Calling the shots
Vaccinations.
There. I said it.
I can't tell you how long pieces of this post have been sitting as a draft in my blog. It is such a hot debate, especially with the Disney measles outbreak, and commenting on vaccinations almost seemed like a jinx.
So I sat quiet.
But today was a day that I have dreaded for a long time. Peyton's four year check-up. Defriend me if you must, but Peyton has never received a live, attenuated vaccination (including MMR and Varicella (chicken pox)). "These vaccines contain a version of the living virus that has been weakened so that it does not cause serious disease in people with healthy immune systems. Because live, attenuated vaccines are the closest thing to a natural infection, they are good teachers for the immune system."
(CDC Website).
What about those children with abnormal responses? Or those children with no immune systems? The cancer center where we go for Hunter's IVIG follow a protocol which does not recommend vaccinating their immunosuppressed patients, and also does not recommend vaccinating siblings with the live viruses (MMR and Varicella).
Paige received all of her vaccinations, but on a slightly modified schedule. I never allowed a vax when she had a runny nose or if she had just gotten over a cold. I always asked for a mercury/preservative free vax and came back multiple times just to split up the dosages.
Hunter has been mostly vaccinated on a modified schedule, but when vaccination titers were run through his blood work (to see if he was immune to the diseases or not), he did not show immunity to several diseases (even though he had received the vaccinations), with the exception of Tetanus, which was sky high. His body took the Tetanus and multiplied it substantially. He doesn't have immunity to Pertussis, but even after having our big doctors search for a single Pertussis shot, they found there is NOT a single dose. You have to get all three (DTap, including Tetanus) together. The last thing I want to do is stick him with another Tetanus shot and have an unsafe level settle in his body. He did have the MMR, but again, he shows no immunity to any of the three diseases.
Peter and I made the decision to vaccinate Peyton on a very slow, modified schedule. If autoimmune disease runs in our family, who was to say that a triple threat live vaccine couldn't tip the bucket? So we slowly caught up with the deadened vaccinations, and today we were faced with the choice to go with our original plan to vaccinate Peyton with the MMR at age 4, or wait it out.
We talked out the pros and cons last night. Actually, who am I kidding...we have talked about the pros and cons multiple times since Peyton was born.
If we vaccinated and something happened (an immune response/Autism), we would feel guilty.
But if we didn't vaccinate and something happened (an infection/disease), we would feel guilty.
A no-win situation.
Most of you probably don't agree with our decisions thus far, as I knowingly get the raised eyebrow for the vaccination affidavit I have to turn in to the schools.
The hardest part for me is that most people get so angry with the parents who don't vaccinate that they forget to ask the questions...for most of us have a good, solid reason not to give all of the vaccinations at once, or at all. And, when it comes down to it, we all still have our parental rights to make the choice that we deem best for our children. NO one deserves the right to be bullied into a decision, or be made to feel like less of a parent for not following the norm. I read some cruel, cruel things on Facebook surrounding the Disneyland incident.
One of my parents in my support group received a phone call from the school nurse last year. "Mamm? You haven't fully vaccinated your son."
"Yes, I know."
"You do know he is susceptible to brain encephalitis, correct?"
"He already has that."
Long silence.
"OK, have a great day!"
The world is so quick to blame the parents who don't vaccinate as the ones who are bringing back diseases. Research actually shows that "although individuals immunized with an acellular pertussis vaccine may be protected from disease, they may still become infected with the bacteria without always getting sick and are able to spread infection to others, including young infants who are susceptible to pertussis disease."
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm376937.htm
There is also the risk of "shedding" the disease for up to 21 days, so in turn, being vaccinated could put those unvaccinated at risk if their live viruses shed.
And that could include Hunter.
So what do you do when faced with the decision to vaccinate or not?
#1- You make your husband decide. (Totally kidding. This has to be an agreed decision.)
#2- You wait it out, and hope for the best.
#3- You vaccinate, and worry for the next 21 days about seizures, autoimmune reactions, PANDAS (from the live viruses), spreading the virus to Hunter through shedding, and a behavioral flare due to exposure to illnesses.
What did we choose?
The loaded #3.
After talking with our pediatrician, who actually was not pushing the vaccine at all, and told me she would do more research, she was totally fine with us waiting...(all of which made me second guess our decision as she didn't seem completely convinced)...
but I ended up signing the consent.
At some point, you have to let go, and let God.
Honestly, it was the only thing I could do.
I depend on herd immunity (where most of the population is vaccinated) to keep Hunter healthy, since his body won't maintain vaccines. So by vaccinating Peyton, we were not only protecting him, but his brother as well, who already does have encephalitis.
I am one of the few vaccinating parents in my mom's group. But do I judge the other parents for their decisions?
Not once.
So what made me share my thoughts today, and actually press the "publish" button?
I need you to pray.
Pray that we made the best decision, for Peyton and for Hunter.
Pray that we will not experience any side effects for either of our boys.
And pray that parents all over will give each other a little slack for trusting their guts and their hearts-
and not question or demoralize the overwhelming decisions we face as we raise our children.
