Pat Thomas inquired about the proces of skimming milk for a baby with a complication after heart surgery. It is a simple process, and can be done in one of two ways. Simply stated, the milk can be separated into layers of "cream" and "skim" milk by using a centrifuge, the way dairies do. After the milk is spun, the cream can either be aspirated off the top, leaving behind the skim milk, or the cream can be drained out of the tube which leaves behind the cream. Either way, the milk that is skim is 0.02% long chain fatty acids. Portagen formula, which is routinely used for the condition Pat mentions, (Chylothorax), is 14%. Since heart surgeries are becoming more common by the day, the condition of chylothoraxes is also seen more frequently in the hospitals. It can also be a congenital condition or a complication of any thoracic surgery. The damaged gland sometimes heals fine with the use of Portagen, but in other more severe cases, even the 14% long chain fatty acids are too much, and the gland cannot heal. I can supply the step by step instructions, which include the speed of the centrifuging, lab results of the anaylzed milk samples, timing, etc. to whomever desires it. It can also be electronically sent, but it is a large file (4 megs) because of the photographs. It can also be sent snail mail. It is in the process of being written up for journal publications. I have also written a prose style story of how we came to know so much about this process. The whole story is written about my son, and the chylothorax he developed after he had open heart surgery last year. If I can be of any help, please contact me. Connie Carslile, RN, IBCLC originally came up with the idea in 1995, and we just adapted her information. PS After being very critical in ICU for 3 months with this condition, and receiving my skim breastmilk for a total of 5 months while waiting for the gland to heal, my son is now 20 months and far surpassing anyone's wildest expectations. He took his first steps last week. Trish Whitehouse,BSN, LLL, and proud mama. *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html