This past Monday, Gavin and I stood in line for over 5 hours to get the H1N1 vaccine. After reading pretty much everything I could get my hands on, and hearing several stories of what could happen if either of us did catch H1N1, it was a no-brainer. Whatever potential side effects there might be from the vaccine (and so far = none), the real possibility of severe illness or death far outweighed the those theoretical risks.
I know a lot of people who are still choosing not to get the vaccine, despite all of the evidence that it's safe. Of course, it is their right to make the decision that they feel is best for their child. It may be that either or both of my children will experience side effects as a result of getting the vaccine. I would hope that if that happens, that they understand that I made the decision I thought was best for them given the information that I had.
And I suppose that last sentence sums up what parenthood is and why it can be so scary. It doesn't take much searching to find stories of adults who were forever scarred by their parents and sometimes a seemingly innocuous decision can come back to haunt you forever.
Right now Gavin has a cough. I'm pretty sure it's not the flu because he's not displaying any other symptoms, but he's had it for a few days so I think we should get it checked out. I called our family doctor today to see if we could get in, but his next opening wasn't until November 9. I decided to go to the Medicentre but the wait at that time was over 2 hours so we left. I keep checking on him regularly to make sure he's still breathing, that he's not becoming short of breath or developing a fever, any of the signs that it might be something more serious. I hope I'm not doing him further damage by not getting him examined by a doctor, but I'm trying to use common sense too.
I'm using the information I have to try to make the decision that would be in his best interests. I just hope it's enough.
1 comments:
So hard isn't it? I've opted against the vaccine, given how mild the disease has been overall for kids my children's ages. Plus, I knew that the vaccine probably wouldn't help them in time, as their school was in the midst of an outbreak as the vaccine came available - needing 10 days to take effect meant it would probably be too late. And it was! Two down, and it really hasn't been too bad, high fever, cough, but manageable thank goodness.
Hope your little guy's cough is just a virus or something and goes away soon.
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