever. Copper ate and I pumped and still it felt terrible. As the day progressed so did the pain. I longed for the day when I thought I had an infection because my nipple kind of hurt. Little did I know that this was just the beginning. I called my midwife again and explained that I was pretty sure that this time it was an infection. She asked if I was achy or running a fever. Nope. She gave me some things to do help ward off an infection and told me to call her if I developed a fever and felt like "you've been hit by a mack truck." I called her the next morning. I don't like antibiotics. They're harsh. But I couldn't wait to lay my hands on those little suckers. Luckily my mom was kind enough to pick them up from the pharmacy for me. I had a 100-101 fever and felt like I had a really bad flu. To top if off, I cried out in pain when Copper would nurse. I would compare the pain of breastfeeding with Mastitis to contractions pain. No joke. I was barely functioning for three days and fairly useless on the 4th 'cause I was still so tired. I just finished my 5th day of antibiotics (out of 10) and am feeling much better. Nursing causes only an initial twinge of pain and my boob is back to it's normal size. I'm now also taking a supplement called Lecithin that is supposed to help with lubricating the milk ducts. I will take them religiously the remainder of my breastfeeding time. I do not ever want to experience Mastitis again. It can kiss my ass.