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I thought we were on the same page...

until my little eye spied the vaccines gleaming on the counter. Drawn & ready to jab. Liquid proof that I was very wrong.




Dr. Pedi & I have had the To Vax or Not to Vax conversation before...and I thought we were together on this. Wait until Trevor turns two. Give his little brain more time to develop.


I thought I had a few months before I had to start diving head first into understanding the vaccine controversy!


Evidently not.


I walked out with my shoulders sagging so low I'm suprized I'm not sporting rug burn! I hate that I'm not as educated about this issue as I'd like to be...but my brain is seriously saturated already. I hate feeling like the crazy-psycho mom. I hate being told that a seperated MMR doesn't exsist...when I KNOW it does! I just didn't know how to get my hands on it. I hate believing that I've found the *right* doctor...only to leave disenchanted. Again. I hate that being my child's advocate leaves me exhausted & battle worn.


But I suppose it was the kick in the bootay that I needed. I've been meaning to look up a vaccine friendly doctor in our area for awhile. In a demonstration of my passion I added the link to my favorites! I've even been emailing another epilepsy mommy (squeeze your little man for me!) to try & begin digesting this issue. And where our family would land on it.


And so yesterday I finally took the plunge and called her - our local vaccine friendly doctor.


My heart quickly moved from heavy to happy!


She was very gracious with my obvious brain exhaustion. I'm not sure if I ever did put two understandable sentences together! But here's a couple interesting things that I learned...





  • A seperated MMR is available! In fact, it's the only way Dr. Vax Friendly administers them in her practice!



  • There are only 17 vaccinations required by the public school system, as opposed to the 43 (or more) currently being given in the average pedi practice


  • The MMR is currently on back-order. I've heard rumblings of this on my IS parents forum. It's not a long wait, though. She's expecting shipment by the end of July! And I'm certainly okay with waiting a few more weeks.


  • The cost is reasonable. I'm pretty sure my insurance won't cover this expense...although I'm going to try anyway. Buuuut...the first visit which includes a complete profile is only $150! And each subsequent just $50...which includes the price of the shot!


I hung up the phone with a sigh of relief. I may never fully understand the whys/why nots of the vaccination issue...but at least I found someone willing to work within the boundaries of what I do understand!


This post is in no way an attempt to sway anyone's ideas about how they proceed with their children's vaccinations. This is simply words to my journey.


Seriously...take it with a grain of salt! Because I am in NO way an expert on this matter!



::smile::

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Comments

labonte4 said…
I suppose I should actually get rolling on this issue. Ava's vac's are sooooo behind. The last series we had was when she was 6m. old!! I brought it up w/ neuro & he said NO VAC's right now (which surprised me).

We have an appt. next week.....so I'll be bringing it up again.....she's going to be 3 in December. Just thinking about it makes my head spin!
July 10, 2008 at 5:16 AM
Danielle said…
Actually...I'm super interested in what Dr. G says! When I asked Dr. H she was very...gosh...I don't know the right words. But she said it was fine to move forward with vax-ing. I was a little suprised A)because DtAP is contra-indicated B)Trev's cortisol levels are still on the *ify* side from ACTH

Anyway...

Please please please let me know what Dr. G says about Ava!

Annnnnd...if you decide to use a vax friendly doctor we could car-pool! You're right on the way! Just an idea...

...danielle
July 10, 2008 at 5:35 AM
KC's Warrior Mama said…
Good for you Danielle for looking until you find what you are comfortable with. That is the most important thing. More important than being educated (which is important too, and you are) is doing what YOU feel is right for YOUR child. This is one of those things that you have to go with your gut on. If your gut tells you to vaccinate, do it. If your gut tells you to split up shots, do it! As you know, that is the route I have gone with KC. I am vaccinating, slowly. So far so good! If it makes you feel any better, I have researched this topic at great length, and came up with pretty much the same decision that you did. Knowing everything I know (which is sometimes too much!) I think you are doing the absoultely right thing : )

