Saturday, February 18, 2012

Unpeaceful, Uneasy Feeling

James' recovery process has taught me a lot of things that I needed to know.  I have always known that doctors are just people.  They are people that have studied hard and long in their field and who practice with different goals, just as in any profession.  Doctors have good days and bad days, are very experienced in some areas, and sometimes have little knowledge in others.  The doctors that I have come into contact with have been sincere people, and had a real concern for their patients.  But, just as any of us can be at any time, sometimes they are sincerely wrong.

I gave my first two children vaccinations without question.  I had heard of other families who had chosen not to do so, but I had a "medical background" and never thought to do otherwise.  There were four years difference between my second and third children, Kaelyn and James, and I began to hear a lot more about the "whether or not to immunize" debate.  About the time I was taking James for his 3 months, and then four months vaccines (which were not even a whole month between shots, by the way) I really became uneasy.  I attribute this to the Holy Spirit: I had never been concerned before, but now it was overwhelming.

At that four month check up, I voiced my apprehension to my pediatrician, whom I had used from my first child on.  He spent a good ten minutes with me giving me articles, telling me I was,"smarter than that," assuring me that my other kids had received them and were OK, etc.  I went against my sense of alarm and allowed the shots to be administered. 

Between these immunizations and the next ones due, I couldn't shake the feeling that something had gone seriously wrong at that visit.  I began to pray that the Lord would show my husband, Jim, if we should not get the next set, which included the MMR.  He answered in a great way...I'll tell you how in the next post.

Redefining Autism

A few weeks ago one of my sweet friends asked what I thought of the new "redefining" criteria for autism.  My first thought was that there are becoming too many: the government is having to spend too much money on services to help these kids, so they have to make some adjustments--mostly for their pocketbook, but also to cut down on public concern.  I happened across this article which confirmed my view, and I couldn't have written it better than Mr. Rob Errera. It's a small article, and definitely worth the time it takes to read it.  I especially love the concluding line.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/139420943_Autism_redefined__changing_goal_posts_doesn_t_change_the_game.html?page=all