Whooping cough, Why I vaccinate my kids. (My Personal Battle With a Preventable Disease.)
Again today, my Facebook Newsfeed came up with another anti-vaccine/ pro vaccine debate. Although I usually don't post my opinion, on those feeds, it just is a media storm for nasty comments back and forth...Who has time for that BS.
The name Pertussis or Whooping cough, sounds funny but let me tell you, there is NOTHING funny about it. When we contracted it, we were both in good health with healthy immune systems. In the first week, we both had HIGH fevers. In week 3 of the disease, My brother woke in the middle of the night unable to breathe, we had to go to the Hospital, this happened multiple times over the course of dealing with this disease. We were in the Hospital for breathing issues, and dehydration from vomiting from the violent coughing attacks. We both needed 3 different inhalers to be used all together (we do not have asthma), 4 ventalin treatments, we were sick for 8 months. That meant 8 months of sounding like we were dying, when they say whooping...you actually make a whooping sound, because your lungs have to work so hard to get air in, and you can't get it in, because the inside of your lungs are covered in mucus, It is like having your lungs in a vice, and they will only open so far to let air in, every breath is a fight, and it lasted most of my senior year.
Now, I was a healthy kid over all, I could not imagine, a child with an immune disorder, or a cancer patient contracting this disease, it would be a death sentence, never mind their own cancer or immune issues, it is a serious health concern to a newborn or elderly.
In my opinion the evidence is clear in that, many of these diseases are rarely actually showing themselves in the western world due in fact to vaccines. Vaccines are widely successful the majority of the time in preventing such diseases. My brother and I were the only ones who contracted Pertussis despite our entire school population being exposed to Pertussis through us. My mom and dad and baby brother or any other family member never caught it despite being in direct contact with us. Why?? Well, I can only guess, but it would most likely be due the vaccine, that saved them from enduring what we went through. It was AWFUL...there is nothing worse then not being able to breathe. It is terrifying, and we went to sleep in fear that we would wake up completely unable to breathe, and die. Yes, at 16 that was my thought at night as I went to bed.
However, Here is my story, let me give a little back ground. My brother and I both suffered from adverse effects due to a high fever. My brother, has a heart defect and a fever would usually put in him SVT( and extremely fast heart rate) which is deadly if left untreated, so it usually meant a hospital stay for him. I suffered from seizures when I would have a high fever. So, in saying that, the Pertussis(Whooping cough) vaccine, tends to give a fever. So my parents opted out of vaccinating us against it, my mom was a Neonatal nurse and was well aware of the risk...It was not a problem till I was 16 years old, and my brother was 13.
In the Fall of 2001, both my brother and I contracted Pertussis (Whooping cough) from a small town community in my home province.
The name Pertussis or Whooping cough, sounds funny but let me tell you, there is NOTHING funny about it. When we contracted it, we were both in good health with healthy immune systems. In the first week, we both had HIGH fevers. In week 3 of the disease, My brother woke in the middle of the night unable to breathe, we had to go to the Hospital, this happened multiple times over the course of dealing with this disease. We were in the Hospital for breathing issues, and dehydration from vomiting from the violent coughing attacks. We both needed 3 different inhalers to be used all together (we do not have asthma), 4 ventalin treatments, we were sick for 8 months. That meant 8 months of sounding like we were dying, when they say whooping...you actually make a whooping sound, because your lungs have to work so hard to get air in, and you can't get it in, because the inside of your lungs are covered in mucus, It is like having your lungs in a vice, and they will only open so far to let air in, every breath is a fight, and it lasted most of my senior year.Now, I was a healthy kid over all, I could not imagine, a child with an immune disorder, or a cancer patient contracting this disease, it would be a death sentence, never mind their own cancer or immune issues, it is a serious health concern to a newborn or elderly.
Its easy to say that Vaccines are causing more harm then good, when you have not had to endure the suffering or watching your child suffer from a preventable disease. I asked my mom, if she wished that she would have risked the fevers over us being as sick for as long as we were, and she said, that she felt extremely guilty for thinking she knew better for us at the time. With all the drugs we had to take for a extended period of time, for the amount of toxins in a Vaccine, it would have been less invasive for our systems to just have the vaccine.
