What I am about to blog about is a very controversial subject to many but I am just going to put my point of view out there.... you do not have to agree with me!!
When Aubrey was almost 9 months I had a patient at my office come in, I think she had a tooth ache or something. I am not normally a big talker when it comes to hanging around in the opperatory and chatting it up with my patients. I get the room ready for the Dr. hand my patient the remote to the tv and tell them I will go get the Dr. For some reason on this day I hung around and talked and SOMEHOW we got on the subject of autism. I don't know if there was something on tv about it or what but that is beside the point. She had 3 children her oldest two were both severly autistic and she had followed the recommended vaccination schedule. She trusted her pediatrician like we all do. Her third child she had decided to have NO vaccinations until she was two years old and she was perfectly healthy. At first I looked at her like she was CRAZY! but then she began to really share her heart with me and I saw a lady who was hurting because she did not feel like she had been told the truth from her Dr. I became VERY mad that no Dr. had ever shared the statistics with me that this lady who was a STRANGER was telling me. Dr. Stricklin came in the room and the conversation stopped but my brain was going 100 miles an hour. I could not concentrate the rest of the day. I immediatly came home and got on my computer and started looking up Autism and vaccinations and side effects..... WOW! My mom had shared some with me on this subject back before I had Aubrey and I decided against the Vaccination in the hospital but I had really not thought anything else about it until this day. I dont know if I had to hear it from someone who had experienced it first hand or what but this hit my right square between the eyes and I was not allowing my pediatrician to give my child one more shot before she explained to me the possibilites of Autism. Aubrey's 9 month check up rolled around and I took my mom with me :) We got to the end of the appt. and she told me the nurse would come in to give aubrey the shots that she was due for and I spoke up, for some reason my heart was pounding, I was SOOO nervous. I guess I thought she was going to take my baby from me.... which she didn't but she did become VERY defensive and didn't answer my question all the way and told me I could do whatever I wanted to but she was NOT very friendly.... so I told her we would be having no vaccinations that day and I would call her when I was ready. The next day I started searching for a new pediatrican and I decided that day if I had to go through 50 Dr's I would. I wanted answers and I wanted a Dr. who would be patient with me and not push me. I wanted a Dr. who cared about my child! Ever since I met that lady at my office it is like God has put people in my path or shows on tv or even websites that I have just run up on that have opened my eyes to the possibility of vaccinations being a cause of Autism. He EVEN used Jenny McCarthy, WHO KNEW!
Check this out... the rest of this paragraph comes from www.mercola.com.... In 1976, children received 10 vaccines before attending school. Today they will receive over 36 injections. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Center for Disease Control assured parents that it was safe to not only give these vaccines, but that they could be given at one time with complete safety. In the early 1980s, the incidence of autism was 1 in 10,000 births. By 2005, the incidence had leaped to 1 in 250 births, and today it is 1 in 150 births and still climbing. One of the strongest links to this terrible set of disorders was a drastic change in the vaccine programs of the United States and many other countries, which included a dramatic increase in the number of vaccines being given at a very early age. No other explanation has been forthcoming from the medical elite.
That is from a Dr. who has studied this topic and came to the conclusion that there are cases where autism stemmed from a child being vaccinated. I am NOT against having aubrey vacinnated but why does she have to have 6 shots in the same visit when she is 2 months old? Why did they want me to give her 4 shots when she was 15 months old? Why am I looked down up on and get smirks from people because I choose to not allow this? I am not saying she will NEVER get these shots. I am just choosing to spread things out and take my time.
