I've held my tongue long enough. All of this Measles talk and now that there is a report that a child in Arkansas (where we live) is being tested...people are already starting to freak out. Who am I kidding? People have been freaking out since the first mention of this "outbreak". Not sure this would really qualify as an "outbreak". Think about how many people actually live in this world and then the LOW number of people who have the measles. Just my opinion though. Anyway...and :most: of them tend to act so ugly about it. I will give credit when it's due, there are some people who completely disagree with our decision to not continue vaccinating our son and they are SO respectful and polite about it. So no, not everyone acts ugly when it comes to vaccine debates. However, I'm well aware of the way some people view us and I don't care.
And I will say this, I totally understand being worried about your kid/kids. I truly, truly do. I worry about my son too, but in a different way than you. While you're worried about your child being around my son who isn't fully vaccinated, I worry about my son being around your child who just received his/her MMR. A live virus. That they can shed. I've seen argument about this not being possible. Okay. So if it's :not: possible to shed a live virus, why would St. Jude Children's Hospital say it is? Here's a link to go with the screen shot, feel free to check it out! And I actually came across this information in a really great article Don’t Vaccinate to Protect My Cancer Kid, I would highly recommend you read it. It's long (like my entry isn't though?), but definitely worth the read.
Some people are so uneducated about those of us who choose to not vaccinate. Supposedly we make our decision not to, based on Jenny McCarthy? That's laughable. Our child was vaccinated. We ignorantly didn't question anything. Why? Well because we were vaccinated, they said it was safe. We thought we were protecting our child. It wasn't until his last set of vaccinations (which he received his first dose of MMR) that we finally WOKE UP and realized what we were doing. After seeing a dramatic change in our child, YES dramatic, I knew something wasn't right. We watched our healthy, developing "normally" baby boy dramatically change in front of our eyes. I relive those moments often in my mind. They were hard. It still can be hard.
He developed severe sleep issues, behavioral issues, sensory problems, speech problems, dietary problems. It became an extremely emotionally/mentally/physically exhausting road. We had no idea what happened to our son and it's not like he could communicate with us what was going on. You seriously have no idea. I've told bits and pieces on Facebook, but you have no idea exactly hard it has been. We took him to the doctor at least 6 times for his sleep. And every time the doctor wrote us off, "oh that's normal". I'm sorry, but his sleep patterns were FAR from normal. The last time we took him in, (before my husband's first deployment) I was so desperate for help. I was so exhausted, that I'm still unsure how I was even functioning. Thank God, his doctor was out of the office that day and we saw a different doctor (which isn't uncommon when you see doctors on base). He not only genuinely heard our concerns but had his own concerns about Ronnie's behavior. It was then he recommended we have Ronnie evaluated. Which is what got OT (occupational therapy) started and eventually a diagnosis of Autism from a psychologist.
By the time we made it to the step of being evaluated for Autism, we already suspected that's what it was. I had been doing research for quite some time about Autism, which eventually lead me to researching vaccines. There's a huge debate in the medical field and the Autism community whether or not vaccines have anything to do with Autism. Believe it or not, there's a portion of the Autism community that believe vaccines had nothing to do with their child having Autism. Anyway, I dove head first into researching. What vaccines our child had gotten and what ingredients were in those vaccines. I was in shock and angry, at myself mainly.
The one question I have been asked numerous times by other Mom's or new Mom's to be...Do I think vaccines are the cause of Ronnie's Autism? I truly believe it contributed in some way. Whether it was a trigger or the main cause, I don't know. And I do think it's possible that there could be genetic factors that might make some kids more susceptible than others. I think for some children, vaccines could be a trigger. But in all honesty, it's a question that I will never have answered and it's something I have to live with every day. Every single day. Our decision to not move forward with vaccinations had nothing to do with Jenny McCarthy, us being uneducated, selfish, careless, being a hippie, being part of some new movement or anything like that. It came after a very long time spent researching and PRAYER. As it got closer to his 4 year vaccines, something left me so conflicted. You know, that Mother's intuition that most of us have. I prayed and prayed and prayed and ultimately felt like it wasn't in his best interest to move forward. And after we finally reached our decision, there was this huge weight lifted off of me. I felt, at peace. Thankfully his doctor respected our wishes and never tried pushing it on us.
And to every person who has asked me if I believed vaccines caused Ronnie's Autism, I've told them exactly what I stated above. I have no idea, but I feel like it had something to do with it. I highly encourage them to research BOTH sides, research the vaccines and their ingredients and PRAY and then make an informed decision. This is my advice to everyone. Don't just have your kids vaccinated because their doctor says to or because the government says it's safe. At least do your research first. I wish we had done that.
