From Charlene Stoudt
"I wasn't a big proponent of one side or the other. This whole Vaxer, non vaxer thing (people who are pro or anti-vaccine) wasn't on my radar.
I used to get the flu shot - it was free and recommended - until (after never having had the flu my whole life) I got the worst flu I had even known after being vaccinated. That's was when I was told by my doctor that the vaccine I received wouldn't protect me from all flus, just the particular strain that vaccine was made for and that there were many strains of flu. I then asked myself what many would - why get the shot every year if it doesn't really protect you? And since they give you a live strian of virus I had to also wonder - if I got the flu within 1-2 weeks of the vaccine, why was the vaccine virus discounted as the possible cause? It's not like they tested to see if I caught the strain I was supposedly protected from. That was just the assumption. So I stopped accepting the flu shot - free or not. I haven't had the flu since and that's the last I thought terribly intensely about shots in general.
Then I got pregnant with my first child.
We want to do everything healthy and good for our children that we can and I knew vaccination was supposed to be a part of that good thing. My experience with the flu shot made me curious though, so off to the CDC I went.
I won't lie, I was initially taken aback by the sheer magnitude of the vaccine schedule. But I figured there must be good reason so I stayed on the site and kept checking out the what and why of it all.
Now, I'm not talking conspiracy theorists or crazy people ideas, because I know there are plenty of those - I'm talking information off the CDC website - the people recommending this schedule. They provide access to PDF forms of the package inserts - which I thought was great and still do. They tell you what's in each kind of vaccine, adverse reactions, adjuvents, safety tesing...
And to be honest, that's when I changed my mind from - Well, this (vaccination) is certainly going to be something that will be part of my child's upbringing - to - Wait a minute, this looks really risky and I think I'd rather wait until better safety testing is created before I agree to all of this - and what the heck are mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde, aborted fetal tissue and animal tissues (monkey, dogs, bovine, chicken...) doing in these. What purpose do they serve and how do they work in the vaccine and of course - are they SAFE?
And so my new search to understand what was in vaccines and how they worked began.
The studies and peer reviewed publications are at our fingertips online today. The history of vaccinations, the good the bad and the ugly - all available for review. I won't tell you what to believe, because we're all ultimately responsible for our own choices. But I will tell you to take some responsibility to do the research for yourself - for the sake of your own health and the health of your children, if you have any.
Just for starters, learning about the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was a real eye opener. It sounds great until you realize the ominous side. That vaccines are "unavoidably unsafe" and that companies that created vaccines were being driven out of business because they were being sued for vaccine caused injuries. The government stepped in back in the 1980s and created the NVICP. Now if you or someone you love is injured or dies because of a vaccination, you cannot sue the doctor who gives you the vaccination or the company that created the vaccine - you may, however, submit a petition with the US court of Federal Claims and follow their due process. They have paid out BILLIONS to vaccine injured families. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
No medication is safe for everyone, the same way, all the time. Vaccines are no different. You owe yourself and your families a good hard look at the evidence so that you can make the most informed decision you can about this. You can always wait to vaccinate - but once you vaccinate, you cannot un-vaccinate. Just make sure you're making the best possible choice that you can for yourself and your loved ones. That's all any of us can really do.
As an aside - when our children go in for their well visits and receive multiple vaccinations at once - there have been NO safety studies for multiple vaccinations given together in this manner and there is no way to put your finger on which vaccine your child is having a reaction to. Go to the CDC. Read the package inserts. Learn about the ingredients and adjuvents. Learn about the NVICP. Get informed FIRST, and then decide for yourself.
God bless you all and all the little children, everywhere
"~Charlene Stoudt
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| "I like to show the actual legal language when mentioned." ~Sandra Ganey |
