Swine Flu

UPDATE: NO FLU CLINIC FOR THE KIDS...THEY ALL ARE SICK. JUST A COLD I HOPE

Never in my life have I been more confused and frustrated by a health concern in regards to my children. Honestly, I understood Brady's cancer treatent protocol better than I understand all of this swine flu stuff. It has become apparent to me that no one knows...thus the confusion. I was 100% opposed to the vaccine about 2 weeks away. No way, no how was I letting anyone inject more stuff into my kids. Then kids start dying, people I know start getting sick, and I start reconsidering the risk/benefit for my family. I've come to the conclusion that I have to put my uneasiness aside and vaccinate my children for H1N1. The turning point came when a local child died after contracting H1N1 and I started thinking "what if?"

I remember how helpless I felt when Brady's life was at risk, when we didn't know if he would live or die, when we had to hand him over to surgeons we had never met. I hated that feeling, but there was nothing I could do about it. So now I am confronted with this swine flu thing, and trust me, I'm quite skeptical person when the government tells me to do something. However my sentiments starting changing when I allowed myself to imagine the guilt I would feel if one of my children did get it, and hadn't done what I could to prevent it. I hated the way that felt.

Okay, so I have decided to get our family vaccinated (when I say I, I mean "we!" Matt and I have been 100% in agreement on this issue:) Sounds easy enough? Oh wait, no one seems to have this crazy vaccine. There is a clinic tomorrow that I will be dragging my children to (well the oldest three). The health department had an article in the paper that I literally read 10 times and still don't understand what they were saying. They tried to list what was available and who should/shouldn't come. It made NO sense. We are going anyway. How fun it will be to stand in line for who knows how long and then watch as the first, the second, and the third child gets squirted up the nose by a stranger. It frustrates me to no end that I am unable to bring my child to their doctor's office, discuss everything with my doctor, and then have her vaccinate them. But, we have to do what we have to do.

So there, that is my take on the vaccine issue. I've been telling my friends as we discuss this (and boy, I think I have discussed this with just about all of my friends) that the best I can do is pray about it, make a decision, and pray for peace about it.

I'm adding this to my list of "Motherhood is hard because..."