Interesting Perspective I Have Learned
Everyone,
I was feeling good enough to pick up my daughter the other day at school. I walked into after-school day care and it hit me, I was scared. Now I'm not normally scared by a room full of children but this was different as I have a new perspective.
Let me first share a summary of a story I read on Twitter. Someone's child was undergoing chemotherapy and was accidentally exposed to measles. This kicked off a tsunami of action. First, they needed to isolate their poor 8 year old for a month. Second, they needed to have the infusion center where their daughter received chemo sanitized. This also meant that everyone in the center since she was there needed to be checked. No one seemed to contract the measles and none of them needed painful shots to increase their white blood cell count. The accidental contact kicked off a ton of work and fear.
So, I'm in a room of 30 kids and it hits me, my chemotherapy reduces my ability to fight off infection. At home we have precautions like you need to have flu shot before visiting and we set a up hand sanitizer station at the entrance. We really pay attention to food safety and really sanitize all of the dishes and silverware. My wife had a cold and wore a mask for 3 days while she was contagious. The doctor has me checking my temperature every morning and I'm supposed to call in an emergency if my temp is greater than 100.4.
Here I'm at school, one of the major vectors for things like the flu. I also was thinking which of these kids' parents has decided to not immunize their kids. While something as simple as the flu could kill me, what other immunizations did their parents decide not to give their kids all stemming from the improper 1998 study that was retracted citing a possible link of MMR vaccines to autism, funded by lawyers supporting parents who were involved in lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers. I'm in a room full of kids and it may be the riskiest thing that I have done all week. I could also get a room of 50 people really sick and or dead while delaying their cancer treatment at the infusion center.
When I took my shots, I have always thought about protecting others that could not take immunizations, like kids under one year old and pregnant women. I always thought it was worth the quick jab and even always had the entire family get their flu shots. It felt good helping others (and reducing the impact and chance of having the members of my family sick with the flu). Now the shoe is on the other foot. I'm both grateful that mostly everyone takes their shots and also afraid that some people may be misinformed and make a decision that they think are protecting their kids from autism.
So if you can, please, please make sure you immunized. If you really think that it causes autism, please look up the retraction of the old study. If you are alergic to eggs, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) now state that the MMR does not have eggs protein in it and the flu shot is safe for people who are allergic to eggs. If you think that they do little or nothing, please take the shot for the small chance that if the shot reduces the risk of transmitting a disease to some poor soul who's body can't currently protect themselves. Death, especially a painful death to something like measles or chicken pox is pretty bad. Also, please make the time to get a flu shot, you could save the life of someone you don't know. It is low cost and In my area CVS charges $20, and gives coupons. I'm lucky enough that my employer hands out coupons so that employees and family members can get them for free.
Thank you for putting up with this long story.
I was feeling good enough to pick up my daughter the other day at school. I walked into after-school day care and it hit me, I was scared. Now I'm not normally scared by a room full of children but this was different as I have a new perspective.
Let me first share a summary of a story I read on Twitter. Someone's child was undergoing chemotherapy and was accidentally exposed to measles. This kicked off a tsunami of action. First, they needed to isolate their poor 8 year old for a month. Second, they needed to have the infusion center where their daughter received chemo sanitized. This also meant that everyone in the center since she was there needed to be checked. No one seemed to contract the measles and none of them needed painful shots to increase their white blood cell count. The accidental contact kicked off a ton of work and fear.
So, I'm in a room of 30 kids and it hits me, my chemotherapy reduces my ability to fight off infection. At home we have precautions like you need to have flu shot before visiting and we set a up hand sanitizer station at the entrance. We really pay attention to food safety and really sanitize all of the dishes and silverware. My wife had a cold and wore a mask for 3 days while she was contagious. The doctor has me checking my temperature every morning and I'm supposed to call in an emergency if my temp is greater than 100.4.
Here I'm at school, one of the major vectors for things like the flu. I also was thinking which of these kids' parents has decided to not immunize their kids. While something as simple as the flu could kill me, what other immunizations did their parents decide not to give their kids all stemming from the improper 1998 study that was retracted citing a possible link of MMR vaccines to autism, funded by lawyers supporting parents who were involved in lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers. I'm in a room full of kids and it may be the riskiest thing that I have done all week. I could also get a room of 50 people really sick and or dead while delaying their cancer treatment at the infusion center.
When I took my shots, I have always thought about protecting others that could not take immunizations, like kids under one year old and pregnant women. I always thought it was worth the quick jab and even always had the entire family get their flu shots. It felt good helping others (and reducing the impact and chance of having the members of my family sick with the flu). Now the shoe is on the other foot. I'm both grateful that mostly everyone takes their shots and also afraid that some people may be misinformed and make a decision that they think are protecting their kids from autism.
So if you can, please, please make sure you immunized. If you really think that it causes autism, please look up the retraction of the old study. If you are alergic to eggs, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) now state that the MMR does not have eggs protein in it and the flu shot is safe for people who are allergic to eggs. If you think that they do little or nothing, please take the shot for the small chance that if the shot reduces the risk of transmitting a disease to some poor soul who's body can't currently protect themselves. Death, especially a painful death to something like measles or chicken pox is pretty bad. Also, please make the time to get a flu shot, you could save the life of someone you don't know. It is low cost and In my area CVS charges $20, and gives coupons. I'm lucky enough that my employer hands out coupons so that employees and family members can get them for free.
Thank you for putting up with this long story.
You don’t know me, but I saw your comment on the twitter thread about vaccines and I read all your posts on this blog. Really sounds like you can beat this and I’m praying for you. Love from Oxford,Maine.
ReplyDeleteBoth Brigitta and I are ardent supporters of the herd immunity theory/practice and we are not tolerant of "spreading out" vaccines, or "homeopathic vaccine" treatments, or those who simply counter the findings of scientific research without any real basis of their own. We believe in this scientific work because we EXACTLY care about you and your condition. I have cared for an employee who was struck with cancer and while in treatment, was partnered at a desk with a person actively suffering from shingles. She was also placed directly under a blowing vent. I had to throw a fit to get it worked out - which is easy for me (I throw fits, apparently), and made her care the priority. You need an accommodation? You GET it. Period. We need you well and hard-charging!
ReplyDeleteHi Steve! I really like the vaccine message, and I'm also glad that your treatments are going as well as can be expected at this early stage. I got the flu shot already this year, so let me know if I can come visit! I'm not even sure if I've seen you this year yet. (Wow, the picture I was using for this site is 14 years old now, it's been so long.)
ReplyDelete