Vaccines

One of the touchiest subjects I have come across as a “normal” parent and a parent of a special needs child is Vaccines. In the session at the UMDF Conference on vaccines there was clearly an air of distrust, frustration and emotions towards the whole conversation.

Dr. Pacheco point blank said, “all my patients will be vaccinated” – it seemed that this statement turned a lot of people off. What I kept thinking was, I wish she would have said, “all my patients will be vaccinated IF and only IF it’s done in a safe and controlled environment”

I met a delightful friend at the conference whose daughter has a suspected Mito disease and she also has a wide variety of other issues mostly related to food. Kristi is a chemist by trade and with her scientific background she is able to dissect and better share Mito related issues. She shared this blog post with me on her research related to vaccines, http://babyfoodsteps.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/v-is-for-vaccine/

So, after my own research and listening to my “mommy gut reaction” I have formed my opinion on vaccines for Will.

-He’s never had a bad reaction – before or after diagnosis of Mito

-We know he has a Mitochondrial disorder

-There is evidence that vaccine injury is real

-Why risk further neurological damage?

-Why risk a serious illness to an already compromised immune system?

-Net result: Vaccinate with care

I just saw this article on the number of parents delaying vaccines. http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/19/more-oregon-parents-delaying-vaccines/?hpt=he_c2

One of the statements is that it’s easy for parents to fall behind on a delayed schedule because you have to make multiple doctor visits. My response, if you care that much about putting your child on a delayed schedule, then you should be even more aggressive on achieving a successful outcome with that schedule.

Parents have to make a choice for their children’s health, if you are a parent to a normal healthy child that has no family history of problems and exhibits no health problems then one could assume there shouldn’t be a problem with a normal vaccine schedule. But, there’s always a but, what if you are one of those few vaccine injured families and you just don’t know until it happens. UG!

We take risks on behalf of our children daily. We strap them into poorly installed car seats, we shoot them up with Tylenol when they have a fever so we can get a few hours of work in before day care calls, we let them play in the street, we take them swimming in the deep end, we turn our back for one second on the changing table – everything is risky and could produce permanent damage to our children.

As a Mito Mom, I have realized we have very little control over what happens with Will’s body. I can’t keep him in a bubble, I can’t shoot him up with Tylenol to fix a fever and so on. BUT, I can control what goes into his body and how – vaccines included.

I guess my “mommy gut reaction” is that there is no good answer; this is just one problem I have put to rest in my head. That’s a nice feeling.