Dear Lactnetters, I wanted to update you on two mothers I wrote about a month or so ago. Both have come to enough resolution that I felt it was time to let you know the outcome. The first mother had ongoing problems with pain, puffiness and plugged ducts. She was treated for mastitis with Diclox and then treated for yeast orally. Both provided temporary relief but the problems returned usually 4 days (or so) into treatment. Some of you recommended to have her checked for inflammatory breast cancer which was my main concern. The first doctor told her breastfeeding women cannot get breast cancer and refused to refer her for a mammogram. The second doctor felt strongly that it wasn't breast cancer and put her on a stronger antibiotic, Cephalosporin. The problem has since cleared up completely. She has had two plugged ducts in the past month, both during the early days of her menstrual cycle, both cleared easily. She feels terrific. She has a history of fibrocystic breasts and I'm wondering if the hormonal changes caused in the breast from that is the cause of the plugs originally. I'm keeping in touch with her anyway, just in case. The second mother was the one the doctor told me was low IQ and therefore could not make decisions. She is still breastfeeding and supplementing. She is overfeeding the baby and I'm having a heck of a time getting her to cut back on ABM. Baby is gaining 11-14 ounces per week. She has gone back to work and is pumping at work 2-3 times per day. Interesting thing happened with this mother.... One visit she was really worried that her milk supply was dwindling and baby wasn't getting enough. I had done test weight with baby on the previous visit and baby had gotten @2 ounces at breast but she was still worried. Since baby was asleep I suggested we just pump and see how much we would get. If baby woke up we would feed the pumped milk back to baby at breast. This mother began rocking back and forth when she started pumping, chewing on her top lip and her eyes kind of rolled up. I had already talked to this mother about going into counseling to resolve some of her feelings of inadequacy about her mothering. Her response the minute I said counseling was to ask if I thought she was crazy, with a nervous giggle. She's a sweet lady but from what she has told me I suspect she has been abused by someone and that is really affecting her parenting experience. She knows I have a referral ready for her if she wants it and in the meantime she calls me about twice a week with questions. Thanks for all your help, support and input on both of these. They have been my challenges for the month. Denise Parker La Crescenta, CA (near L.A.)