Have milk, but it won't drain

"Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward" wrote and I snipped:
Just to close the topic - I was seen yesterday by a duct cannulation
specialist who is director of research at the Breast Centre at Faulkner
Hospital here in Boston, and she failed to make a passage to the milk
ducts. She said the needle approach I tried was sure to produce closed
holes as the damage heals, so that wouldn't be a viable option. I am
basically unable to breastfeed.

I think it's awesome that you were able to see (and found!) the right expert
that could give you a definitive answer on your situation. That must be so
comforting. Disappointing, yes, that you can't breastfeed. But probably
very helpful to know that you *have* done everything you could. I think the
lingering doubts that some women experience would be very difficult to
handle. Does this make sense?

Now, you and your sweet baby can go about loving and living. This is a
situation that formula was made for. It's a good thing that we've been able
to produce a breastmilk substitute that will provide your baby with
appropriate nutrition.

I'm sorry for the loss of your breastfeeding ability. You should be proud
of your perseverance. Congrats on getting an answer.

I hope I haven't offended you or missed the mark with this post,
-Patty, mom of 1+2

"Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward" wrote in message
oups.com...
You are absolutely right, I should write to the overseeing authority.
This surgeon had a fancy office and sounded nice at the time, but his
carefree attitude and lack of basic knowledge of nipple anatomy has
caused me to be unable to breastfeed for life. I would certainly not
have gone for the surgery had I known that his technique would ruin the
functionality of my nipples. The worst thing is that most other
surgeons use better but more sophisticated techniques to reduce nipple
length which do preserve the milk pores. This guy just went for the
easy way out.

You just wrote the letter. I'd fill it in with a bit more fluff, but
still. That's your letter, right there.

Jess

Elfanie wrote:
On 14 Feb 2006 23:02:54 -0800, "Benevolent Prof"
wrote:

I think you still have options. There are women who "breastfeed"
adopted babies. They do it because they want the bonding experience
with baby and consider the nutritional aspects secondary.


I'm curious why you put breastfeed in quotes up there.....as if what
adoptive parents are doing isn't actually breastfeeding their baby but
are doing something else and calling it breastfeeding...?


I put breastfeeding in quotes because I wasn't sure what to call it.

The baby is being fed from the breast. Sometimes the food comes as
breastmilk, sometimes as formula, or both. I'm also not sure what to
call feeding a baby breastmilk from a bottle. Would that be called
breastfeeding as well? I guess it depends on what you consider to be
the important aspects of the activity when you decide what to include
or not.

Are you under the impression (misimpression) that adoptive parents
don't breastfeed....or that they don't produce milk?

I was aware that lactation can be induced, but with varying degrees of
success.
I was under the impression that an adoptive mom who fed breastmilk
exclusively was the exception rather than the rule.


and adoptive parents don't consider the nutritional aspects secondary.
*boggles*
It's that adoptive parents don't think that the nutritional aspects
are the ONLY aspect. Nutritional aspects are extremely important (thus
the induced lactation).....and the bonding experience is important..

I stand corrected.

I had in mind a quotation that I had read from an adoptive mom. She was
determined to breastfeed and she didn't care if she was able to produce
milk, she was going to do it anyways. I also have in mind some moms who
breastfeed only for nutritional reasons. They don't like the
experience, but want to give baby the best food. There are some moms
like that even on this newsgroup.

Penelope seemed pretty determined to breastfeed. I wasn't sure what her
goals were and if they could be met using an SNS.

Susan



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PattyMomVA wrote:
"Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward" wrote and I snipped:
Just to close the topic - I was seen yesterday by a duct cannulation
specialist who is director of research at the Breast Centre at Faulkner
Hospital here in Boston, and she failed to make a passage to the milk
ducts. She said the needle approach I tried was sure to produce closed
holes as the damage heals, so that wouldn't be a viable option. I am
basically unable to breastfeed.

I think it's awesome that you were able to see (and found!) the right expert
that could give you a definitive answer on your situation. That must be so
comforting. Disappointing, yes, that you can't breastfeed. But probably
very helpful to know that you *have* done everything you could. I think the
lingering doubts that some women experience would be very difficult to
handle. Does this make sense?

Now, you and your sweet baby can go about loving and living. This is a
situation that formula was made for. It's a good thing that we've been able
to produce a breastmilk substitute that will provide your baby with
appropriate nutrition.

I'm sorry for the loss of your breastfeeding ability. You should be proud
of your perseverance. Congrats on getting an answer.

