Thursday, October 30, 2008

Being a Pain in the Neck Patient

Okay, I will confess. We are delaying the Baboo's next round of vaccinations until he is past the two year mark, and the unstated rationale is... the possible link between vaccinations and autism. I could not forego the vaccinations completely; I think that is completely selfish and irresponsible. Not only does skipping the vaccine endanger your child, it endangers all the children in your community. But I have no ethical qualms about postponing the shots and giving the Baboo as much time as possible to develop so that he can heal himself against a potential vaccine injury.

Which is why it annoyed me that his doctor, who KNOWS we are postponing the vaccinations till next year and KNOWS that I did not give him the rotavirus vaccine last year (it's optional, but most doctors push it hard) and that no one in my family gets flu shots - because I don't believe in their efficacy - started pushing me towards a flu shot this year.

I gave in. Why I don't know. Fear that a little flu + his nascent asthma might yield big bad consequences. And since I've previously asked that Baboo's immunizations be preservative free, and I made a big deal about it at the time, I didn't think to ask again.

Boy am I glad that I'm a whiny person! I was telling the nurse how I gave in this time, but that we're waiting on the rest, and she noticed that his Dr. didn't write a script for a preservative free shot. They were going to inject my Baboo with thimerosal! I just about stopped breathing. Do I need to start ordering these shots myself???? Jeez.

Lesson - you can't be too careful or too much of a pain in the neck to your doctor.