Thursday, March 05, 2009




We are watching Charlie and Lola today....Shelby's new favorite show (and I must admit I am quite fond of it too). The episode today had to do with Lola getting chicken pox. Shelby hadn't a clue what they were. I said, "When I was a little girl, I had those." And Shelby said "I have never had them." To which I replied, "That's because you had a shot at the doctors that made it so that you didn't have to get sick with those." And then I wondered if I had denied her a rite of passage. I mean, don't you remember getting chicken pox? Oh, it was awful....you itched like mad, all the time. I remember my mom rubbing that pink crap all over my skin with a cotton ball. So then you would have to hold still to allow it to dry. And even then, it still I T C H E D like crazy... just now, when you itched it, pink stuff would flake off too. AND you'd get them on your bum, and on your face. AND when you'd pick them, or itch them too hard they would leave an awful little scar that would never go away. OK, so WHERE was the fun in any of that? Was it like soldiers swapping battle stories- just the point that you survived and you could commiserate with all the other kids? Is that what made it "worth" getting chicken pox? Now that I think about it, I don't remember much fun in that either...or really even doing it. So maybe it is just this crappy virus that, like whopping cough or Polio, has had it's day and now we don't have to (hopefully) deal with it again. So, why don't they vaccinate for it in England? Are they progressive or are we? What are the pros and cons of that I wonder? I know that the chicken pox virus can also cause shingles, which is equally bloody-awful and I have had to go through as well. And now, lucky me- I will always be motivated to keep my stress levels low, for fear of future outbreaks, which are triggered by stress. So again, why NOT avoid all of these dastardly things? Is it cute to see your kid itching himself into insanity? Are there ANY studies that have shown adverse side-effects to getting the vaccine? I really have no idea. I have not done any research. But, watching Charlie and Lola with sis made me realize that this was one ordeal, regardless of how cute it was portrayed on TV, that thankfully she will not have to waste one minute dealing with. Yeah for modern medicine and the 21st century!

3 comments:

Jared and Delia said...

That is an interesting thought. I have thought about vaccinations and whether they are good or bad lately. It bothers me when some parents do not vaccinate their children for things that protect against illnesses like whooping cough. Which is why we have seen a resurgence of such illnesses. But...chicken pox might be good to get since once you get it you most likely won't get it again. I will keep thinking about this one. Thanks for the post.

Ashley said...

Hey Delia, I thought the same thing about chicken pox- not being able to get them once you've had them, but I think that the same holds true for the vaccine, and then you are spared all the awful side-effects. And, you can always get shingles if you've had chicken pox, where you can't if you've had the vaccine...I think?.

Sara said...

Vaccinations are such a hot topic. Me and my in-doctrinated mind from nusring school, are completely in favor of vaccinations. My opinion is of course for another email....but one thing I constantly think of is this world is so modern and forward moving. We are a globalized. I could be accross the world in a few short hours. So, our children will most likely mingle, at some time in their life, with people of other cultures, beliefs, practices, health beliefs, poverty, etc. Many many people accross the world get many childhood disease US children don't, such as Measles, Mumps, Reubella, Chicken Pox, Whooping Cough, etc.
Since we don't know what this mass globilzation will to do the epidemiology of the world, and we don't have a handle on how viruses and some bacteria mutate (TB, Influenze, HIV, etc), I feel it is a good idea to vaccinate.
I'm wrong a lot. I hope I'm not wrong here.