More Info.

Probably more than you will WANT to know, as you’ll get my own personal opinions of vaccines, but since i can think a little more clearly today, here goes.

PERSONAL view of vaccinations

First – let me say that I don’t intend this to turn into a debate about them. It’s a personal choice and one that I hope people make after doing their own research. I did only a little bit of research before having Kealey, but we were luckily on the West Coast still at that point, where, in our experience, our doctors were ENTIRELY more laid back about things than here in the midwest. SO – whatever your choice, great. This is just how our family has done it.

For the most part, I have no problem with most vaccines. They are a part of childhood in the US, and i think that most of what we get vaccinated against is not prevalent anymore BECAUSE of the vaccines. So for kids who are healthy and strong and can handle them, I think they’re a GREAT thing. They provide herd immunization not only for kids, but also for the adults that interact with them on a daily basis. It works. My first three were all vaccinated just about on time. Like I said, our WA and CA doctors were very laid back  – “ oh you want to delay this one today?> great call us when you’re ready, or we’ll just catch her up on her next visit.” So if I was still reading up on one or two of the recommended vax, we’d just wait. if i felt like kealey was just slightly under the weather, we’d wait. we delayed the MMR till she was 2. Karissa – due to her issues, was also on a slightly delayed schedule, but, being here in the midwest, I had to really do some convincing of the docs that this was the appropriate route. Once she seemed healthier and more stable, we caught her up and all was well. Not a big deal. Same thing with Kaylen. She was constantly with the ear infections her first year so she had more than a few catch up shot days, which did cause minor reactions, but nothing that i coudln’t deal with.

We have gotten chiropractic care for our entire family since we moved here to IL, before karissa was even born. Our chiro, God bless him, is VERY anti-vax. They’re all poisons, made with fetal tissue and battery acid, completely unnecessary and more harm than good, etc etc etc. Now while I am pretty sure they’re not the HEALTHIEST thing, i think I fall somewhere in the middle. I think some of what gets put out is just lots of drug company propaganda/money making, as evidenced by docs who are all too willing to push certain vaccines without much backup. (Again, this is JUST MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.) But – whatever the case, we always take our kids to get adjustments right after they get any vaccines, so that their bodies can be in optimal condition to be able to absorb the titers of whatever vaccine they just received, fight if off appropriately, and let their bodies do their jobs to store those antibodies till they’re needed. For the older three – this has been a good way of doing it. Sure they still get the occasional sicknesses, and they all have some slight reactions to the vaccines (crankiness, tiredness, fevers) in SPITE of the propaganda  paperwork the nurses give you that swear that NEVER happens. Whatever. It is what it is and we just deal with it for a few days.

So in general – I am not Anti-Vaccination (Vax), nor am I necessarily gung-ho PRO-vaccination. I believe in the concept of vaccinations, just not always the execution of that concept the way that our country has accepted it. There are more than a few vax that I personally feel are complete bunk, but i’ll keep those opinions to myself since that’s all they are – MY opinions. anyways – this has been a good course for our family for the past 7 years.

THEN along comes Kendall. With more issues than months in her life, and throwing ALL my parenting wisdom out the door. She was in the NICU still for her first set of vaccinations, and I can honestly not say whether she had reactions or not. Things weren’t normal for her, that’s for sure, but its hard to know which was the horse and which was the cart there. At her 2 month check up was when she turned into exorcist child when they gave her the vaccinations, and that’s when her bad downward spiral began. So at 4 months, we did just one shot (I BELIEVE it was just the Hib at that time as well, single vax, not combo) and sure enough, a week later she was back in the hospital with pneumonia. 6 months, we held off on vaccinations because she was again dealing with pneumonia (but just not inpatient for that one! YAY!). At her 9 month check she got the Prevnar (for pneumonia and lots of sepsis infections, which she dealt with this past spring) and the DTaP, combo’d because that’s the most effective one against Pertussis (whooping cough), which IS actually coming back around in IL this season, and we felt like it would be good if she had SOME protection against it. And please believe, nurses don’t just walk in the room and administer shots without a LOT of discussion from me. I ask lots of questions specifically about the pro’s and con’s of vaccinating vs. NOt vaccinating, in KENDALL’s situation. We discuss things about her history and overall status before doing anything. It’s not something that is done lightly by any means.  I was a little hesitant to give her two shots at her 9 month check (which was at the end of August), but she HAD been in a pretty good run of health/weight gain/stamina, so i thought it was ok. And sure enough within three weeks of that, she was inpatient. I get that it MAY be all circumstantial, highly coincidental, all of that, with regard to going inpatient after every round of vax. However, given what we are also seeing on the bloodwork, and the fact that she does appear to be constantly fighting SOMETHING, this is what is raising the red flags to her immunologist.

