I was on the fence about posting this because it can be a debatable topic (plus its pretty late in the season).
This is just me having a conversation with myself about whether or not to get the flu shot. If you have a difference of opinion, please be respectful if you share your opinion.
I should get one for myself and I will get one once I get past this scratchy sore throat. Better late than never, but I will.
The kids are always a tougher decision for me.
Campbell is not so much a tough decision. Or Eva really.
I won’t lie though. In the back of my mind there is always the very small thought that there could be an adverse reaction. That small thought weighs heavily on me.
Especially where Cuyler is concerned.
We knew from birth that Cuyler could have developmental issues due the the lack of oxygen from his cord accident at birth. As he grew there were delays that presented.
In the beginning, I worried about cerebral palsy. As he got older, I saw more characteristics of autism present.
I delayed and separated his vaccines – that’s what I I felt most comfortable with and our dr was very supportive of that.
We knew that his entire system works differently. He is gluten and dairy intolerant and we’ve had great success with his biomed treatments.
Sean and I never discussed this up until recently but each of us had thought about it. It was like the pink elephant in our parenting:
Cuyler had a flu shot when he was 2 and we saw changes in him after that.
Did it have anything to do with the flu shot? I don’t know.
Would these regressions have happened anyways? I don’t know.
What if he gets the flu and god forbid a something tragic happens to him and I could have prevented it with the flu vaccine?
What if I give him the flu shot and the 8 years of hard work is erased because he has an adverse reaction to it?
I know how slim the chances are of either of those things happening are, however we have been on the wrong side of the odds too many times to feel secure either way.
Is the flu shot a no brainer for you?
Do you get it as soon as it’s available or does it take you months to make a decision – like me?
If he takes multivitamin and the supplements you think are keeping his body cycle going, flu shot may not hurt. Flu shots send some kids on regression because their digestive tracts function different from other kids, therefore lack nutrients for shots to it’s job of making antibodies. If proper supplement support is in place to keep the input-output cycle going, flu shot may just do its job without any harm. But with that logic, body will recover fine even if you don’t give shot and he gets flu. I hv a kid with dev delays and I share the same worries. My husband and I take shots every year…. just don’t give it to kids except that one time when swine flu was around.
I think you are totally in the right to worry about Christine! You and I have discussed it before and you can be armed with all the knowledge in the world but you still panic about things. Everytime Will gets a high fever, I panic that he will wake up in the morning and not be the same. I missed his chicken pox shot and I’m not getting the flu shot this year because I ddon’t want to have it that close to the pox shot. In my head I know vaccines don’t cause autism. In my heart, as much as I know this, I too worry.
I think you have to trust your gut. I also think that Cuy is of an age that if he gets the flu, it’ll kick him for a couple weeks but he’s strong. I really think it’s infants and very young kids that we have to worry about.
Will and I remain flu shot free….and KNOCK WOOD – its almost Feb and we’re healthy!
for me, we have no health issues in our family so for us if someone gets the flu, they get the flu. it will suck but they will snap out of it. (although my husband loves that nyquil commercial….can yoooo call my moooooommmm?) slap 😉
i haven’t vax’d my kids against anything else yet but will soon. i never thought the threat was there to their health but now that they’re older and can actually tell me if something doesn’t feel right i am more comfortable with them getting their shots. especially since there are some things that will do more harm than good if they get them after puberty.
as for the flu, i got the shot once about 15 years ago and got the flu later on that year. ever since then i’ve gotten the flu once and never got the shot again. but, i would do whatever i could to protect my family if i had to and i would never begrudge anyone who felt that way. it’s our job to keep our families alive no matter what! 🙂
I’m pro-vaccine as well. Contentious issue though to be sure when there is so much misinformation out there. I researched out the yin yang about the HPV vaccine for my oldest daughter before I let her get it. However I do not get the flu shot. I have not gotten it for myself or my children. Why? In general we are very healthy and I see the difference between influenza and “bugs” or other flu-like symptoms people get.
I guess I’m a believer in having our own immune system fight off “bugs”. If my children or I were more susceptible to sickness or other health complications in general I would consider it. I suppose I think my children are healthy enough to fight anything versus the risk they might get the actual flu.
I am absolutely pro-vaccination as well. That being said, I still struggled with giving my son who has autism the shot this year. You just never know. In the end we all got the shot and I have to say I’m very grateful. From everything I’ve heard it’s quite bad this year, and the son of another friend of mine, who has autism as well, got the flu quite bad, and it re-induced seizures in him.
For me, getting the flu is the bigger risk.
I’m absolutely pro-vaccination… I see the near-eradication of life-threatening illnesses as a very good thing, but I don’t have a complicated medical history, and no allergies. I’ve never been fearful of getting the necessary serums, and my kids are easy, too. That said, we didn’t get our shots this year – but that’s mostly been an issue of timing… it’s getting late in the season (though it’s never really too late) but I’m inclined to skip it this year. I hope I haven’t just jinxed myself.
Of course, I can see where you’re coming from… it must be a tough place to be, Christine. I feel for you. Just keep making everyone wash their hands, and make a point of swabbing the well-used doorknobs and such with some disinfectant when you remember to. 🙂
I’m generally a proponent of vaccines. Part of this stems from my dad having polio and seeing how that affected him for his whole life, something that none of us have to worry about any more because of the vaccine, and part from the fact that I’m a bit of an outbreak nerd.
This year, though, we’re behind on all the vaccines for the simple reason that the Bun has been sick off and on since the fall. and now that he’s healthy and bouncing, I’m sick. I’m actually hoping to drag my sorry butt off to the dr’s with him today, if I can get up the energy!