There. I said it.
I can't tell you how long pieces of this post have been sitting as a draft in my blog. It is such a hot debate, especially with the Disney measles outbreak, and commenting on vaccinations almost seemed like a jinx.
So I sat quiet.
But today was a day that I have dreaded for a long time. Peyton's four year check-up. Defriend me if you must, but Peyton has never received a live, attenuated vaccination (including MMR and Varicella (chicken pox)). "These vaccines contain a version of the living virus that has been weakened so that it does not cause serious disease in people with healthy immune systems. Because live, attenuated vaccines are the closest thing to a natural infection, they are good teachers for the immune system."
(CDC Website).
What about those children with abnormal responses? Or those children with no immune systems? The cancer center where we go for Hunter's IVIG follow a protocol which does not recommend vaccinating their immunosuppressed patients, and also does not recommend vaccinating siblings with the live viruses (MMR and Varicella).
Paige received all of her vaccinations, but on a slightly modified schedule. I never allowed a vax when she had a runny nose or if she had just gotten over a cold. I always asked for a mercury/preservative free vax and came back multiple times just to split up the dosages.
Hunter has been mostly vaccinated on a modified schedule, but when vaccination titers were run through his blood work (to see if he was immune to the diseases or not), he did not show immunity to several diseases (even though he had received the vaccinations), with the exception of Tetanus, which was sky high. His body took the Tetanus and multiplied it substantially. He doesn't have immunity to Pertussis, but even after having our big doctors search for a single Pertussis shot, they found there is NOT a single dose. You have to get all three (DTap, including Tetanus) together. The last thing I want to do is stick him with another Tetanus shot and have an unsafe level settle in his body. He did have the MMR, but again, he shows no immunity to any of the three diseases.
Peter and I made the decision to vaccinate Peyton on a very slow, modified schedule. If autoimmune disease runs in our family, who was to say that a triple threat live vaccine couldn't tip the bucket? So we slowly caught up with the deadened vaccinations, and today we were faced with the choice to go with our original plan to vaccinate Peyton with the MMR at age 4, or wait it out.
We talked out the pros and cons last night. Actually, who am I kidding...we have talked about the pros and cons multiple times since Peyton was born.
If we vaccinated and something happened (an immune response/Autism), we would feel guilty.
But if we didn't vaccinate and something happened (an infection/disease), we would feel guilty.
A no-win situation.
Most of you probably don't agree with our decisions thus far, as I knowingly get the raised eyebrow for the vaccination affidavit I have to turn in to the schools.
The hardest part for me is that most people get so angry with the parents who don't vaccinate that they forget to ask the questions...for most of us have a good, solid reason not to give all of the vaccinations at once, or at all. And, when it comes down to it, we all still have our parental rights to make the choice that we deem best for our children. NO one deserves the right to be bullied into a decision, or be made to feel like less of a parent for not following the norm. I read some cruel, cruel things on Facebook surrounding the Disneyland incident.
One of my parents in my support group received a phone call from the school nurse last year. "Mamm? You haven't fully vaccinated your son."
"Yes, I know."
"You do know he is susceptible to brain encephalitis, correct?"
"He already has that."
Long silence.
"OK, have a great day!"
The world is so quick to blame the parents who don't vaccinate as the ones who are bringing back diseases. Research actually shows that "although individuals immunized with an acellular pertussis vaccine may be protected from disease, they may still become infected with the bacteria without always getting sick and are able to spread infection to others, including young infants who are susceptible to pertussis disease."
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm376937.htm
There is also the risk of "shedding" the disease for up to 21 days, so in turn, being vaccinated could put those unvaccinated at risk if their live viruses shed.
And that could include Hunter.
So what do you do when faced with the decision to vaccinate or not?
#1- You make your husband decide. (Totally kidding. This has to be an agreed decision.)
#2- You wait it out, and hope for the best.
#3- You vaccinate, and worry for the next 21 days about seizures, autoimmune reactions, PANDAS (from the live viruses), spreading the virus to Hunter through shedding, and a behavioral flare due to exposure to illnesses.
What did we choose?
The loaded #3.
After talking with our pediatrician, who actually was not pushing the vaccine at all, and told me she would do more research, she was totally fine with us waiting...(all of which made me second guess our decision as she didn't seem completely convinced)...
but I ended up signing the consent.
At some point, you have to let go, and let God.
Honestly, it was the only thing I could do.
I depend on herd immunity (where most of the population is vaccinated) to keep Hunter healthy, since his body won't maintain vaccines. So by vaccinating Peyton, we were not only protecting him, but his brother as well, who already does have encephalitis.
I am one of the few vaccinating parents in my mom's group. But do I judge the other parents for their decisions?
Not once.
So what made me share my thoughts today, and actually press the "publish" button?
I need you to pray.
Pray that we made the best decision, for Peyton and for Hunter.
Pray that we will not experience any side effects for either of our boys.
And pray that parents all over will give each other a little slack for trusting their guts and their hearts-
and not question or demoralize the overwhelming decisions we face as we raise our children.
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