In surgery, I rarely get the opportunity to have that strong an influence 
on breastfeeding, even on the breast service, but had TWO this week!  

First, when taking a phone call from a post-op patient about a completely 
unrelated matter (hypocalcemia after a thyroidectomy) I was able to 
correct the misinformation she got that she still needed to pump and dump 
24 hours after her surgery.

Second, last night I evaluated a 10 wk old baby who had a Littre hernia 
repair (a groin hernia with a Meckel's diverticulum in it) a few weeks 
ago, whose mom was worried when he started refusing to breastfeed, 
vomited, and became listless, much like last time.  He was fine after he 
pooped in the waiting room, but I had the opportunity to talk with her 
about breastfeeding for over 30 minutes (to the chagrin of my chief, who 
went ahead and saw my next consult!).  I reassured her about feeding on 
demand, extended breastfeeding, good resources for information like 
kellymom, cosleeping, and several other parenting matters.  

It was quite reenergizing, especially after this week on night float, 
doing ED consults mostly on drunk trauma patients.

Shannon McElearney, MD, MS
Resident
Department of Surgery
UVA

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