Little T's second immunization

[waterowl]

One of the "problems" with having a smart child is they anticipate. He was fine going to the doctor's office and sat happily watching the "Lion King." Then the nurse called his name. He walked up to her and said "no" very firmly. I must admit it made me proud. We sat in the little room and Little T struggled vainly to prevent us from removing

Comments

[yes_justice]

I also agree with my dad that immunizations are the best thing Western medicine has ever come up with. A poke in the arm and your own body will defend itself against life-threatening diseases. A miracle. See my sister almost died from meningitis and my son has just been vaccinated from the types they have shots for. I have worked for a man maimed by polio. Helen Keller was left deaf and blind from measles. Three shots in the arm would have saved them all.

A very good point. If only we could do this worldwide.

[waterowl]

Yeah that would be absolutely amazing. I think visiting third world countries and seeing kids so sick from what is considered mundane here has really influences my perspective.

I'm fully aware that Little T would not have survived had he born in the land of my mother's birth -- Burma.

[yes_justice]

That's sobering.

[cubes]

My father survived polio as a young adult (he was one of the VERY lucky ones, and had access to excellent medical care). This was years before I was born, but we never did much in the way of sports or outdoor activities as a family because he was left with a bad leg and walks with a severe limp. Even tossing a ball or frisbee around in the yard was difficult. He deals with that and the other after-effects to this day.

I have a friend who was left deaf from childhood measles, before the vaccine was widely available.

People even a few years younger than I are so far removed from the horrors of those epidemics that it's probably easy to justify not exposing their own child to the risks of certain vaccines, however minor. If only they would realize that their children are protected from those horrors only as long everyone accepts those tiny risks and vaccinates their kids. The shots aren't just to protect the individual child, they're part of a social contract that protects us all

[waterowl]

I'm sorry about your father and friend.

I agree with you that folks are too removed. I hope the drive to vaccinate kids in third world countries will help.