>So.  Any more thoughts on deflating a large, hurting, post-surgical
>breast?  She says pumping and hand expression don't work.
>
>Crossing my fingers that she can avoid chemo,
>Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, Ithaca NY.
>

If this mom will "sacrifice" her bra and cut it to need, what about using
breast shells?  I had a mom about 2 years ago that had the worst engorgement
that I have ever seen.  No pumps worked, hand expression didn't work, the
baby had bottles and wouldn't latch, the mom was not told to pump if the
baby wasn't nursing (I first saw her on day 4), and to top it all off, she
had implants.  We used M-----'s Ho---- Shells.  Started with the sore nipple
back and after about 6 - 8 hours she started leaking.  Once the shells
softened the breast an auto-cycle pump worked a bit.  She continued to wear
the sore nipple shells until the next day, pumping
q2 - 3h. Once the milk was flowing freely, we got the baby latched on.  She
did continue to wear shells with the inverted nipple back for the next few
days to keep her dripping, if the breast became too hard the baby could not
grasp the nipple.

Last time she contacted me the baby was six months, fully breastfed, and
ready to start solids.

Good luck,
Linda Pohl, IBCLC
Phoenix, Arizona USA
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