The Not So Great Vaccine Debate

Vaccines are back in the news again. Nothing stresses me out more than trying to make the right decisions where vaccines are concerned. Let me begin by saying I am in NO way anti-vaccine. I work in the medical industry, albeit the animal medical industry. I know how vaccines work and have witnessed first hand the positive and negative effects of them. So when it comes to my son I am rather torn on what to do and when to do it.

The autism/vaccine connection is back in the news again. The original scare began a few years back and contrary to popular belief had little to do with mercury. The Wakefield Study emerged in 1998. Basically Dr Wakefield did a somewhat questionable study determining that when compared to their similarly vaccinated siblings. Autistic children had the measles virus in the lining of their intestine. The same virus as that contained in the MMR vaccine. Their siblings, however, did not. Much has been stated about this study. Many parents have opted not to vaccinate for MMR. Many parents of autistic children blame that vaccine for their child's condition. Measles is making a comeback here and across the pond. It had recently come to light that the Wakefield study was skewed and inaccurate, with some of the test subjects showing obvious autism signs before administration of the MMR vaccine.

Now, in our grand country we have an organization that provides compensation to people and families hurt by vaccines . If vaccines are so darn safe, why is this in existence? Well, because vaccines aren't all that safe. A vaccine is like any device of modern western medicine. Vaccines have done great things and saved many lives, but with the wrong body chemistry at the right time, they can also be deadly. We see this on occasion in veterinary medicine. I have seen pets run the gamut in vaccine reactions, from fevers, to vomiting, to a level of anaphylaxis that requires life saving measures. Fortunately the latter is very rare and I suppose the same can be said in human medicine as well.

So what is a parent to do?! If you listen to the head doctor of my pediatrician's office, we should all follow a herd mentality. Following a regimented vaccine schedule that takes not into account individual body make and chemistry. That philosophy frightens and angers me. I understand the AAP schedule exists for a reason. But what needs to be taken into account are the individual health needs of each child.

I am vaccinating my son (well almost every vaccine). But I am following a delayed schedule. My reasons have little to do with the possible autism/vaccine link and much more to do with the aluminum conjugate in most vaccines. The "bugs" in the vaccine need a transportation mode, hence the aluminum. Aluminum is processed by the kidneys. Studies have been done determining that oral administration of aluminum in high doses doesn't really pose a health risk. A lot of antacids are aluminum based. But no studies, have been done to see what happens when aluminum is injected. Since my son only has one functional kidney, I don't want to tax it. So I spread out his vaccines, trying to adhere to one a visit, on a rare occasion two. Right now he is caught up and will remain so until 15 months, when I will at least delay MMR for now.

My wish, my dream, is that there would be honest, unbiased research on autism and vaccines. What makes myself and many other parents insane is the lack of honest, unbiased information. Seems there are two schools of thought. Vaccinate or die! Or vaccinate and die! The only thing that comes close to fair and balanced literature is The Vaccine Book by Robert Sears MD FAAP. God bless this book and Dr Sears for presenting the facts about vaccines and the diseases they cover. God bless this book for presenting an alternate plan and explaining how you can safely insert it into your baby's life. Contrary to myth, he does NOT recommend not vaccinating. He recommends a delayed schedule if you have true medical reasons. He recommends things you need to do to keep your baby safe if you choose to delay or reject vaccines. For example breastfeeding at least one year, probiotics, getting the most dangerous and pertinent diseases vaccinated for first. etc....

For now it seems my head will continue to spin with the myriad of information that exists. I will take each doctor visit as it comes and try to do what I think is best for my son. One thing for sure it's an uphill battle with a lot of twists and turns and no easy answers.

Blogger Neglect

Yes I am guilty of a serious case of blogger neglect. No good excuses other than it takes two free hands to type this blog. I only usually have one good hand available because the other is velcroed to my son.

Kidneygate Update!

Back to Hershey we went two Mondays ago. Not for roller coaster rides and outsourced Mexican chocolate, but for a renal scan for our son. This kid has had to endure far more in his 10 months of life, than either Dave or I endured in our first twenty years. Strapped to a gurney, Nicholas had to have an IV and a urinary catheter. His next assignment was to lay, for what should have been a little over an hour, but what turned out to be two, thanks to a computer glitch. While radioactive dye, that comes direct via a little lead box, drips through his uro-genital tract. Nicholas endured this post modern version of reverse Chinese water torture when he was 3 months old and he actually slept through about 60% of it. I didn't expect my active 10 month old to sleep that amount this time and I was correct. This renal scan he may have slept, through sheer exhaustion, for about 20 minutes of the 2 hour ordeal.

After the procedure is all said and done, much relief pours over Dave and I regardless of the results. Luckily we have are scheduled to see the urologist a mere hour after the scan so there is not much of a wait. This time Dr Pediatric Urology Guy tells us the same thing we heard last time, and the time before that, and the time before that. " Your son's good kidney is not 100% normal." "So we need to watch it." "It may never change for the better, but that's OK because right now it functions at 100% and can this way his entire life. " But.....because he only has one functional kidney, we must continue to monitor with ultrasounds and maybe another renal scan sometime in the future...blah blah blah..."

This is a song Dave and I already had memorized and expected and sincerely hoped to hear. There is always a chance that is ureter could narrow, and he need surgical intervention, but we've been told the chances of this are less likely as he grows and everything, including ureters, gets bigger.

"So he can be this way, slightly hydronephrosed, for the rest of his life, and still function at 100%?" I asked.

"Yep."

OK that's all I needed to know, thanks......

Our next renal adventure will be heading to Children's Hospital Of Phila for Nicholas' follow up, thanks to Hershey being "out of network" now. Thank you big name insurance companies for keeping the cost of health care rising to the stratosphere with your greed and dishonestly (note the sarcasm here...)