There is nothing worse for a mother than to sit and watch a child battle an unforgiving disease like cancer and have no way of helping.
Ashleigh Mack, a mom of three from Iowa City, Iowa, took her 4-month-old son Lincoln to the emergency when she noticed he seemed unwell and lethargic, but figured he was sick with a virus. Three days later, however, doctors told her that her newborn baby actually had Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).
Mack immediately quit her full-time job to care for her son, who had been sedated during testing while doctors worked to diagnose him and to see if he would be a candidate for chemotherapy. For 40 hours, Lincoln was unable to eat, yet by the time he was finally able to eat, mom’s milk supply had taken a huge hit since she barely had time to pump, and she was devastated that her only way of nurturing her sick baby was failing.
“I have never been so scared and heartbroken when I was told my 4-month-old baby had a rare form of AML leukemia. I was so worried he wouldn’t breastfeed like he had been,” Mack wrote in a Facebook post. “My supply took a massive hit, so we’ve been working on getting that back up.”
Thanks to her perseverance and encouragement from nurses, however, Mack has been able to build her supply back up by pumping and breastfeeding Lincoln when he wants to. “He latched on as soon as I was able to feed him. Unfortunately he wouldn’t eat long and they put in an NG feeding tube,” Mack explained. “BUT I was able to have my pumped milk put through his NG tube! He started chemo last week and has been breastfeeding like a champ!”
“[Breastfeeding] provides him comfort when he’s cold and overwhelmed with vitals being taken, or PICC dressings being changed. I am grateful that I am able to provide that to him,” Mack said, and also explained that she believes her breast milk is helping him stay strong during the harsh treatment. “I truly believe that breast milk has aided in his response to the chemo — it’s providing nutrients and antibodies his body needs now more than ever.”
[Featured image: Facebook/Ashleigh Mack]
Mom Breastfeeds Baby With Cancer During Chemotherapy is an article from: LifeDaily