Chicken Pox
Sheila A.
NJ USA
From NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 18 No. 2, March-April 2001, p. 50
In October of 1996, our two youngest children, Daniel and Ashley, came
down with chicken pox within two weeks of each other. While the illness
came and went without much fuss with Daniel, three-year-old Ashley was
another story. A pock near her eye became infected, and we were given
an antibiotic to help fight the infection and another medication to
use in case the infection began to spread. Ashley is very easygoing
and was happy to take her medicine, until about the third dose. She
became warm and began vomiting. Her vomiting and diarrhea continued
into the night. She became lethargic and spiked a very high fever. Through
it all, I cuddled her and nursed her. My milk was the only thing that
she could keep down.
We continued to nurse and
she seemed to rally a little the next day, keeping down popsicles and
juice. But by the following day, she appeared to be in trouble! With
her eyes sunken in and her lips almost vanished, we decided to take
her to the doctor.
While I explained all that
had gone on in the previous days, the doctor examined Ashley. The diagnosis
was that she was extremely dehydrated. The doctor never batted an eye
when I mentioned that the only thing Ashley tolerated was breast milk.
She encouraged us to go into the hospital for rehydration and suggested
we might have to spend the night, if not another day or two. Her only
other comments were, "You will stay with her and please continue
to breastfeed." Having the full support of our doctor about breastfeeding
meant very much. It was one less obstacle to worry about.
Since she had chicken pox,
we were immediately put into an isolation room at the hospital. The
staff commented that it was a more private place for us to breastfeed.
Nursing continuously was a source of comfort for both of us as the staff
inserted an intravenous tube into Ashley's arm.
When we arrived in our room,
the nurse worked to arrange the tubes attached to Ashley so that we
could easily continue to nurse and cuddle. Her support of my presence
with Ashley was evident when she said, "You can just climb into
the bed with her. No one will say anything." For the remainder
of our stay, the family practice staff was fully supportive of our breastfeeding.
They commented on how much calmer Ashley appeared than other children
who were hospitalized in similar situations, and they even went so far
as to consider attributing it to breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding throughout
this situation was a constant source of comfort. As Ashley began to
recover, she was better able to talk about her fears and concerns, letting
me know that nursing would help to make it better. She knew that I was
there for her in all ways and that made everything all right. I firmly
believe that Ashley's continued breastfeeding was what kept her from
becoming a critical case. While full recovery was several weeks in coming,
it was made that much easier by the fact that we were breastfeeding.
It helped keep the whole situation positive. Ashley was able to talk
about it calmly and clearly six months afterward. In our experience,
breastfeeding our toddler was a key factor in Ashley's full recovery
from a dangerous situation.
Reprinted from Nursery Notes, the Area Leaders' Letter from LLL of
New Jersey, Volume 23, Issues 2 and 3 (1998).
Last updated November 13, 2006 by njb.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:29:33 UTC 2007.
