My Vaccine Journey
Over 6 years ago, when my first son was 1 year old, I came across the idea that I might want to research into vaccines because there may be more to them than I had originally realized. Previous to this I hadn’t even given them a second thought. My son was given all the vaccines up to a year. He did not receive the hepB at birth like most babies because he was a preterm baby and he didn’t start receiving vaccines till he was 4 mo old for the same reason. He did not receive the MMR because I had started my research just before he was due for that. The only other deviation I had planned on doing from the current schedule is I didn’t want to give the chicken pox or the flu vaccines because they didn’t seem necessary, but that was not based on any research I had done (which was none), it was just how I felt. I had also refused the flu vaccine for myself during my pregnancy because I had never even had the flu, so I didn’t think I would be getting the flu for the first time during my pregnancy.
So when the idea that I might want to research into vaccines hit my radar, I started right in with 3 books that I borrowed from someone. I can’t remember the names of those books but I do remember by the time I was done reading them, I was putting together my own personal vaccine schedule. I remember that HepB would not be given and most of the other vaccines would be delayed and spaced out.
When I became pregnant with my second child, I had the schedule all figured out and ready to go. But as my due date approached, I had the feeling that I needed to do a bit more research, just to be sure I still agreed with the schedule I had come up with. By this time I had met a few people who didn’t vaccinate at all or who were delaying till 2 years old, but I wasn’t comfortable with that. I did find it interesting that someone would be comfortable with these other decisions.
So with my daughter’s birth approaching, I started into researching again. Up to this point my research was only based on the 3 books I had read. This time I got on some forums were they were talking about vaccines. This is what really opened my eyes. I was seeing that not everything about our bodies and health was as I had always thought. I learned about alternatives ways to help the body when sick. I learned about the mind/body connection. I learned there is more to disease than germs.
I would say this was a huge turning point in my life where I realized that there seemed to be other areas in my life where things may not really be as they always appeared. Almost every day I was coming across something new that I needed to research into. I was just pouring through information on the different topics I came across, all the while still researching deeper into vaccines.
I was realizing that the reason I hadn’t come across any of this info before was because these things fit into what would be considered mainstream thinking and scientific consensus. This is where, if enough people believe one thing or enough influential scientists and doctors believe something, then it is considered to be fact and the way things are. Anything that deviates from that is considered false and quackery. I found other things too, like corruption in govt. and govt. ties to industry. All of it was very saddening but now I understood how we were making so little progress in areas such as vaccines and how they interact with the body. Current thought on these issues, as well as corruption was, and is, getting in the way.
Just before my daughter was born, I had changed my mind about the schedule I had come up with. I was discovering how little we really know about the body and how vaccines will effect each individual person. I found that they were not tested using a real placebo like other drugs are, but are instead tested using another vaccine or, in some cases, a solution containing aluminum, instead of a saline placebo. I found that they are rarely tested together to see what the results are when you combine them. I found that the govt. said that in order to catch the less common reactions and long-term reactions, that the small vaccine studies would not be adequate. Instead there had to be an after market surveillance system where they track reactions. But when I researched into that I found that the system that was set up, VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System), it was only believed to contain 1-10% of reactions because most doctors do not report to the system like they are required to do. So how is one to evaluate the real risk of the vaccine?
I could go on and on about all of the discoveries I made during this time because there are so many especially when you start looking into the individual diseases and the vaccines that go with them. I became really uncomfortable with giving any vaccines. At this point, tetanus was still worrisome to me based on the fact that we lived on a farm and it seemed my kids would be at risk based on our location.
I decided to research even deeper into tetanus and see if there was more than meets the eye. It was confusing to me how so few Amish people get the tetanus vaccine and they don’t seem to have a problem even though they were living in conditions that would, from what I was reading, put them at greater risk. Mainly this is because they live around horses where tetanus spores have been known to live in the manure. And then how so many spend the summers shoeless, just seemed to be asking for conditions for tetanus to take hold, yet it didn’t seem to be an issue for them.
What I found was in most cases, people do not get sick from tetanus because their bodies are healthy enough and their blood circulation strong enough to fight off any bacteria before it becomes a problem. I found information that suggests that people can build immunity to tetanus bacteria over time based of antibodies found in people who had never received a tetanus vaccine. I learned that the tetanus spores can be found all over, but even though most adults are not up to date on their tetanus vaccine, we rarely see any cases of tetanus. All of this information was enough for me to be comfortable with the decision to not vaccinate for tetanus.
