Has this entire family been cultured, throat, nasopharyngeal and vaginally? I've seen a number cases where very resistant mastitis (two of which resulted in abscess, mostly due to improper treatment protocol from MD) where it was actually a case of Reinfection, from an other member of the family, in two cases mom was carrying bacteria in her nasopharyngeal area, several where Dad was carrying symptomless Strep or baby had seemingly symptomless Staph in her throat, and in one case we had the entire family cultured (I mean the ENTIRE family) and the dog was growing out Staph in his throat! In many cases where this happens, in which case proper treatment needs to be rendered to everyone who grows out bacteria. The biggest hurtle is often to get the MD to do the cultures. Had one dad on antibx nasal drops for weeks, the other where the dog had to be treated (in this case, not only did mom's "resistant" mastitis clear up, but the family then canceled the 11 yr olds tonsillectomy, as she stopped getting tonsillitis!) It *could* be a case of repeated re-infection, rather than resistance, with a family member as a "silent carrier." It's worth a look. I haven't personally seen a case of abscess in several years, now, as more docs seem to know how to treat mastitis, but abscess or recurrent or resistant mastitis can often be cleared up by culturing the entire family, baby included. (And, yes, even pets, if we find nothing in the family.) Also, throat and vaginal cultures are much easier to culture for sensitivity to the proper antibx than even abscess culture. (Has the doctor done even a culture on the abscess pus, and run a complete Sensitivity Study, to make sure the proper antibx is given and for the proper amount of time? It can often take a month or more of daily antibx with the right meds, for a mom with abscess.) I hope you see a good outcome on this one. It sounds terribly painful for mom, and frustrating for you. Mary Jozwiak IBCLC, RLC, LLLLL Private Practice *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome