Life as a Leach

My aunt, who retired from being the head of infection control at our local hospital (yes, germaphobia runs in the family!), often sends me updates on disease outbreaks.  It's good to be informed, especially when Abby's health is at risk.  She recently sent me an update about the Measles outbreak, knowing that I am interested it is and the affect non-vaccinating is having on people world-wide.  It was a really long report sent in email form, but I have cut-and-pasted a segment of it that goes along with the discussion about vaccinations.  It affirms a lot of what was in the last article I posted about how the information linking vaccinations to Autism has been proven false and that the man responsible for that link has since been stripped of his medical license.  This current outbreak concerns me because so much of it is taking place in the hospitals...where we spend an awful lot of time!  Abby won't get the MMR vaccine until between 12-15 months (I t...

I'm going to have like NO time to post anything over the next few days, so I'm going to be relying on my time-delayed posts I have lined up...I may actually go a day or so without a post!!  I know, craziness!  I have no day nurses for the next two days with Matt being completely unavailable to be home and doctors' appointments in Baltimore on both days (fabulous, right?).  Thanks, Dad, for giving up two days of your vacation to take us!  It is so hard having to depend on someone else to get around because Abby has to be under observation.  *sigh*  Then, we have a youth missions team coming to our church this weekend and family visiting Sunday and Monday.  I really want to be able to update you on Abby's appointments and may be able to write a late-night post (which is normally when I write anyway), but no promises.  Today is Abby's BIG pulminary appointment when we will hopefully get a vent-weaning date set.  It's also Abby's...

Warning: This may cause a ruckus. Let's just all be nice to each other, okay? Recently, a friend of mine, who is also a neonatologist, posted this article on Facebook regarding childhood vaccines. I would encourage you to read it, as I find some of the statistics and information regarding the link between vaccines and Autism fascinating. The basic premise is that because some parents are choosing to delay or refuse certain childhood vaccines, some of these childhood diseases are reappearing after being gone for so many years. This article focuses mostly on Measles, since there is currently an outbreak in the U.S., but alludes to several other diseases as well. Being the mother to a child with a compromised immune system, I have a hard time with the idea of not getting vaccinations. My feeling is that people are putting my child at risk, and that's not fair. Sure, I can keep Abby from going out in public, but what about Caleb? He's at school, church, the playground...a...