Gotta cite?
http://www.kellymom.com/health/illness/lasik-eye-surgery.html has the word of an actual medical doctor who specializes in breastfeeding saying that it's an issue of temporary eyesight changes, which not all women experience.
Gotta cite for that?
See also a 1998 study (
http://*******.com/yqqtjl), which found: "Evaluation of intragroup differences between categories of maternal, infant, and nursing variables showed that among both Tamang and Kami, mothers with infants 11 mo or younger had higher PRL levels at both 5 min and 50 min postsuckling than either mothers with infants between 11 and
22 mo or those with infants older than 22 mo. Prolactin levels among Tamang mothers with infants between 11 and 22 mo were also significantly higher than those with infants older than 22 mo. By contrast, Kami mothers with infants between 11 and 22 mo had PRL levels similar to those with infants older than 22 mo. Furthermore, average PRL levels for Kami mothers fell within the range for nonpregnant, nonlactating women
(~10 ng/mL; see Stallings et al., 1996) after the first year postpartum, whereas average PRL remained elevated in Tamang mothers for nearly 2 years postpartum."
So - if you're nursing a 4yo (or even a 2yo, or for some women, a 1yo) once or twice a day, you could reasonably conclude that your hormones are likely to be no different than a non-pregnant, non-lactating woman's. And if you're looking at any hormone other than prolactin, the menstrual cycle is going to cause way more variance than nursing possibly could.
Not to mention that anyone (male or female) could have abnormally high prolactin in the absence of lactation - if prolactin in and of itself (as opposed to measurable eye curvature changes induced by prolactin) is a problem, everyone should be getting preop blood work to verify that their levels are acceptably low.
She may not be unaware of it. Steroids in general are relatively safe, in that they don't easily enter milk, with topical steroids even less likely to enter milk in significant amounts. (Example cite here:
http://66.230.33.248/discus/messages/58/2327.html?1091480254 - bear in mind that the Tom Hale who posted the response is *the* authority on the transfer of medications to breastmilk.) Many, many medications are safe for the children of breastfeeding mothers - particularly those who make the effort to be informed patients.
Surgeon to me (regarding non-emergency abdominal surgery when my DD was 3.5 months old): You shouldn't nurse for at least 72 hours after general anesthetic.
Me: Really? Because my reference book here says that virtually all general anesthetics clear your system within 8 hours, and require no interruption in nursing. If you know what drugs are in the mix, I can look them up to be sure.
Surgeon: No, I'm sure it will be fine, then. I don't really know anything about nursing and anesthesia, so I just picked a number I thought would be extra safe.
If something happened to your child in a tragic auto accident, could you ever forgive yourself? Does that mean that you never put your child in a car? Or even that you never put your child in a car when the destination isn't essential to the child's well-being? (Note the number of children who die in car accidents, despite being properly restrained, and compare that to the number of toddlers who suffer injury due to their nursing mothers having minor surgery.)
I looked. I didn't see any cites to actual scientific evidence regarding Lasik and breastfeeding.
[Note that I'm not advocating that the OP have Lasik - I've got no dog in that fight. I'm just opposed on general principle to unsubstantiated claims regarding breastfeeding. If you've got evidence, I'd be delighted to see it - and I think you should add it to the website.]
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