Hello to all of you who have been following my progress to relactate for
my son who was diagnosed with Crohn's disease mid-May. To recap, I decided
to not sit by and let this disease ravish Justin's GI. I looked into the
possibility of obtaining donor human milk and decided I would be the best
match for the immunities and antibodies needed to help restore Justin's
health. I had breastfed Justin exlusively for the first 6 months of his
life, then continued until he was 2-1/2 years. Unfortunately, Justin has
always struggled with ear infections, sinus infections and strep throat.
He had his tonsils removed when he was six and his sinuses scraped and
irrigated last December. He has taken more antibiotics in his lifetime
than I can possibly remember. The bloody diarrhea started last year and we
began looking at what was causing it in March.
I began pumping in May with a Symphony breastpump and got about 4 days
into it, stopped and began taking Ortho 1/35 and Domperidone to "wake up"
my breast tissue. This must have been very effective because 2 weeks into
the regimen I had a serum prolactin level drawn and just today got the
results that it was 114.2 ng/ml. I stayed on the Ortho 1/35 for another
week and have continued to take 90 mg. Domperidone along with Fenugreek,
Fennel, Alfalfa, Nettle, Goat's Rue Blessed Thistle and Shatavari
(Asparagus Racemosus). I don't take these herbs all at once. I rotate in
and out of them for a couple weeks at a time, varying what I take.
I resumed pumping with the Symphony every 3 hours night and day and began
to obtain at first 2-3ml per pumping, then 3-4, and within a few days up
to 20-30ml. I don't pump every 3 hours anymore. I decided I would die if I
kept that up and also continued to work full time! I am getting in 4-6
pumpings in a 24 hour period and these are not evenly spaced. It just
depends on my work load for the day. I am up at least once during the
night to pump. I am averaging 90-120ml per 24 hour period and it has been
this way for a couple of weeks.
Justin has made peace with drinking my breastmilk "straight." At first, he
couldn't do it. He would mix it with chocolate soy milk or put sugar in it
because he said it tasted salty. He tried to drink it straight the first
time and threw up in the kitchen sink. After that, he just seemed to get
over it and has an 8 oz glass every couple of days by putting a little
vanilla extract in it and drinking it with a straw. I have taught him to
gently swirl the containers I keep it in to restribute the fat
without "bruising" the milk. He is a good sport. And he does seem to be
much better than when he started the treatment. However, at this point, I
don't know how much to attribute to the prednisone and how much to
attribute to the milk. The rest of his diet is unchanged. He still drinks
cow's milk and a variety of other foods--some healthy and some not so
healthy. The diarrhea has stopped for now.
I am planning on continuing to provide my milk for him as long as I am
able and up to a year or possibly more, depending on the result. I want to
provide it well beyond the period of time he is off the prednisone to see
what kind of continuing anti-inflammatory response he gets from it. At 6
months, his doctor will draw another Immune study to see where his levels
are in comparison to his baselines at the beginning of his treatment.
So, that is where we are one month into the pumping and drinking program.
I am very tired at times but I feel well supported by my family and
friends and especially my friend and colleague at work. And the support I
have received from some of you has also been incredible. Thank you!
If any of you have any additional words of wisdom, suggestions for keeping
my supply going, etc. I welcome your comments either on Lactnet or
privately. I am grateful for anything I can learn along the way. I have
already learned so much!
My thanks and blessings,
Jane Fogdall, RN, IBCLC
***********************************************
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|