We had Carter vaccinated today. The big year old and 15 month line-up, including the super scary MMR. Every time I take him for shots my gut instinct is to run as far away from them as possible. Its crazy. I understand the importance of vaccination and that for herd immunity to work for those who cant be vaccinated, we have a responsibility to get the shots. I understand the risk vs reward and the low, low chance of serious side effect. I am educated and sensible. I cant stand hippie mentalities or moms who think they know better than their doctors. I think conspiracy theorists are idiots. And still, I have been shamed by fellow moms and Ive seen the looks among people who work in medicine when I quietly voice my concern. And yet, everything in my body says that its a terrible, awful idea for us to shoot a bunch of chemicals, potential allergens and medicines into under developed or still developing immune systems en masse. Rational me fell apart in tears when even discussing it with the pediatrician today. He was patient and told me we could further delay, but i went on with it because thats what Im supposed to do. Regardless of which camp youre in, we live in a society where autism is on the significant rise along with cancers, allergies, asthma, ADHD and food allergies significant enough to kill. We are so advanced medically and as a society and yet, we cant find a link between these things and any consistent sensible argument. And Im not saying that vaccines are the cause.. I know anti-vaxxers with autistic kids. But my job as a Mom is to protect Carter from things that can hurt him.. And I feel like a terrible person every time a half dozen vials that I dont fully understand are mindlessly injected into my kids leg and hes sent out the door hoping that the lottery doesnt hit making us one of the .01% to have a severe reaction. How nice it must be to be able to blindly trust in everything were told and never wonder if were making the correct decision. For the record, Carter is sleeping peacefully. He was far less upset by the shots than I was and he doesnt appear to have any reaction to them (which is a step up from the rashes we had with the last set). I didnt write this rant to start an inflammatory war or to upset people who believe firmly in any one set of ideals. Or to piss off my well meaning family and friends in medicine. Im a reluctant vaxxer, I guess. Ill keep getting them because the need outweighs the gamble, but Im not happy about it.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 03:55:38 +0000
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