I feel that if we as a society, stop the herd protection mentality we are only going to see a rise in deaths caused by diseases really unknown to the modern Western world. My own children get fevers with Vaccines, but I will take that over risking their very lives with a disease like whooping cough. An infant could very well, die from such a disease, and spread it to others, and many infants that contract this disease do die, it is that brutal. These diseases are HIGHLY contagious!!
News may very well one day be reporting on the the hundreds dying of such diseases like whooping cough, daily here in the western world, I hope not, but I personally believe if we continue this course of anti- vaccinations, in my opinion we will see a rise in deaths, due to preventable diseases. Yes there would be a decline in the Vaccine injuries however we as a society would be dealing with potentially more deadly diseases that were once thought to be eradicated. Our medical systems are bogged now, and add whole host of preventable disease ridden patients, I think we will have a problem on our hands. In my opinion the amount of vaccine injuries has no comparison to the amount of children that could suffer from diseases that are in fact preventable that will end up in our Hospitals.
This is serious stuff, now I know there is no vaccine with out risk, but it is the same as medicine. We will give them prescribed drugs, should they need it, because it could save there lives, and there are risks for each drug, yet we do it because we want to protect our child's life. A vaccine is protecting us and our herd from diseases that have the more potential to kill, then any vaccine has generally.
Autism is on the rise said to be caused by the MMR vaccine, but so will the chance of children contracting a PREVENTABLE disease. If we don't vaccinate, many of these diseases have the ability to kill our children, and other family members as well, elderly, infants. Just on a side note... I have had the MMR shot 6 times.
For those that have developed autism thought to be caused by a vaccine, I believe that this can be truly challenging, and hard to deal with this life long brain development malfunction and it is unfair, and awful that we have to take the risk either way, in our decisions to or not to vaccinate. I think much more research must be done in finding ways to vaccinate with out the toxins, but I have been on the opposite end of the risk scale, and paid dearly for it as well. Whether or not we vaccinate we are taking a risk, no doubt.
On the topic of Autism, it is only in the last 15 years that we as a society have been able to properly diagnose autism on a spectrum. So the amount of cases being properly diagnosed as opposed to 15 years ago is rising, because we actually can diagnose with certainty. Whether or not autism is directly or solely caused by vaccines is not my expertise, but in my research medical studies waver back and forth. Which leaves us parents trying to make a best educated decision. I can not say to you that you must vaccinate, but what I am saying having been through a preventable disease, that the risk of the vaccine to me personally is worth the risk, because I do not want my child to suffer what I suffered... LOOK UP WHOOPING COUGH ON YOU TUBE! You will see what I mean! Scary Stuff!! But I have also looked up Vaccine injures too, and yes there are some pretty horrible injuries.
This is serious stuff, now I know there is no vaccine with out risk, but it is the same as medicine. We will give them prescribed drugs, should they need it, because it could save there lives, and there are risks for each drug, yet we do it because we want to protect our child's life. A vaccine is protecting us and our herd from diseases that have the more potential to kill, then any vaccine has generally.
Autism is on the rise said to be caused by the MMR vaccine, but so will the chance of children contracting a PREVENTABLE disease. If we don't vaccinate, many of these diseases have the ability to kill our children, and other family members as well, elderly, infants. Just on a side note... I have had the MMR shot 6 times.
For those that have developed autism thought to be caused by a vaccine, I believe that this can be truly challenging, and hard to deal with this life long brain development malfunction and it is unfair, and awful that we have to take the risk either way, in our decisions to or not to vaccinate. I think much more research must be done in finding ways to vaccinate with out the toxins, but I have been on the opposite end of the risk scale, and paid dearly for it as well. Whether or not we vaccinate we are taking a risk, no doubt.
On the topic of Autism, it is only in the last 15 years that we as a society have been able to properly diagnose autism on a spectrum. So the amount of cases being properly diagnosed as opposed to 15 years ago is rising, because we actually can diagnose with certainty. Whether or not autism is directly or solely caused by vaccines is not my expertise, but in my research medical studies waver back and forth. Which leaves us parents trying to make a best educated decision. I can not say to you that you must vaccinate, but what I am saying having been through a preventable disease, that the risk of the vaccine to me personally is worth the risk, because I do not want my child to suffer what I suffered... LOOK UP WHOOPING COUGH ON YOU TUBE! You will see what I mean! Scary Stuff!! But I have also looked up Vaccine injures too, and yes there are some pretty horrible injuries.
