Good Evening everyone!
I really should be in bed but, after watching our local news program about vaccines and how they used the 'scary' voice to advertise it, I felt led to write about it in a blog.
I am that parent that has done both. I have given some of my children ALL the shots and one has received only 2 shots so far. Why? Well, my biggest reason is because I don't think we know the answers! I am choosing to do something because of MY research and MY experiences with MY children and what has happened to them after vaccinations.
I truly believe there is no right answer when it comes to vaccinations. I think they are truly good for most people. However, there is a small percentage of people that a vaccine will kill, mame or utterly change that person for the rest of their life. It is a small risk however, I am not willing to risk my children without doing everything possible to understand and know WHY and WHAT shots they are getting. What is DtaP? What is Pertussis? What is MMR? What is Varcella? They sound like very serious vaccinations and when you read about what the diseases/sicknesses are that they protect you from and read all the side effects of those diseases and what could happen, well of course you are going to vaccinate your child!
However, when you also read and compare what the vaccine is, what is in it, the side effects of those vaccines and what diseases/sicknesses and deaths those have caused well.....what is a parent to do?
The only thing a parent really can do in my mind. Research, research, research, and then more research! You will never figure it all out, you will never find what is right and what is wrong and frankly, you will never know the right answer. But, at least you will be informed and you will be aware. Until our medical society and doctors start doing a simple test when a baby is born to see if they have a pre-disposition for Autism, sickle-cell, or seizures....well we are all gambling with our children's health whether we choose to or not to vaccinate.
All I know for my family is my son is on the Autism Spectrum. I DO NOT believe vaccinations caused his Asperger's Syndrome however, I do believe they acerbated it. I believe he was pre-dis positioned to have it and after seeing how simple foods can affect his behavior and his moods and how he feels, not to mention medicines well, how could I choose to vaccinate him anymore. His body CAN NOT handle chemicals or certain foods. Most, if not all vaccines are made in eggs or gelatin, both of which have adverse reactions for my son. No he is NOT allergic to these foods, in fact they show up on no allergy tests of his as being an issue. However, as with many children on the Autism Spectrum, after years of working with his diet and watching his behavior change over the years, he body just simply can't handle some foods, chemicals, and environmental hazards, of those, most vaccines fall into those categories.
When my 4th child was born we already had chosen to not vaccinate that baby if it was a boy. For some reason Autism hits more boys than girls. But, when she came out a little girl, I truly didn't have any answers. I read and read and read then, yep I read some more. I still don't have the right answers but, I feel like I am able to make some educated choices about her and we have decided to vaccinate her however, we have done it on a schedule that we have created with our doctor. She is almost 18 months old, she has had only 2 vaccinations and is set to get her 3rd soon. Am I making the right decision, I have no idea. All I can do is educate myself, ask questions and pray. I pay attention to who my children are and I keep a very close eye on them before, during, and after receiving vaccines so that if they every do have an issue with a vaccine, I can recognize it quickly so, hopefully we can fix it fast.
So, as our local news station did a story about statewide conscientious objectors in the state of Minnesota by looking at the school districts medical records here come all the questions and frankly very few of the answers.
I watched the story and even teared up hearing the two mothers stories they interviewed. After the story was done I quickly ran to my computer to look up my children's school district to see how many children in their districts aren't getting vaccinations. I knew the numbers would be pretty low. Frankly, we live in a lower income area and historically, lower income means higher vaccination rates. It is usually the higher income areas that have lower vaccination rates. Why? Usually because of education levels and frankly many who choose not to vaccinate are the ones who do the research and know to ask questions.
I will say, I giggled when I looked at our school district and realized that we are the ONLY people in the district to not object to one of the vaccines. I actually was quite surprised that for the varcella vaccination only 2 children didn't have it and they were both mine. Which, actually is now only 1 of my children because again, after doing research and knowing my child realized that it would actually be much worse for my son to get Chicken Pox than the vaccine (hopefully, I am right.). Why? Because there is no way with his texture issues he could handle things all over his body and itching and with his chemical issues and medicine problems, he could handle the anti-itch stuff or Tylenol or Motrin to keep his fever down. So, we made a decision to give him the vaccination.
I will say after seeing the stats though, I now totally understand why my children never got Chicken Pox! Everyone has been vaccinated!
Anyway, I don't have any right answers, I don't know what is right/wrong. All I know is I am trying to make the best decisions I can for my children and to give them all the health advantages I can. I just ask you do some research and think about and ask questions and know what you are putting in your child's body and why.
Here is the link:
http://kstp.com/article/11754/
For those of you in Minnesota you can read the article and find your school districts rates of objectors and what vaccines they are objecting too. Just so you know, this is ONLY for the vaccinations that are required to start school and to have while in school.
Blessings to you all and those beautiful babies of yours!
-Liza