The discussion yesterday about giving her the one vax again was not short. It was a good discussion though, in that i felt like Dr. R was REALLY hearing me out, and that we were having a two-sided conversation. We went back and forth about the benefits of vaxing her right then and there. But in the end, the plan he laid out was one I could not argue with. She just IS stuck between a rock and a hard place. She has a good chance of growing out of this issue, as a lot of kids do. However, in the absence of any real protection against MANY viruses and infections, it could be a scary winter. We need to balance projected growth out of this problem with the fact that she needs to make it TO that point alive in order for that to be helpful. I think if we had dealt with ear infections, colds, croup, that kind of thing last winter, Dr. R might not be so keyed up to fix the problem. What we dealt with though were very bad, life-threatening infections. Her body bypasses the ability to keep the infection at bay in just her ears, or just her sinuses, and lets it go right to its favorite warm incubation spot – her lungs. She more than likely always had secondary infections along with her pneumonias – but clearly we were more worried about the pneumonia/breathing issues than the ear infection. And the horse antibiotics she got put on killed everything. And then the fact that she would always improve SO WELL on antibiotics, and start crashing again the day she finished each course also played into the entire history Dr. R was looking at when outlining his plan of attack.

so that’s why I consented to the vax yesterday.

Not because I just blindly go into each appt accepting whatever the doc says will be best. not because I am a huge fan of either vaccinations OR inpatient stays. And certainly not because I like to torture Kendall. We try to make very informed and researched decisions when it comes to all the girls and their medical issues, and no decision is ever just lightly jumped into.

So – now that that’s all off my chest!

ummm what else did i have to blog about today…

Oh – Dr. Terra’s personal (completely unmedical) version of IvIg. This is JUST what I understand from reading the helpful medical documentation on google and from a few other online sources. Basically, it would involve going to the hospital monthly, getting an IV started, and staying hooked up for a few hours for the globulin product to be infused. I guess it can cause quite a few reactions, so sometimes there’s some pre-treatment (Iv benadryl or other anti-histamines), and then a period of observation afterwards for the first few especially. It is a blood product, so in some ways it is similar to a blood transfusion. But it’s not whole blood, nor is it medication. It is somehow a conglommeration of thousands of antibodies taken from different donors and combined into one product. That could be WAY off, but in essence, that’s what is happening.  {UPDATE! I found a better link – read this!} Since Kendall’s body can’t make antibodies, she would be getting them from other sources. Which is why its a monthly therapy. And it would last for a couple years, until, hopefully, her own body can kick in and start creating its own antibodies, a.k.a. – using what she makes!

Today definitely feels like fall. So glad I stopped by Yankee Candle for my new fall tarts! they definitely make it seem/smell/feel more autumny. *today my house smells like Macintosh spice! the girls were all excited that I had baked cookies….uhhhhh….no, sorry – just a tart burning!*

Ben came home early today and we were able to go have lunch – which was all fun and enjoyable till Kendall started choking on…who knows what – her own saliva? Reflux? something anyways, and then Kaylen peed her pants and clearly her diaper was at capacity because it created a nice little puddle on the floor. So we had to cut our fun little date short and speed home. C’est la vie.

And now we are deep into the throes of afterschool homework and snacks before getting ready for Awana’s tonite. And I am freezing in spite of the fact that we succumbed and turned our heat on today. I think Kendall’s waking temp of 94.5 kind of pushed us in that direction. She is now back up to her normal of 97! So the hawklike watching continues. Thus far her stomach seems to be holding up , which is usually the first sign of something going wrong. She is refluxing a lot more today, and then choking on it, but that could be just tiredness, not a harbinger of worse things to come. I hope. Thanks for the prayers and thoughts you are sending on Kendall’s behalf! I think getting through the next three or so days without massive reactions will be HUGE!

Ok the guilt over not having baked goods ready and warm from the oven for my girls is getting to me so I am off to try to retroactively have some!

Have a happy Thursday!!!

 

T-Crest