I have nothing against those who choose to vaccinate, not vaccinate or delay schedule, because I honestly believe that no matter what a parent decides in this situation....they are doing what they think is best for their child. I bite my tongue with a lot of things I've seen shared lately, hateful comments I've read. I respect that not everyone has the same opinion about a topic like this, but that respect :should: go both ways. Until you've lived a day in our life, have experienced our own personal journey with Ronnie...just keep the hatefulness to yourself. Please and thank you.
A few questions you may want to ask yourself.
1. If vaccines are :safe: why is there a need for a National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program? That's such a serious question too. I hear so many people preach that vaccines are in fact SAFE. If they are "safe", WHY do we need a compensation program? Here's some information on how many people have been compensated: http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/statisticsreport.pdf
According to the National Vaccine Information Center, "by 2009, nearly $2 billion had been awarded to vaccine victims even though two out of three plaintiffs are denied compensation and there was a nearly $3 billion surplus in the VICP Trust Fund." That's quite a bit of money for something that is so safe, don't you think?
2. Do I want to live in a world where medical decisions are (or could be) being FORCED on my family? You should never lose your right to decide what you want :medically speaking: for your family. If we make the decision to not inject our son with human diploid lung fibroblasts, which is lung tissue taken from a therapeutically aborted fetus of about 3 months gestational age, THAT'S OUR RIGHT. I'm seeing more and more states jumping in proposing bills that would take away the right to file vaccine exemption for personal or religious beliefs. I can't even begin to express how wrong this is.
3. Why does a child need 69 doses of vaccines? "Children today receive 69 doses of vaccines for 16 different viral and bacterial illnesses which more than doubles the government childhood schedule of 34 doses of 11 different vaccines in the year 2000. A vaccine exemption is filed regardless of whether the exemption is filed for one dose or all doses. 35 doses and 5 more unique vaccines have been added to the schedule in the last 15 years. Those supporting forced vaccination are being dishonest by not acknowledging the exploding vaccine schedule while sounding alarms over small increases in overall non-medical exemptions." Don't you think that's an insane amount of toxins to inject into a child?
Some helpful links that I encourage everyone to check out:
HERD IMMUNITY:
http://www.greatmothersquestioningvaccines.com/herd-immunity.html?m
http://www.vaccinationcouncil.org/2012/02/18/the-deadly-impossibility-of-herd-immunity-through-vaccination-by-dr-russell-blaylock/
http://www.wellwithin1.com/herdimmunity.htm
http://thepeopleschemist.com/chemist-says-media-left-horrifying-facts-measles-shot/
VACCINE PACKAGE INSERTS:
http://www.immunize.org/packageinserts/
http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/m/mmr_ii/mmr_ii_pi.pdf
http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/package_inserts.htm
http://www.greatmothersquestioningvaccines.com/vaccine-package-inserts.html
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/ucm101580.pdf
VACCINE INGREDIENTS:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf
http://vaxtruth.org/2011/08/vaccine-ingredients/
OTHER:
http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2015/02/02/702199/10118172/en/Studies-Show-that-Vaccinated-Individuals-Spread-Disease.html
http://tenpennyimc.com/2015/02/17/measles-2015-a-tempest-in-a-teapot/
http://www.vaccinationinformationnetwork.com/merck-scientis-claim-merck-forced-them-to-falsify-vaccine-efficacy-test/
https://medium.com/@therebootedbody/bringing-much-needed-sanity-to-the-vaccine-debate-e143f089bfd1
Do you ever ask yourself what is causing the high rates of Autism in children? How about childhood cancer? It seems as if I'm seeing more and more people posting about their children having cancer. And it's so heartbreaking. Could it possibly be the large amount of toxins that are constantly being injected into them? I think so. You can't sit here and say there aren't any possible side effects from having Formaldehyde, Thermerosal, MRC-5, DNA, MRC-5 Cellular Protein, Human Serum Albumin (4 different ingredients), Glutaraldehyde...just to name a few. Not sure what those are? Well I would highly suggest you research those too. Check out the Vaccine Ingredient links I've included. And if your Pro-Life, you should definitely check out ingredients.
The purpose of this entry is NOT to sway anyone from changing their stances on this matter. I'm not speaking for all "anti-vaxxers". I am speaking for our family. Again, no matter what decision you make for your child, I respect you. I may not agree with that decision and I definitely feel bad for your child/children, but I respect you. I believe you're truly doing what you think is best for your kiddo/kiddos, but please keep in mind, I'm doing the EXACT SAME THING for my son.
Thanks Y'all and God Bless!
Well said! It's great that you provided resources for parents to make an informed decision!
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