Vaccine lecture at Ped visit today

[Guest guest]

I took ds in for his one year check up today to our 'progressive' (or so i

thought)

pediatrician. He asked me if I was still holding off on vaccinating him and I

said Yes - he

then asked why and I said 'well, until they clean up the vaccines, then i'm not

interested in

giving them to my children' - he asked what I meant and I mentioned the

preservatives,

mercury, chicken embryo, and human fetal tissue. " I mean, I know WHY I don't

want to

vaccinate, but I don't have all the facts memorized and his question kind of

threw me, as he's never mentioned it before, so I

felt like I didn't really answer him thoroughly. Then he says 'there haven't

been any

preservatives in vaccines in 3 years and the only vaccine with mercury is the

flu vaccine

and it's only in the ones for older children' - i'm thinking - isn't mercury

harmful no

matter what age you are? He then went on to tell me that he thought I was

making a

HUGE mistake by not giving them and that I was putting my children at risk for

disease,

etc etc. I felt attacked and flustered at this point, so I kind of just shut up

so we could get

through the exam and get the heck out of there.Then after the vaccine attack, he

asked

me if ds was eating healthy, etc. I said yes and I give him a liquid vitamin

every day. He

looked completely flabbergasted and said " why in the world are you doing that? "

- hence,

making me feel like a complete idiot! I said b/c I thought it was in his best

interest and

our previous ped. had recommended it. He then said that we are such a

pill-popping

society that he hates to see such young kids being given anything on a daily

basis like

that.

I thought to myself - I'm not giving the kid vicodin for heaven's sake- i'm

giving him a

vitamin! So, you don't mind injecting him with all kinds of toxins, but you

frown upon a

daily vitamin???????

I left there questioning my

choices about everything and

wondering if I really am putting my children at risk. I mean, I am not

homeschooling and

dd starts preschool next week. Am I putting her at risk by putting her in

school at age 3 -

it's only 6 hours a week, but still. By the way, we went in for a check up for

her b/c he had

never given her one (just moved) and I needed paperwork filled out for school.

He asked

me what school and I told him, then he said very matter of factly that 'she

won't be allowed

to enter preschool without her vaccinations up to date' to which I replied 'I

have a religious

exemption' He looked like he had never heard of that and said 'It is land

LAW and she

cannot enter school without them.' I said 'we'll see about that.'

That visit sort of ticked me off, but I figured maybe I was in a crabby mood or

something

and I'd give the guy another chance. And since we don't have a co-pay for

well-baby

visits, I chose to take ds in for his one year check up.

Now today I'm feeling very confused about the whole mess. Should I switch

doctors? I

mean is there really an allopathic doctor out there that respects a parent's

right not to

vaccinate. Surely I'm not this dr.'s only patient who doesn't vaccinate, am I?

Or are the

drug companies putting so much pressure on the docs that they're lashing out at

us

patients? I think they just like a mainstream parent that does every thing they

say and

keeps his/her mouth shut! no questions - just come in, let me tell you what to

do and get

out! The receptionist asked if she could make ds's next appt when we left and I

almost

chuckled, but I said politely ' no thank you, i'll call.'

Should I just

see a naturopath - which can get quite pricey and the cost of living in MD is

killing us

anyway. Or if my babies are not sick, do I need to see a doctor at all?

Any advice, pep talk, support would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

in MD