Karen
July 10, 2008 at 6:39 AM
Mama Skates said…
good for u danielle! even tho i know being ur child's advocate can be frustrating & exhausting sometimes - u're all he's got!

i didn't learn about jaden's autism or the whole vax issue until after he had already received all of his....it really is confusing & jumbled - especially when u have different dr's telling u different things....i'm so glad u found a real vax-friendly dr & that u feel confident about how u're proceeding with trevy's vax's! i love u and ur strong will to pieces!!!

xoxox,
sharon
July 10, 2008 at 6:44 AM
Reagan Leigh said…
I've been wrestling with this myself (especially being a "retired" research scientist). From a science background, I never once considered not giving my child vaccines...but now...seeing so many normal healthy kids start seizing and regressing out of nowhere...I just don't know. Reagan has not had any vaccines since her 4month appt. We have no idea if her seizures were a result of those vaccines or not (her seizures started at 5mo)...but I've been unwilling to risk it by loading her up with more. Her pediatrician has been totally understanding about it and hasn't pressured us one way or the other. I'm curious to know which are the 17 "required" vaccines??
July 10, 2008 at 9:31 AM
labonte4 said…
D....

I would def. be willing to carpool, depending on what we end up deciding on. My pedi. seemed less than interested in my suggestions of separating the vac's & proceeding slowly, when it was brought up a few months ago (before Ava's major illness in Feb.). She also said the MMR could NOT be separated.

I'm soooo scared to start doing this, but, I also have been to many 3rd world countries (Africa included), as you have, and seen the devastation of an outbreak.

Dr. G. flat out shot me down when I brought it up earlier this year. In fact, he advised us very strongly against it, at that time. This was in Jan. when we had just regained seizure control.

I'll let you know what happens. Thanks for the info...I love it when someone else does the research I should be doing *LOL*
July 10, 2008 at 10:16 AM
embee said…
Danielle, here's a good book that will help you get educated and make your own decision - it won't tell you what to do.

http://www.amazon.com/Vaccine-Guide-Benefits-Children-Adults/dp/1556434235/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215725580&sr=8-1
July 10, 2008 at 2:33 PM
Danielle said…
Karen - thank you SO much for being willing to help my kinestetic brain to wrap around this issue. You've really been pivital in my moving forward!

Sharon - I just use the advocating as a good excuse for the lazy! ;o) Me n' my strong will say *thank you* for lovin' us!

Tera - I was too exhausted yesterday to ask which vaccines were indicated. But once I know I'll pass the info along. I do know she said there were 17 required in "her" state...so I'm guessing each state varies...

B - how did I not know you've been abroad! And to Africa?! You're so right though...there was a measles epidemic while we were in TZ & I remember begging parents to vaccinate their children. US funded clinics were offering the vaxes for free! Anyway...I'm certainly not anti-vax ing. I just want to move forward slowly. But I'm still very interested in what Dr. G says... I trust him a lot between your experience & Jeremy n' Rachel's...

embee - thanks for the book link!
July 10, 2008 at 4:47 PM
Shanna Grimes said…
This is a hot issue for us too. I have decided (for the time being) not to vaccinate Kay. I figured she's just got too much going on with her body to add fuel to the fire.

I am also in the market for a vax friendly doc. Our's was great about not vaxing at first, but has been a little pushy lately. I admit, I skipped her last well baby. We had just gone to dr. neuro, so I figured we were fine to skip it. We had all the typical well baby stuff done at the neuro appt. With out needing to vax, there was no need to go to the well baby. We are now due for her 12 month. I'll have to go through the whole argument with dr. pedi again.

I am also not opposed, but I don't think it's necessary to have so many so quickly.
July 13, 2008 at 10:42 PM
Danielle said…
Shanna - I know we've talked about it before! My heart is just SO conflicted...BUT...I feel safe moving forward with the minimum required. I'm not convinced that Trev's spasms were from vaxes...or even agravated by his vaxes. But I just want to play it safe n' slow! I did see there are tons of vax friendly doctors on that link list!

...danielle
July 14, 2008 at 9:57 AM
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