>To: [log in to unmask]
>From: [log in to unmask] (Pat Gorman, CLE)
>Subject: Just a coucple of comments
>
>I just want to add a few comments on  subjects that caught my interest and
I feel a need to answer.
>
>First of all as the  CLE at a WIC clinic,, I want to remind everyone that
we are supplemental program.  There is no way any mother could  recieve all
the abm she needed from WIC unless she is under feeding the baby..
>
>Next , unless you are a Dr. do not try to suggest treatment for Graves
Disease. It can be very serious  if left untreated . I have struggled for 5
years to regain my health  . I went undiagnoised  for over 6 months by the
time I was diagnoised I had some serious health problems.  My resting
heartbeat was 120, I was borderline psychotic because I could go 2 days
without sleep  and I was losing  1lb. daily because I quit eating.  The
problem with advance Graves Disease is that you are so sick   that you deny
that you are ill.  I had a goiter that was huge, I can't believe it when I
look at photographs, but  at the
> time I denied that it exsisted. I ended up on medication for my heart  and
was told that I would have been dead if I continued untreated. The moral of
my comment is  the longer  it goes untreated the more health risks .  The
woman needs a good  endocrinologist.
>
>Last to pumpy love. Even at my WIC clinic I am seeing  woman who are
planning to pump and feed from a bottle.
>My funds are limited  and I only have manual pumps available to me, so I
have become careful about handing out pumps.  I  explain that if this is
thier plan they will need to rent an electric pump because the manual will
not meet thier needs and that woman returning to work or  school is a priority.
>I created a returning to work class that must be attended  to recieve a
pump. I  make very few exceptions.The  manual pumps are the best we can
offer our clients and I add all the support and advice that they ask for.  I
am always suprised by what a motivated  woman can accomplish.
>Yes, I believe that some breastmilk is better that none , but  these pump
and feed moms are the  same people who  usually requesting abm  within the
week  and I was finding the pumps at garage sales and consignment shops.
>I do believe that I need to respect other peoples plans, but to us at WIC
clinics we need to create a priority
>of services as long as abm is accepted as a cultural norm and funded that way.
>
>I agree with Kathy D. bf is much more than how the baby is fed. I heard
JimMckenna speak last fall in Seattle I was thrilled to see that his studies
proved what I already suspected and learned from being a mother for the last
22 years.  I believe that bf will become a cultural norm when we change and
humanize our parenting practices  of babies and children.
>
>Pat Gorman
>Here in Oregon it is rain  and more rain.
>