Let's Open a Can of Worms - Our Story

[KatsMom01]

Elizabeth - Our beautiful, charming, quick tempered 4 year old daughter.  She loves nothing more than working for hours with her preschool work and is picking up concepts quicker than I get them ready for her.  She loves running, and climbing.  And oh, the temper, but she's the baby of a family with 3 older siblings and there is no fear of her just taking being picked on. 

October 23, 2009.  (Friday) She's running around the waiting room waiting to be seen for her 4 year old well child visit, talking to other children, playing, making us parents wish she would just sit still for two minutes.  In the exam room, she easily charms the nurses and the doctor, who gives her a thumbs up for good health, even her allergies (yes, her only health problem) are showing no signs of flaring up.  The doctor tells us that she can have her vaccines, and we can get them done with, or we can wait until next year.  I'm also informed that she can have her flu vaccine, but it will be the flu mist, not the shot.  I didn't think twice, I asked about side effects and was told the standard - fever, soreness and swelling at the injection site,  and signed the consent for them to give her the vaccines.  She was given 4 shots that day;  the MMR, DTap, Varicella Zoster, Inactivated Polio and then the flu mist.  She starts to run a fever shortly after leaving the office, we give her a dose of Motrin and she's fine for the rest of the day.  On Saturday, there's no sign of a fever, so we all let out a sigh of relief.  It turns out, we sighed too soon.  Sunday October 25, 2009 - during the afternoon, she announced she was tired, went to her room, climbed on her bed and was asleep without her beloved blanket.  She woke up screaming in pain, running a fever, and set up camp on our living room couch.  Two hours later, she was complaining "my heart beat hurt". 

These two days will be with me for the rest of my life.  The first date is where I made the regretful decision to allow ALL the vaccines to be given at once.  Even the cardiologist frowned at so many.  The second date is the day that our precious little girl became tired, pale, and in pain.

We've seen the doctor twice, seen the cardiologist and gotten the results back from the 24 hour holter monitor.  This coming Wednesday, we have yet another appointment with her doctor.  We are among the lucky few, because her doctor concedes that the vaccines are behind the cause of her problems.  What we don't know, is if the problems will pass and fade away, or if there are permanent scars.  For the last three weeks, she developed a heart murmur that wasn't ever there before (though this they believe is innocent), they believe it isn't her heart (Praises!)  but they do think it's very possible that it's neurological.  She spends at least half of her days on the couch, too tired to play.  Every few nights, she wakes up screaming in pain with muscle spasms.  During the day, when she does try to get up and run around, she's stopped by sharp pains in different parts of her body.   To add to the confusion, the doctor says that the vaccines triggered her allergies and she's currently in a flare up. 

I really wanted there to be a happy end to this story before I wrote this.  But since we're now going on close to a month, I wanted to go ahead and share this.  Do we believe the vaccines caused all of this?  Yes, I do, without a doubt.  Do we know which one?  No, we do not.  Do we believe that her current symptoms are lingering reactions or the allergies?  Personally, I believe it's both.  She never recovered from that before her allergies started flaring. 

I'm sure I'll hear from both sides of the great vaccine debate.  I want to state that I'm not anti vaccine but I'm also not pro vaccine, not anymore.  I do think there has to be a better way, a better schedule, so that so much isn't given at one time.  Because she recieved so many, we will NEVER know which one caused her to suffer so much.  Yes, it's entirely possible that the combination of them all caused it.  We don't know and we never will.

Please parents, before your child's vaccines are due, go to the cdc website and read the insert package pamplets that are packaged with the vaccinations, educate yourself of the potential side effects, and be aware of any "odd" reactions you should be aware of and when to report them to your doctor.  Moms, it is heart wrenching to watch a small child lay in your arms in pain and know that you don't have the answers to take that pain away. 

I trusted my child's doctor, still do for that matter, but please realize, that for all their education and experience, that they are still human.  They trust, like we trust in them, in the people that make the vaccines.  They follow the recommended schedules because they were told that it's safe.  According to the government, serious adverse reactions are rare.  With most care being group practice, doctors have less and less time to give, it's up to us parents to make sure we ask the right questions so that we are given the information on just how much we want to risk experiencing one of those rare reactions. 

To all the wonderful Moms here on cafemom, if you do nothing else and still decide to vaccinate on schedule and with all the combination of shots, please keep a record of ALL symptoms (yes, even fever - how high, what time, what you did, how long before it went down, when did it reoccur).  I know our lives are busy and many of us have more than one child.  Our daily lives can get crazy but the records will help us and the doctors make a better decision IF something goes wrong.

With Best Wishes,

Sheila