I very well may be starting a shit storm with this one. I am about to speak opinionated about something I know little to nothing about, but I do it out of jealously.*

I read Dooce.com almost everyday. Shes a "mommy blogger", who is also part of Momversations and if you're a mom I highly recommend reading both. I am not a mom, but find Heather (dooce) highly entertaining, informational, and also enlightening. Momversation as well as Heather recently did a posting on vaccinating your children and the choices parents make about this. While there is SOOO much I have to say about this, I'm going to leave it at, I think you should vaccinate. Period. And I'm not going to go into it any further.

But what I do want to touch on, is that the parents that choose not to vaccinate (by fear of Autism) are obviously so willing to take on other things. This is what I do not understand. For instance, Polio. Wow Polio sucks, peoples lives were changed, and people died. We have a flipping CURE for polio, that people are now denying their children. And it made me wonder...lets say by some twist of fate we find out what causes MS. We create a vaccine for it, that is administered to our children. If there was a CHANCE that vaccine would cause something else...say Autism**...would you pass on it?

Maybe we find out MS is just like polio. What if everyone is susceptible (which we sorta know is false anyway, but entertain me) to getting MS, and this one little shot when were 6 months old will make sure we have NO chance in ever getting it. Sounds amazing, right? What if the MS vaccination caused Autism, or cancer, or could possibly cause hell, even Polio?  At this point in your life, if you could make this decision for your kids (or future kids) would you vaccinate them? If you could protect them from MS but would open the door to something else would you do it?

We know what we get with MS right? We know little, but we know for the most part what life will entail from best scenario, to worst possible scenario . For most of us, it sucks but yea its totally do able. Is it easier to deal with what we know, or hope for the best with the possibility of uncharted territory?

On the flip side, what if you chose NOT to vaccinate, and MS is a virus which is air borne (which, frankly, is kind of a possibility) and you take your child to the pediatrician. There are a bunch of babies and old people (why are there old people? I dunno. Its grandparents day or something), what if your child who is unvaccinated is now silently carrying MS, and passes it onto these other people. These people all get MS, and there is an MS outbreak because of one child. Sounds crazy right? Wrong. This kind of shit is happening with measles and the whooping cough because of all of these people who are not vaccinating their children. Here in 2009 we have having measles outbreaks and people have died. CRAZY.

What if you're a kid who gets polio or something and you can't walk, all because your parents were afraid of you getting something else? Can you say, resentment issues?

So now I've babbled, and probably totally lost you at this point. BUT I guess what it comes down to is, how far wold you be willing to go in order to protect those your know and love (and even some you don't) from MS?

For me, I really don't know. My MS is very mild and not very aggressive. I am "lucky" when it comes to the MS train. If it were me, would I pass on a future of MS for something else say Autism? Nope, I'll take my MS please. What about cancer? Nope, MS please. Polio? Nope MS please. Sometimes I need to be reminded to get my head out of my ass and stop feeling sorry for myself. 

If there was an MS vaccine that caused maybe like a fever for a few weeks, or a cold or something like that..yes, I would then vaccinate. I guess it just comes down to what is the lesser of the evils?

Ugh this post is total shite.

*Why am I jealous? Because there is a cure for these little illnesses. I was vaccinated and I didn't get any, except maybe the chicken pox. I'm jealous that there is no vaccine for MS.
**The arguments state that the MMR is the one that allegedly causes Autism...so I am giving scenarios here...don't write me about how wrong my research is.

 


Comments

Peggy

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 07:27:07

Gosh, I know the folks here would use a vaccine in a heartbeat. Esp. since the link between the MMR vaccine and autism has been so thoroughly debunked. Wherever we -can- find a new treatment at this point, right?

 

Colleen

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:52:36

wow thats a lot to think about. I know what MS does, not just to the person that has it but to the family. I also know what cancer can do. In my eyes they can both be very bad. You can live with MS with a day to day struggle with the possibility of it getting to the point where you cant walk at all or do anything for your self and then end up dying at a young age anyways. Cancer can kill you in a blink of an eye. You go through treatments that can kill you now or maybe even later on. Cancer can always come back so you live with that fear.

