ANDREW'S adverse reaction to
childhood vaccines/immunizations
When my son, Andrew, was just 18-mos old (1988), he suffered a very severe reaction to his childhood vaccines (DPT, OPV, MMR) that he had received from a county clinic. At the time, I had even questioned the validity of giving infants so many shots at once, but was made to feel small and insignificant before such superior beings. Who was I to question the professionals????
For a while, we didn't know if he was going to live or die. Every test the doctor's could think of to run, were done on Andrew. The end result: all six professionals agreed that it had to be the immunizations he had received. There was no other plausible explanation for his problems.
As most parent's that have children with injuries from their childhood vaccines (immunizations) can tell you, it's nothing short of a MIRACLE for all six of these physicians to all agree to this diagnosis! Best part of all, they each even put this down in writing! It's a very rare moment, indeed, to even find ONE such professional to admit that this is what caused their child(ren's) problems.... No one in the healthcare profession wants to admit to anything that can even remotely bring on a potential lawsuit! I contribute my success in this overwhelming agreement of injury to well-documented pediatric baby progress visits over his short life-span. Everything about my son indicated he was "above average" prior to this point in his life.
Andrew was a child who was excelling in everything he did. He had always been a very happy-go-lucky and very independent baby. Not much upset him. He was walking, very steadily on his own two feet, when he was just 9-mos old. He surpassed all of his pediatrician's expectations in every aspect until that fateful day when he was given those three immunizations. Within minutes, he had started screaming with a very high-pitched tone. The nurses at the clinic told me that was "normal" and, although I wasn't totally convinced, we went home. After his nap, he had trouble standing. There was swelling in his leg where he'd gotten one of the three shots. He started running a very high fever. When I expressed my concerns over this to my healthcare professionals at this clinic, again, I was told this was "normal" and that I was just being "over anxious".
As time went by, Andrew got progressively worse. My once happy-go-lucky and independent child changed dramatically. To try and explain it to someone, who never knew him prior to that fateful day, is very difficult. He was clingy. Crying all the time. Extremely temperamental. He had to revert back to crawling, because he couldn't stand anymore. I had to stop potty training him as a result.. He had to go back on his bottle, because he could no longer hold his sippy cup. He could no longer feed himself either.
Where had my baby boy gone? I felt like he had been kidnapped by aliens and replaced with this look-a-like. If only it had been so simple!
Overall, this situation cost us a great deal emotionally, physically, and financially. My marriage to Andrew's father ended in divorce due to his denial that anything was wrong. I continually struggled with the public school systems regarding Andrew's education. I carry the guilt with me constantly that there should've been something -- anything -- that I could have done to prevent this from happening. Even after therapy and learning that there was (allegedly) NOTHING I could have done, I still feel guilty... Insurance companies hesitate at covering Andrew and when they do, they balk at paying the bills trying to put his current diagnosis down as being "pre-existing condition" related. It's a never-ending list and a never-ending battle...
Yes, we filed a claim with the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. Yes, we have received a settlement. To be honest, I don't want this money. I want my son to be just what he was growing up to be way back when before these shots took it away from him. Since this is never going to be possible, the settlement from the NCVIA is the next best thing, but it's also a constant reminder of what can never be again...
Andrew is now 21-yrs old (2007) with ongoing immunization related problems. From what I have seen and read, my son can be considered a "fortunate" one... most that have suffered from these adverse reactions end up not being able to function in every day society, but Andrew can. He has been diagnosed with Acute Cerebellar Ataxia (ACA -an imbalance problem) and Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) both of which are considered "post immunization related". The ADHD can, and is being, controlled by medication. The ACA comes and goes and we never know for sure when it'll strike next.
We still do not know what the future holds for Andrew. He may lead a perfectly "normal" existence for the rest of his life, or he may even suffer from a complete relapse and become totally dependent again at any given time. I live in fear of this and constantly lose sleep by checking up on him in the middle of the night even after all these years.
With all of the research I have done about childhood vaccinations since Andrew's reaction, I am shocked and appalled to find so little is actually being done to protect our child(ren) better. There are tests that can be done that will indicate who is at risk, but they are very seldom done and parents are never informed about them -- therefore not giving them the option. We are just supposed to blindly trust our child(ren's) physicians. Yes, we are given something to sign indicating that we are aware of the "risks" involved, but they only tell a fraction of the true story and can be outright misleading -- lulling parent's into thinking that all will be well with their child's world once they get these shots. When an adverse reaction does happen, very few of these same professionals will ever own up to it. They'll chalk it up to some unknown viral infection or if a baby dies after such a shot, it's "SIDS".
How heartbreaking for these parent's, siblings, other family members, and friends.
vaccine, immunization, vaccine related injuries, DPT, OPV, MMR, immunization adverse reaction, vaccine adverse reaction, National Childhood Vaccine Information Act, NCVIA, post immunization related conditions, SIDS, Sudden Infant Death,
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