From that point on, I decided that I would not be vaccinating at all, not even on a delayed schedule. I was a little concerned about going against the grain and how others would react, but I had got to the point where there was no way I could give a vaccine and would just have to deal with any unpleasantness that might come my way. I felt confident that if my child came down with one of the diseases that are vaccinated for or any other sickness, that I could take care of them or I could utilize a doctors services if needed. I learned how to use homeopathic remedies and have made sure I have access to other at home type remedies if a need arose.
My daughter is now 5 years old and she has never had a vaccine, antibiotic, fever reducer, or any other drug that I could administer. She did have deeply pitted molars when they came in, so she has had a numbing injection on one occasion to work on one tooth, but that is the only drug she has had since she was born. My first son has also had one numbing injection but that is the only drug he has had since he turned 1 years old, over 6 years ago now when I started my research. I also now have another son who is 2.5 years old and he has never had any drugs at all.
All my kids have been breastfed for 2 years or more each. I find this important to mention because a child who is formula fed is going to be at greater disease risk than one who is breastfed. There are several reasons for this but I feel the most important reason is their gut has a better balance of “good” bacteria versus “bad” bacteria and this can be very helpful in keeping healthy. Had my kids been formula fed, I would have had to evaluate the risks differently.
My kids are also rarely around smoking. This was an important factor to weigh because being around smoking always adds to one’s disease risk. In addition to this, my kids have never been put in daycare and they are homeschooled, so while they are around other kids several times a week, it isn’t to the extent as other kids who are almost daily around large amounts of other children. So, I was able to determine their risk for disease would be less because of this.
The above factors, as well as others, were all taken into account when deciding not to vaccinate, but probably the biggest was my decision to not fear disease. I have done my best to educate my self on disease and how to deal with it should it come around, which it has plenty of times. I do not fear fever anymore, but see it as a healing response. I see coughs as a tool the body uses to remove mucous from the lungs. Learning homeopathy has allowed me to treat pain and itch without using drugs.
When my kids are sick, it can still be exhausting and I can loose a lot of sleep tending to them, I now have much more confidence in my ability to help them feel better, and I now am more confident in my mothering instinct about when something has moved past what I can handle on my own, where a doctor might need to be seen. So far I haven’t had to take my children to any sick visits and I have been able to handle everything at home.
To this day, I continue to try to keep current on the latest vaccine news. I get many questions from others about vaccines and I like to be able to point them in the right direction to find what they are looking for. While many people do a bit of research and stop once they have made a decision, much like I had when I first started my research, I really enjoy my continued research into vaccines and other health related topics. As a stay-at-home-mom, researching helps to keeps my brain active and it allows me to be better able to share what I have learned with others without a lot of effort.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about my vaccine journey. Please feel comfortable contacting me with any specific questions that you are trying to get answers to. My website still has a long way to go to get all my links added, so until then, I would be happy to provide information for those who ask.
So when the idea that I might want to research into vaccines hit my radar, I started right in with 3 books that I borrowed from someone. I can’t remember the names of those books but I do remember by the time I was done reading them, I was putting together my own personal vaccine schedule. I remember that HepB would not be given and most of the other vaccines would be delayed and spaced out.
When I became pregnant with my second child, I had the schedule all figured out and ready to go. But as my due date approached, I had the feeling that I needed to do a bit more research, just to be sure I still agreed with the schedule I had come up with. By this time I had met a few people who didn’t vaccinate at all or who were delaying till 2 years old, but I wasn’t comfortable with that. I did find it interesting that someone would be comfortable with these other decisions.
So with my daughter’s birth approaching, I started into researching again. Up to this point my research was only based on the 3 books I had read. This time I got on some forums were they were talking about vaccines. This is what really opened my eyes. I was seeing that not everything about our bodies and health was as I had always thought. I learned about alternatives ways to help the body when sick. I learned about the mind/body connection. I learned there is more to disease than germs.
I would say this was a huge turning point in my life where I realized that there seemed to be other areas in my life where things may not really be as they always appeared. Almost every day I was coming across something new that I needed to research into. I was just pouring through information on the different topics I came across, all the while still researching deeper into vaccines.
I was realizing that the reason I hadn’t come across any of this info before was because these things fit into what would be considered mainstream thinking and scientific consensus. This is where, if enough people believe one thing or enough influential scientists and doctors believe something, then it is considered to be fact and the way things are. Anything that deviates from that is considered false and quackery. I found other things too, like corruption in govt. and govt. ties to industry. All of it was very saddening but now I understood how we were making so little progress in areas such as vaccines and how they interact with the body. Current thought on these issues, as well as corruption was, and is, getting in the way.