If anyone is wondering where this is all coming from, I had a chicken pox scare today.... Aubrey woke up this morning and she had what looked to me like bug bites on her legs and stomache.... I didn't think much of it she plays outside ALL the time and I just figured she got into some mosquitos or something.... It was mine and andys day to keep the 1 year old class during church so after sunday school I went in there and aubrey looked awful! I pretty much freaked out and thought I had exposed every child in the room to chicken pox!! Andy and I immediatly went to walmart we bought calamine lotion and oatmeal bath stuff and took aubrey home and soaked her in the bathtub and drenched her with calamine lotion and gave her a dose of benadryal! I began to doubt my decision to not have her vacinnated for chicken pox, I have said for over a year now... I had the chicken pox and lived through it... if aubrey gets the chicken pox she will make it. I began to question myself.... and a couple of hours later the bumps began to disappear and aubrey was acting fine.... so I was right this morning when I thought it was bug bites and apparently she scratched them like crazy during sunday school and had it all irritated. Mom gave me the website that I mentioned earlier and I have been on there all afternoon and it has made me feel much better and I know I am doing the right thing for Aubrey. I realize this is not right for everyone and other people have other opinions and I am ok with that. I will do what I think is right for my child and you will do what you think is right for yours and we will agree to disagree :) I hope after everyone reads this (if you make it all the way to the end) that you dont think I am an awful parent. I am just trying to learn as I go..... and I am trusting God to lead me and guide me.
It is time to go now, I may add more later!
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I am a wife, mother, daughter, sister, dental assistant, and friend who is going to try to express herself on a webpage. HaHa this ought to be fun! Enjoy the ride :)
8 comments:
I agree with you. Mollie is due for 4 shots before she can attend school. Since I have read this I am in the process of checking to see which ones she absolutely must have and researching them. I have been wondering about the autism rate going up. It is all around lately. I was once very interested in autistic children after reading a book about it. I respect you for your decision. It has definitely made me think about Mollie's appt.
You know I am with you.
Love you my Jen!
I tell you this is a touchy subject. I see students that are affected by Autism and it breaks my heart. I admire you for taking a stand. When Andrea was young I just did what the dr's said. I didn't think anything about it. Of course, I had not heard about autism either. I believe that God will give you direction for you to take. Trust HIM.
Thanks for making us aware of the dangers. I am going to pass this on to others.
Jen, I did make it all the way to the bottom! It is good that researched this and are doing what you think is right. Like Darlene, I just went with what the doctor said and never wondered about it. Now, I think how blessed I am that God protected my children from any side effects. You go girl!
I looked into this when Grayson was little, too. What I found out by talking to my pediatrician (who was very kind and not defensive at all, btw) was that the vaccines containing mercury (the ones linked to autism) are no longer used in the US. We went ahead with all but the chicken pox vaccine, but then they wouldn't admit him to kindergarten without that one, so we had to get it too.
I applaud you for going with what you believe in. Keep in mind, though, that when things go wrong, people are always looking for someone to blame. Every child in America is immunized, and very few are autistic. I'm not trying to be argumentative at all, I'm just trying to pass on the things I learned a few years ago. :)
I wish it were true that very few were autistic but 1 in 150... that is alot of kids! There are too many unanswered questions.... We will have all of aubreys shots by the time she is in kindergarten.... but it is just ironic to me that when the required vaccinations went up so did the number of autistic children.... I do not have all of the answers but until I feel more comfortable with the situation and get more answers I will have her vaccinated on my schedule not on the one the Dr. says I should.
I agree too. Cade will get his immunizations spread out this time at his 2 year check up. Praise God that Cameron is fine and has had no adverse reaction. It's true- these are OUR children, and we will do what WE want to do with them, not our Dr.'s If my Dr. gives me grief about it, I will change doctors too. I know one family whose 4 or 5 children have NEVER been immunized- and have been very healthy (and yes, they're homeschooled). I can live with the chicken pox, I'd much rather live with chicken pox or measles, mumps, rubella than autism.
Hey Jenifer,
I didn't realize that 1 in 150 were affected. That IS a lot. There are so very many factors in kids' lives these days that weren't there years ago, it's really a challenge to raise healthy kids. You are definitely doing the right thing by following your instinct on this, I hope you didn't think I was criticizing before. Thank God neither of my boys had a problem from their vaccines!
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