Against the Current or on the High Wire

What does it take to go against the current trends in our culture? Curiosity? Critical thinking skills? Perseverance? Sometimes circumstances give an extra push.

For most of my nursing career I have worked in the hospital. I worked in hospital labor/delivery units, caring for women during childbirth. I took time off from clinical care—teaching Lamaze classes—while my children were young. When I returned to the hospital labor /delivery unit I was surprised by the aggressive approach to childbirth. So many women were having induced labor. The use of medications during labor had increased. A greater percentage of childbirth was by cesarean section.

I was troubled. I disliked my work and decided to pursue experience with home birth. I joined a home birth practice, even though it put me at odds with hospital-based nurses and doctors. It was a good experience and I gained a new perspective on healthy birth practices.

My children had chronic health issues as infants and toddlers. It surprised me because it was quite different from my childhood, the health of my siblings. We sought help from alternative medicine and pursued dietary changes. I took dairy products, wheat and sugar out of our diet. Eventually I began to question the vaccines that my children had received.

When the documentary film, VAXXED, came out in 2016, my husband and I went to see it. Here is the review I wrote at the time:

The movie is not anti-vaccine. Medical researchers and parents, like myself, have observed significant side effects from vaccines. Parents have raised questions and made a connection between a vaccine and a changed health status. The movie looks at the research that was done in response—and the data that was destroyed by the CDC. The movie is about vaccine safety

My husband doesn’t like to drive in the city, but he was a peach and navigated through the traffic on in Chicago to get to the one theater showing Vaxxed. The destruction of data by the CDC is a huge news story but the major networks on TV are not covering it. The pharmaceuticals have a lot of clout.

As I watched the movie, events in my life as a parent resurfaced. I listened as a parent talked about multiple doses of antibiotics followed by the MMR at 15 months of age. My twins had multiple doses of antibiotic followed by the MMR at 15 months. They did not develop autism, but one twin had significant abdominal symptoms, bloating and diarrhea. Her language development came to a standstill and she seemed to be in pain. She wouldn’t let me hold her; she rolled around on the floor banging into furniture.

When I took her to a gastroenterologist, the doctor listened to my story and then asked me if I was bruised. He indicated that I did not know what I was doing. He said he would admit her to the hospital and I should go home. He didn’t want me to be involved at all. I couldn’t accept this. I called my husband, and wept all the way home. 

Instead, my husband and I took her to a different gastroenterologist. He did an intestinal biopsy and mentioned some inflammation, but no diagnosis. He had no advice or treatment.

I kept a journal with my observations related to the foods my daughter was eating. We went to an alternative medicine doctor and received help. I worked on strict dietary changes that made a difference.  I feel very blessed that dietary measures, homeopathic medicine and nutritional support allowed my daughter to regain her health.

The research done by the CDC (in 2001 to 2004) showed an increase risk of autism when the MMR was given to black boys in the time frame 12 to 18 months. Children who had received the vaccine after 36 months had less risk. But the research team decided to destroy this data. Only Dr. Thompson kept a record of the study. His records were forwarded to Congress in 2015, but nothing has been done.

The film pointed out the limited testing that is done prior to approving vaccines. Little is known about the safety of giving multiple vaccines at one time. Our children are participating in an experiment—an experiment that has consequences for their long term health..

The film recommends contacting congressmen in the House of Representatives and asking that they:

1. Subpoena Dr. Thompson for questioning.
2. Revoke the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. This law releases pharmaceuticals from any liability. They cannot be sued for vaccine injury.
3. Provide the measles, mumps and rubella vaccines as single vaccines instead of the combined injection. Japan gives the measles vaccine as a single dose.  
4. Require that vaccines receive the same level of testing as other medications.

Not long after seeing this film I began to follow the weekly program offered by the producer of VAXXED. Del Bigtree’s website is: thehighwire.com . At the beginning of the program Del asks his viewers to step out on the high wire. Stepping put on the high wire is a little like swimming against the current. I was amused to see Del actually walking a real high wire in his latest program. Click here to view episode 276.

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