I would love to see a vaccine for MS but if it had a great possibility of causing cancer later on im not sure. Cancer runs in my family on all sides. So i'm not sure if I would chance it.

How about a vaccine for MS with no long term life threatning effects? That works for me!

 

AnneP

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:45:55

Keep in mind I don't have kids either, so take my opinion for what it's worth, OK? I am pro-vaccines for kids until evidence proves me wrong, and I totally agree with you about the logic of risking polio, measles, etc on a currently unproven vaccine danger. However, with what is known today of how MS starts - which is basically nothing - I wouldn't want an MS vaccine to be mandatory.

This is an interesting topic and I think it would be a very fun roundtable discussion over a pitcher of margaritas, jalepeno cheese dip and guacamole. LOL

 

Amy

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:48:14

I love a good shit storm! Woot! I agree with your stance on vaccines totally! Last time I went to the 'lady doctor' (haha) they gave me a tetanus shot (whatever, it was free) so I asked the nurse if I could get autism from it. She answered - in a serious tone - 'No, you're fully developed' - and i was thinking - "WOMAN - you just gave me a full exam - what about these A cups are developed, dammit!!!!" thought i'd share....
:-P

 

Leon Mols

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 05:52:11

The questions about vaccines will always be there, just as the parents that will not allow their children to be vaccinated.
We have a (small) group of very religious (Christians) people over here, that won't allow vaccinations because of their religion. Also, we just had a campain about cervical cancer in the Netherlands, with all girls aged 12-16 getting a (series of 3) free vaccination shot(s), but only 30% or so showed up. There were websites that warned these kids AGAINST the vaccination....

 

Jackie Zimmerman

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 06:41:51

Colleen- I agree with the non mandatory stuff to a certain extend. I dont' like the government telling me what I HAVE to do...but at the same time, the thoughts of outbreaks in schools and things of measles or in this scenario MS, seems ludacris. Vaccines used to be mandatory for a reason. No school without them. I think I read that Australia was like us in that sense...then made them not mandatory...and are now considering going back because of everything getting sick with silly but deadly illnesses. I don't know. I guess maybe its nice to not have to think about it?

Anne - Oh man if you could arrange that pitcher and where ever you are was close to where ever I am, I would totally be there!!

Amy- Uhm....HILARIOUS.

Leon- We have those crazy nut jobs here who only believe in faith healing as well. I will never understand in my life how people will deny their children treatments that can and will save their lives. Perhpas because I don't have faith in anything, but I just feel like I'd rather piss a God off than watch my child die and suffer.

People are crazy. Probably myself included.

 

Leon Mols

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 06:53:36

@Jackie: I bet you, I am FAR more crazy than you! I'm older, so I have way more experience in being crazy ;-)

And by the way, If you are going for that pitcher of margeritas... Count me in! I can be on the next flight over there ;-)

 

Sara

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:26:09

This is funny:) I feel very strongly about the stupid "granola" moms who refuse to vaccinate their kids. I have to work with these children in a school setting and they are putting other children, as well as myself...an MS sufferer, at risk. I would much rather have MS than Polio thank you very much, but these moms don't have a clue what they could be doing to their children by choosing not to vaccinate them. May God take care of those poor kids.

 

Rich

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 10:54:19

Just discovered this site, good stuff! I have ms. I'm also a vaccination believer, I've been vaccinated as have my kids but just like the people that don't vaccinate I find that a lot of people that do don't have all of the facts like:
1. vaccinations aren't a "cure". polio cannot be cured by a vaccine.
2. just because a child is vaccinated doesn't mean that they won't get the disease.
3. if a child who isn't vaccinated comes into contact with another one within 24 hours of being vaccinated, that child can get the disease.
4. a person with an auto immune disease like ms can have problems coming into contact with a child who was vaccinated within 24 hours.
5. according to a former surgeon general of US and head of NIH not all children can be vaccinated. the bodies of some cannot tolerate the vaccinations
6. here's a big one that parents that vaccinate should know, the vaccines don't last. once vaccinated a person needs to get boosters for the rest of their lives.
7. there is more chance for an adult dying of chicken pox than a child. you must get your boosters!
I can go on but I think I'm getting too long winded here. I like the site, keep up the good work!

 



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