Tuesday, May 17, 2011

I recently read an article, and I wanted to sum it up and give you some main points, but I am falling short and feel like you need to get it directly from the horses mouth. I will post the parts that I find importnat, and I will link the entire article so you can read if you choose.. I would specifically pay attention to the part that talks about how the Vaccine court works...how quietly it works.

Judy Converse, MPH RD LD, May 10, 2011 writes...

When we have our babies, we feel safe because we have vaccines. We regard them as no less than life-granting elixirs of modern times, the dividing line between a safe and secure health trajectory for our kids, and certain death from diseases of yore.
But cracks in that comfortable veneer have definitely formed, giving a sense of the inevitable to what was once inconceivable. Have we tapped out the usefulness of vaccines? Are they more harm than good, as we now use them?
And now this. A cluster of parents who managed to survive Vaccine Court – a little known corner of hell reserved for those whose children are injured or killed by vaccinations – have banded together to speak out. Vaccine Court is where you end up if you know enough to file a claim for a child’s vaccine injury. Since the pharmaceutical industry won itself protections against any liability for injury law suits in the 1980s, and since the Supreme Court solidified this protection by removing parents’ rights to pursue civil court appeals just this year, families are left to make claims with the government when the unthinkable happens to a baby or child who is dutifully submitted for shots. For twenty-five years, a tax added to the sale of each vaccine has paid into a fund to take care of these children. That is, if parents know of and pursue their rights, and if they prevail in this court system.
For years, at the same time we’ve heard assurances that vaccines are safe, the federal government’s Vaccine Court has quietly paid millions to families whose children suffered devastating brain injuries from routine shots. “Quiet” is the operative word here, as parent Sarah Bridges, who holds a PhD in psychology, explains: She was advised “very routinely” by her lawyer to “be careful talking about this” lest her son’s custodial funds evaporate. At risk of losing their hard won compensation – these cases have been gagged for a quarter century – parents are now speaking out, and revealing that their children were the canaries in the coalmine. Ms. Bridges’ son for example, who is now seventeen years old, has mental retardation, epilepsy, and autism thanks to infant vaccinations, and lives in a care home wearing a diaper and a helmet thanks to the compensation program paying for it all.
This is bad news for anyone who feels unsafe without vaccines.
I don’t feel afraid without vaccines. Even with a master’s degree in public health, and years of university training in health sciences, I am relieved to see what may be a tipping point here.

Meanwhile, more integrative medicine strategies evolve every year – tools that rely less on drugs and surgery and more on whole organic foods, reduced toxins, nutraceutical strategies, or other modalities. Witness the success of vitamin D in preventing and shortening course of flu, for one small example out of hundreds, that illuminate the potential of pharmaceutical and toxin-free strategies to minimize infectious disease.
These strategies tend to be unpopular with the medical press and our government health agencies. What that means is that if the bloom is off the vaccine rose, they are going to be the last to admit it – but that’s another blog. In the meantime, be a smart health consumer for your own babies and kids. Read alternative views on vaccination, tap providers trained to engage nutrition-focused tools for healthy immune function. If you want to opt out of the vaccine schedule in whole or in part, you can
-  Check your state’s mechanisms for vaccine choice by clicking here.
-  Switch to a family practice physician, osteopathic doctor (DO) or a naturopath (ND), if your pediatrician is coercive about vaccines beyond your comfort level.
-  Read Special Needs Kids Go Pharm-Free: Nutrition-Focused Tools To Minimize Meds and Maximize Health and Well Being, even if your kid isn’t diagnosed with a special need. See the chapter on avoiding infections, and the section on working with providers to help you through infections when they occur.
We all owe a debt to the 83 Canaries, the children the government did not want you to know about who have been thrown under the vaccine bus. Their parents are speaking out, and according to Mary Holland at the Elizabeth Birth Center for Autism Law and Advocacy (EBCALA), it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Book Club

In an effort to try to be a well rounded blogger, I am trying to think of ideas for weekly features. One idea I had, is to post book reviews. Reading is such an awesome way to escape the pressures of raising a special needs child, or any child for that matter.

I recently picked up a book that was not exactly my type, but once I started it I couldn't put it down! Its called Time of My Life by Allison Winn Scotch. It is the story of a woman who has the picture perfect life. Successfull husband, healthy daughter, and a nice home. But she can't stop wondering....what if. What if she stayed with Jackson, her passionate ex boyfriend, instead of marrying predictable Henry.

Honestly, I can relate. Don't get me wrong, I would not change the path that led me to the life I have now, but don't ya ever...wonder?

Jillian does. And before she knows what is happening, she is back in her IKEA furnished apartment, with Jackson. Each decision she makes in her "new life" sets on a trajectory that mirriors neither her memories or her imagination.

Taken from the book cover:

Time of My Life is a fabulous, madcap read, but don't be fooled. Allision Scotch's narrator is wrestling with some tough issues: How do I find my place in the world? Can I become a wife and a mother without loosing myself? Would I have been happier if I had chosen another path?

I think these are questions that, if we are being honest with ourselves, we have all at least considered. Check out this story, and when you are done, let me know how you would answer the questions that Jillian asks herself in this book, and if your perspective has changed after reading...


http://www.amazon.com/Time-Life-Allison-Winn-Scotch/dp/0307408574