I was a victim of a preventable disease, and have been in the middle of the argument. I also do not have immunity to Rubella( German measles), My body does not respond to the vaccine despite having it the 6 times in my life. So I am at risk now and have been through each of my pregnancies. I would say I depend and depended on the herd protection to keep me from contracting a disease now, and while I was pregnant. The disease could cause major damage to an unborn child as well as make me VERY ill. I hope and pray, that I will never have to face German measles.
When it comes to Vaccinations and my children the choice is mine to make. It is my choice that my kids will be a part of our beautiful herd that has been vaccinated with the risks and the beautiful members of our herd that have not been vaccinated, run the risk of contracting a preventable disease.Vaccinated or not, each one of our children are precious, and they are at the very heart of the reason for the argument in the first place, is it not? We don't want to harm our children. We make the best decision based on our knowledge and experiences. I made my choice to vaccinate my children, based on my experience with whooping cough.
In my opinion the evidence is clear in that, many of these diseases are rarely actually showing themselves in the western world due in fact to vaccines. Vaccines are widely successful the majority of the time in preventing such diseases. My brother and I were the only ones who contracted Pertussis despite our entire school population being exposed to Pertussis through us. My mom and dad and baby brother or any other family member never caught it despite being in direct contact with us. Why?? Well, I can only guess, but it would most likely be due the vaccine, that saved them from enduring what we went through. It was AWFUL...there is nothing worse then not being able to breathe. It is terrifying, and we went to sleep in fear that we would wake up completely unable to breathe, and die. Yes, at 16 that was my thought at night as I went to bed.
Each one of us as parents in the western world makes that choice wether or not to vaccinate our children. If I hadn't had whooping cough, I would probably lean to not vaccinate. I however suffered from a disease, that there is no cure, you fight it as best as you can, with inhalers, and ventalin treatments, and time.
I want all of God's beautiful children to live full and healthy happy lives. I am not writing this to say Yes, or No to vaccines, but my own decision was made based on a personal battle with a disease, that kills thousands every year around our beautiful globe. I vaccinate my children, in hopes that they will never have to suffer from a disease that has more risk to their lives, then a vaccine. Some will argue that vaccines are causing the rise in cancer, and I don't doubt that there is a small risk, but what doesn't cause cancer these days. It is mind boggling, the media is saying that even the air we breathe is causing cancer, because of all the harmful toxins in our atmosphere. When does it end?
I made my choice to vaccinate, society will make their best choice according to them, and we will see as time goes on, the argument will continue to go back and forth. The choices we must make both come with risks to our children's health. It sucks, but that is the reality. I made the choice, and I can only hope and pray that my children will never have to face a disease that could take their life, be it whooping cough, or cancer. The best we can do is give them a fighting chance. That is the end goal for every parent, to protect, nurture and love our beautiful God breathed creations.
Blessings
Deeds K
I want all of God's beautiful children to live full and healthy happy lives. I am not writing this to say Yes, or No to vaccines, but my own decision was made based on a personal battle with a disease, that kills thousands every year around our beautiful globe. I vaccinate my children, in hopes that they will never have to suffer from a disease that has more risk to their lives, then a vaccine. Some will argue that vaccines are causing the rise in cancer, and I don't doubt that there is a small risk, but what doesn't cause cancer these days. It is mind boggling, the media is saying that even the air we breathe is causing cancer, because of all the harmful toxins in our atmosphere. When does it end?
I made my choice to vaccinate, society will make their best choice according to them, and we will see as time goes on, the argument will continue to go back and forth. The choices we must make both come with risks to our children's health. It sucks, but that is the reality. I made the choice, and I can only hope and pray that my children will never have to face a disease that could take their life, be it whooping cough, or cancer. The best we can do is give them a fighting chance. That is the end goal for every parent, to protect, nurture and love our beautiful God breathed creations.
Blessings
Deeds K
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