I hope I haven't offended you or missed the mark with this post,
-Patty, mom of 1+2

Patty, thanks for your kind message. I feel the same way now, my baby
is helping me heal really fast. She is such a joy to have around that
I can't stay unhappy. Just seeing her little hungry mouth going for
the formula like it's gourmet food makes me melt. She will do fine and
I will love her even more for having had this setback to overcome.

Penelope, you've done your best. Now enjoy
your baby!

-- Anita --

Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward wrote:
Yes, my lactation consultant suggested I try this. I would have done
two days ago when I was still devastated, but yesterday my outlook
changed completely: my happy little girl just made me forget, and I
don't want to be reminded again. We're doing fine with formula and if
anyone asks why I'm not breastfeeding I'll say I have no milk pores.
It's the truth.

I am curious about what would happen if you got a professional piercing
where you kept some kind of ring in while not feeding. I know you
talked about that earlier in the thread. Wouldn't that keep it open?
Just curious. And I am very sorry this happened to you. I had a
biopsy on one of my nipples, and it has never been quite right. It
produces alot less than the other (probably because some of the ducts
are blocked by scar tissue), and it does not pucker up as good as the
other.

KC

KC wrote:
I am curious about what would happen if you got a professional piercing
where you kept some kind of ring in while not feeding. I know you
talked about that earlier in the thread. Wouldn't that keep it open?
Just curious. And I am very sorry this happened to you. I had a
biopsy on one of my nipples, and it has never been quite right. It
produces alot less than the other (probably because some of the ducts
are blocked by scar tissue), and it does not pucker up as good as the
other.

KC

I've had body piercings (though not there) and bf'd. It would probably
work, but it would hurt like heck. The healing period is at least 6
weeks, often more depending. I wouldn't want to be trying to heal a
piercing and going through the pain of establishing bf'ing at the same
time.

There are other things to try, like this, but they take time and
probably best tried before the arrival of baby. Penelope has taken her
best shot at this, which has been heroic, IMHO. I think her decision to
call it a day is a good one. Time to start enjoying baby.

Susan

KC wrote:
Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward wrote:
Yes, my lactation consultant suggested I try this. I would have done
two days ago when I was still devastated, but yesterday my outlook
changed completely: my happy little girl just made me forget, and I
don't want to be reminded again. We're doing fine with formula and if
anyone asks why I'm not breastfeeding I'll say I have no milk pores.
It's the truth.

I am curious about what would happen if you got a professional piercing
where you kept some kind of ring in while not feeding. I know you
talked about that earlier in the thread. Wouldn't that keep it open?
Just curious. And I am very sorry this happened to you. I had a
biopsy on one of my nipples, and it has never been quite right. It
produces alot less than the other (probably because some of the ducts
are blocked by scar tissue), and it does not pucker up as good as the
other.

KC

According to the breast surgeon from Faulkner Hospital (not the
cosmetic surgeon!) traumatic attempts at reaching the milk ducts would
pretty much always end in scarring which would block the flow anyway.

I had thought that professional piercing would be an option up until
the time I heard it would take up to six months to heal. I couldn't
wait that long with the baby needing to be fed now.

Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward writes:

: According to the breast surgeon from Faulkner Hospital (not the
: cosmetic surgeon!) traumatic attempts at reaching the milk ducts would
: pretty much always end in scarring which would block the flow anyway.

: I had thought that professional piercing would be an option up until
: the time I heard it would take up to six months to heal. I couldn't
: wait that long with the baby needing to be fed now.

I hear what you are saying, and I don't want to second guess you,
(or the doctor who you consulted), but I find these estimates to
be a difficult to accept. From my personal knowledge of lesions and
healing times, if find the six months to be really hard to believe.
In fact, I have a hard time imagining anything over a week or so
for such a small lesion. I may be wrong, but there are alarm
bells going off in my head when I hear these estimates.

Larry

wrote:
Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward writes:

: According to the breast surgeon from Faulkner Hospital (not the
: cosmetic surgeon!) traumatic attempts at reaching the milk ducts would
: pretty much always end in scarring which would block the flow anyway.

: I had thought that professional piercing would be an option up until
: the time I heard it would take up to six months to heal. I couldn't
: wait that long with the baby needing to be fed now.

I hear what you are saying, and I don't want to second guess you,
(or the doctor who you consulted), but I find these estimates to
be a difficult to accept. From my personal knowledge of lesions and
healing times, if find the six months to be really hard to believe.
In fact, I have a hard time imagining anything over a week or so
for such a small lesion. I may be wrong, but there are alarm
bells going off in my head when I hear these estimates.

Larry

I know, six months sounds extreme to me too. Still, my milk is gone
now, and I've moved on. The baby seems to be thriving on formula, much
as I am unhappy about it.