Shotty

Yesterday, Cecelia went to the doctors office for her 3 month shots. What 3 month shots, you say? Well, the way we've chosen to deal with shots is to space them out in an alternative schedule. After researching and reading both popular vaccine books - one by Dr. Bob Sears and one by Dr. Paul Offitt, this was the determination we came to. Cecelia is receiving all of the AAP recommended shots, but just a little more spread out. So instead of getting 4 shots at a time, she gets 2. This increases the number of times we go to the doctors, but since I'm home from work for the time being, this is perfectly feasible for us. Now, while it's all fine and well for some people to choose not to get certain vaccinations, you still need to prove you got them or have a medical reasoning in order to register for school. Some people avoid this by home schooling or choosing a private school where this is not a requirement, but that's not the route we plan to go. Many people assume that the reason we're spacing out the vaccinations has to do with autism. Now so, well not exactly anyway. Thimerasol, a preservative which is believed to have *possibly* played a role in autism diagnoses is no longer an ingredient in any of the childhood vaccines. It is still (somewhat shockingly) present in the flu vaccine. Go figure. For us, GBS is the side effect we'd like to avoid. And it's a side effect listed in black and white on the product inserts for most of the childhood vaccines. With all of the swine flu vaccine debates, it's interesting to hear GBS being downplayed so much having witnessed its effects firsthand. But I digress. By spreading out the vaccines, are we eliminating the worry of a GBS side effect? Not exactly, but it can't hurt. And if there is a reaction, we should be able to pinpoint more easily which vaccine was responsible. Hopefully, that will never be a question. Aluminum is another cause for concern. It is an ingredient in many of the vaccines as well. I now avoid it in deodorant, so why would we inject it in our daughter? Because there aren't many other choices. But, by spacing out the shots, the amount of aluminum in one day is lessened. Are we doing the right thing? I don't know. I do know that we're trying...to do the right thing. Only time will tell. I have a chart outlining information from Dr. Sears' "The Vaccine Book" including which vaccines have a GBS side effect listed, how much aluminum is in each shot, the alternative schedule, and some tips to boost your kid's immunity in the days preceding a shot day. If you are interested in this information, contact me and I will send it to you. On a side note, after having read both Dr. Sears and Dr. Offitt, the difference was amazing to me. It seemed like Dr. Offitt was trying to dumb the information down and reassure the public. Isn't it interesting that he is also the creator of one of the vaccines? What does he stand to gain? Quite a lot in fact. He mentioned GBS on one page as the rare side effect after the 1976 Swine Flu vaccination and he doesn't say what it does - you'd need to look for more information on your own and how many people do that when presented with something they've never heard before? He doesn't mention it once as a possible side effect for today's vaccinations.