Speaking From Experience …
Laughter. Tears. Speechless. Frozen. Numb. Want to Scream. Want to hide. This week my life experiences have felt like a mess, a wreck of emotions, or is it that my experiences make me pay attention? I believe it’s all the above š It’s all happening at once.
I know ya’ll just love when I write about vaccines, but the so called “recommendations” coming out of the CDC this week, are something I have experienced before vaccines were available for two of these viruses and I will not stay silent. When children are literally dying from diseases that have been almost non-existent and hardly ever fatal, because of “grown-ups” not getting them vaccinated because of not wanting to “stab” them with a needle one more time, infuriates me to the bazillion-th degree!
Disclaimer: I get some vaccines there are legit reasons some people cannot receive, so don’t write me off.
Children, in fact nobody should be dying from the flu. Measles shouldn’t be shutting down flights and shuttering small businesses because of a mass drop in vaccinations. But let me tell you, the six that the CDC are no longer recommending as apart of the necessary childhood schedule… we haven’t even seen the worst numbers yet… I guarantee you.
How do I know this? I’ve been hospitalized with three. One has left me with chronic illness since four months old. And you know all those multiple chronic illnesses that our administration keeps saying people have- like one child with chronic illness will eventually be an adult with multiple chronic illnesses- that’s me. And to think a vaccine could have possibly prevented this, but was 36 years to late… I do believe my parents would have been first in line for that trial vaccine!!! Heck, I would have been for Lucy!!
So let me start with the ones that I have experienced and now live with the ripple effects…
RSV: Respiratory Syncytial Virus. This is a virus of the respiratory tract. It enters through either your eyes or nose, and affects BOTH upper and lower airways. This virus causes congestion, cell damage, and airway obstruction. 15%-50% of children infected will go on to develop serious respiratory tract disease- asthma, allergies, etc – and infections- viral or bacterial pneumonia, bronchiolitis. (Which I have experienced all the above.) Vaccines were approved in May of 2023, and they prevent infection or severity of infection causing hospitalization. Spread of this virus is through respiratory droplets. I read over my medical charts of this time, had a wonderful pediatrician, and my heart rapidly beats, I try to imagine what my parents were thinking. Four months old, struggling to get breath in and get breath out. And now to know there is a vaccine that could prevent all of this…
Rotavirus: This is a severe stomach and gastrointestinal virus, involving diarrhea and vomiting. The vaccine for this virus was approved in the mid-2000s, again 10+ years too late. The vaccine reduces chances of severe gastroenteritis infection, hospitalizations, and deaths. This is one I remember- my parents took me to my pediatrician’s office, and they met us at the door and swept me quickly into a private area away from the waiting room. I was around five years old. I remember uncontrollably “spilling my mouth” (what we call it) and being really weak and dizzy and next thing I saw was the ceiling of the hospital. Thankfully the hospital was just across the street from my doctor’s office. This is when you shared a bathroom and sometimes a room with another patient. However, this time there was no one sharing anything with me, so I knew I must be really sick. I remember being soooo sick. I will spare you the details, but believe me, if I could have been given 100 shots I would have done it! And my parents I am sure would have taken them too!
Influenza: aka Flu. Viral infection affecting the respiratory tract, different from the stomach flu which is gastroenteritis. The vaccine prevents severe infection, hospitalizations, severe cases of pneumonia, and death. The strain of flu is predicted every year, which is why there is an annual flu season, flu vaccine. Even if the strain of flu is wrongly predicted, it will still give you the increased protection. Spread through respiratory droplets in the air and on surfaces. Been in the ER and hospital for this one too. Something as simple as electrolytes and fluids can fall fast with compromised immune systems.
Now I can’t say I have had personal experience with the last three, but I wouldn’t let any child of mine go without, and here is why:
Meningococcal: Meningitis is inflammation and swelling of the brain. The vaccine protects agains severe infection of meningitis and sepsis. Sepsis is an infection in the bloodstream. Both are very serious and life-threatening.
Hepatitis B: Serious liver infection. This vaccine provides a life long protection, when given at birth, against liver failure and liver cancer. It is considered the “anti-cancer” vaccine, because it prevents the leading cause of liver cancer. This vaccine teaches your body to create its own antibodies to fight the virus.
Hepatitis A: A Contagious Liver infection. Spreads through contaminated foods and close contact with an infected person’s stool. The vaccine prompts your body to create antibodies to combat the Hepatitis A virus.
No day that you have to take your child to the hospital is a day you want to remember. However, you do and they don’t leave your mind. They are always there, ready to creep back in. Sometimes it’s the emergency room. Some days it might be a planned procedure. But the above viruses and potential infections can be avoided and if not avoided, the severity lessened a great deal! Not to mention the consideration of your child and those they will also be around.
The pictures of all the needles around a baby that are circling on social media disgusts me- if you have had a child lately, or simply check the facts, you will know that a child isn’t getting this amount of “stabs or jabs” as they like to say, in there childhood. But let me put you on notice, if your child gets sick, be ready for the labs, the IVs, the heal pricks, and the time when you have no home remedies or answers, when you can’t lay beside them or hold them, this stings and stings and stings.
What will it be? Honor the work of the brilliant minds who have given literal blood sweat and tears to give us vaccines? Or neglect and forget to care about lives of children and those immunocompromised?
I am a 100% believer in offering compassionate care in LIFE.
I don’t live in Denmark, if I did I would be writing and reviewing their vaccine recommendations.
On a little bit lighter note…
Life Book of the Week: Howdy! Welcome to the Grand Ole Opry, by Emily Abrams
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