Just before my daughter was born, I had changed my mind about the schedule I had come up with. I was discovering how little we really know about the body and how vaccines will effect each individual person. I found that they were not tested using a real placebo like other drugs are, but are instead tested using another vaccine or, in some cases, a solution containing aluminum, instead of a saline placebo. I found that they are rarely tested together to see what the results are when you combine them. I found that the govt. said that in order to catch the less common reactions and long-term reactions, that the small vaccine studies would not be adequate. Instead there had to be an after market surveillance system where they track reactions. But when I researched into that I found that the system that was set up, VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System), it was only believed to contain 1-10% of reactions because most doctors do not report to the system like they are required to do. So how is one to evaluate the real risk of the vaccine?
I could go on and on about all of the discoveries I made during this time because there are so many especially when you start looking into the individual diseases and the vaccines that go with them. I became really uncomfortable with giving any vaccines. At this point, tetanus was still worrisome to me based on the fact that we lived on a farm and it seemed my kids would be at risk based on our location.
I decided to research even deeper into tetanus and see if there was more than meets the eye. It was confusing to me how so few Amish people get the tetanus vaccine and they don’t seem to have a problem even though they were living in conditions that would, from what I was reading, put them at greater risk. Mainly this is because they live around horses where tetanus spores have been known to live in the manure. And then how so many spend the summers shoeless, just seemed to be asking for conditions for tetanus to take hold, yet it didn’t seem to be an issue for them.
What I found was in most cases, people do not get sick from tetanus because their bodies are healthy enough and their blood circulation strong enough to fight off any bacteria before it becomes a problem. I found information that suggests that people can build immunity to tetanus bacteria over time based of antibodies found in people who had never received a tetanus vaccine. I learned that the tetanus spores can be found all over, but even though most adults are not up to date on their tetanus vaccine, we rarely see any cases of tetanus. All of this information was enough for me to be comfortable with the decision to not vaccinate for tetanus.
From that point on, I decided that I would not be vaccinating at all, not even on a delayed schedule. I was a little concerned about going against the grain and how others would react, but I had got to the point where there was no way I could give a vaccine and would just have to deal with any unpleasantness that might come my way. I felt confident that if my child came down with one of the diseases that are vaccinated for or any other sickness, that I could take care of them or I could utilize a doctors services if needed. I learned how to use homeopathic remedies and have made sure I have access to other at home type remedies if a need arose.
My daughter is now 5 years old and she has never had a vaccine, antibiotic, fever reducer, or any other drug that I could administer. She did have deeply pitted molars when they came in, so she has had a numbing injection on one occasion to work on one tooth, but that is the only drug she has had since she was born. My first son has also had one numbing injection but that is the only drug he has had since he turned 1 years old, over 6 years ago now when I started my research. I also now have another son who is 2.5 years old and he has never had any drugs at all.
All my kids have been breastfed for 2 years or more each. I find this important to mention because a child who is formula fed is going to be at greater disease risk than one who is breastfed. There are several reasons for this but I feel the most important reason is their gut has a better balance of “good” bacteria versus “bad” bacteria and this can be very helpful in keeping healthy. Had my kids been formula fed, I would have had to evaluate the risks differently.
My kids are also rarely around smoking. This was an important factor to weigh because being around smoking always adds to one’s disease risk. In addition to this, my kids have never been put in daycare and they are homeschooled, so while they are around other kids several times a week, it isn’t to the extent as other kids who are almost daily around large amounts of other children. So, I was able to determine their risk for disease would be less because of this.
The above factors, as well as others, were all taken into account when deciding not to vaccinate, but probably the biggest was my decision to not fear disease. I have done my best to educate my self on disease and how to deal with it should it come around, which it has plenty of times. I do not fear fever anymore, but see it as a healing response. I see coughs as a tool the body uses to remove mucous from the lungs. Learning homeopathy has allowed me to treat pain and itch without using drugs.
When my kids are sick, it can still be exhausting and I can loose a lot of sleep tending to them, I now have much more confidence in my ability to help them feel better, and I now am more confident in my mothering instinct about when something has moved past what I can handle on my own, where a doctor might need to be seen. So far I haven’t had to take my children to any sick visits and I have been able to handle everything at home.
To this day, I continue to try to keep current on the latest vaccine news. I get many questions from others about vaccines and I like to be able to point them in the right direction to find what they are looking for. While many people do a bit of research and stop once they have made a decision, much like I had when I first started my research, I really enjoy my continued research into vaccines and other health related topics. As a stay-at-home-mom, researching helps to keeps my brain active and it allows me to be better able to share what I have learned with others without a lot of effort.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about my vaccine journey. Please feel comfortable contacting me with any specific questions that you are trying to get answers to. My website still has a long way to go to get all my links added, so until then, I would be happy to provide information for those who ask.