One Les-, no, Two Le-, wait a minute, Three L---, TWENTY NINE LESS...

One of my first blogs last year was about Gardisal being pushed on to our young daughters as early as the age of 9, to help in the prevention of "certain strains" of HPV.... That's going on the assumption, of course, that "most" girls will start having sex at that age... so "they" say...

Anyway, syndicated columnist and author Mary Beth Bonacci gives this shocking, yet unsurprising, update on the use of Gardisal on our young daughters... And I just have to wonder what it will take for parents to stop letting secular society tell them what's best for the health of their children?... In this day and age, I, for one, am growing more and more leary of the "advice" shoveled out to me disguised as what's "best" for mine... Parents beware, be careful, be informed....

Doctor Visits for Your Older Children

I know most of my children are still very small, but my oldest son is soon to be 13 and I have given thought as to what happens at a doctors visit as they grow older.... For my sons, but probably more so for my daughters... ESPECIALLY with the OVERKILL of secular society's push of everything from condoms, to IUD's, to the after math fallout push of meds for herpes of every type to "methods" of "dealing with" unwanted pregnancies... It seems as though it's just so "unusual" to teach kids self esteem and self respect. Abstinence and chastity are STILL options... Even well intentioned Christian and Catholic doctors are clueless as evidenced by this article from Patrick Madrids Blog.... As parents WE are the ones first and foremost to protect and instruct our children and unfortunately we must be vigilant and aware at every turn... and for the record, I don't think I would EVER leave the exam room of my minor child at the request of the doctor... that request would send chills down my spine, and I really like our long time pediatrician....

Baby's First Doctor Visit...

So, yesterday I finally got the baby to a doctor's appointment. You see, I took him in the week after he was born to have him circumcised and then made an appointment for his one month check up. Well, when I went in for the one month, there was a screw up with the insurance, and he had not yet been put on it, so I had to go home, straighten out the insurance mess, but never got around to scheduling him back with the Doctor. Now he is 4 months old and so I figured I better get him down. He really is such a "mellow-jello" baby. Very happy go lucky and easy to take care of. Not fussy-cussy at all, so I just didn't think about taking him to the doctor. Anyway, when we get there, they ask if there are any problems [no] and then tell me that they will just do a "well baby" check up. Sounds good! : )

So could someone PLEASE tell me WHY, when you take a perfectly healthy, happy baby in to see the doctor, they tell you that he's "behind" 10 shots that they say he "needs" and call it a "well baby check up"?... TEN SHOTS!! No exaggeration!! I about fell over! I said, "He's ONLY 4 months old!! What in the world is the necessity of giving him TEN shots?!!" For PETE's SAKE!! The doctor told me about some kind of "roto-virus..." something or other oral immunization. He said that it was the "easiest" to give, because they just put it in his mouth... Well, sorry, Doc, but JUST BECAUSE it's "easy" doesn't mean it's necessary... It wasn't to eliminate the chance of stomach flu, but to keep it from getting to the point of dehydration and hospitalization... Well, since my baby is ONLY breast fed right now, we home school and so is not exposed to the usual "muck" and he is baby #5 and I have NEVER had stomach flu in my house to the extent of hospitalization even being warranted with ANY of my kids, I think I'll pass... sheesh...

It is SO frustrating, because you want to trust your doctor to do what's best for your children to keep them healthy, but gosh! IT seems that every year they ADD to the list of "immunizations" to give children, and I'm sorry, but all that extra "Stuff" put in to an already healthy baby just doesn't seem right... *Sigh* I allowed four of the 10.. for now... and even THAT leaves me feeling a bit of guilt... I honestly don't know too much about these things... Poor baby... He is SO ticklish, there he was laughing and cooing and giggling, as the nurse was rubbing alcohol on his little chubby, thunder-thighs when his face suddenly froze in fear and pain as he felt the "stick"... it's enough to break a mommy's heart.... We're supposed to go back in a month....

I'm Really NOT an Irrational Person...

I took my nine year old son to the dentist today. I admit that it's been about 2 1/2 years since we've last gone... We had a change in insurance and I've had two babies, so I just hadn't had the chance to sit and make dentist appointments... Well, hubby has been having his teeth worked on and has had nothing but praise for his dentist and has since made appointments for myself and our oldest son. I figured the easiest way to handle this was two at a time, so after we were done, than we would work with the next two youngest... unfortunately, my younger son was having some tooth ache issues, so we ended up making an appointment for him to get in today. I got a babysitter and off we went.

Now mind you, my son is 9 and has never experienced "the shot" from the dentist before... last time he had work done, it was under the influence of the "silly juice"... and being his first visit to this doctor I wasn't sure what exactly they would do. After waiting over an hour in the office, they finally call him back for x-rays. A few minutes later the assistant comes out to tell me that they need to extract a tooth that is falling apart and that is what is causing the pain. I tell her that he has never had the shot before, but it would have to be done, so okay... "sign here" and I did and she never said another word but went back to the back again. A little bit later I hear my son crying and look down the hall only to see him come out holding the side of his face and crying. They tell me that he will have to be referred to the specialist that gives "the juice" but the insurance won't cover it because he's over 7... huh?... OR I could make another appointment to meet with their other dentist, but he only comes in on Wednesday's and he would still give the "shot" but he works more with kids... Well, Wednesday's happen to be our "nightmare" days, where we are pretty much gone from morning to night...

To say the least I was little annoyed... no explanation, other than my son wouldn't cooperate and they couldn't do it... Now, I realize that a lot of people don't "get" home school mom's. A lot may assume that because we are HOME all day, we MUST sit around eating Bonn-bons watching soap opera's and have all the time in the world to drop everything for appointments! Anyway, I told them that I would have to call back after I got home... we left, nothing accomplished, thank you very much...

So on the way home I ask my son, "What happened? What did you tell them?" Thinking he must have had some tantrum breakdown for the operation to shut down so quickly and without explanation... he said, "I told them I didn't like shots..." well, duh... I don't like shots!!

So I get home and call the dentist to see if I can find ANYTHING else out... I don't know who I spoke with... the first girl answered the phone and I tried to remain calm as I explained to her that it was frustrating for me, because I had 5 kids and don't have a babysitter at my disposal for endless appointments... I wish that someone could have explained to me what the problem was when we were still there and at least given me the chance to TALK to my son and calm him down and MAYBE we could have tried again... but no one even offered that... she said, "well, he's nine, and he's had dental work done before..."

"Yes!" I told her, "But it was a couple of years ago and he was able to take the juice! This was his first experience with the shot, and he just wasn't prepared. He understands NOW that there is not an option, but from what I understand, this doctor doesn't even want to try with him anymore and the other doctor, he couldn't see him for another 2 weeks and you're telling me that this needs to be done soon..."

"well, do you want to come back?..." Upon further inquiring, according to the assistant my son started crying and said he didn't like shots... so the doctor asked him if he wanted to leave and my son nodded, and they let him leave... I almost lost it! I said, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!! He is NINE... He is in a new office, with NEW faces, a NEW experience that isn't the most pleasant, and a doctor hovering over him with a needle asking him if he wants to leave... for Pete's sake, I would want to leave!!" She laughed... I'm really not trying to be unreasonable... And I'm not the kind of mother that will baby my kids through normal "life" things, like having to go to the dentist and dealing with "shots"... his having to get the shot wasn't the problem... all kids have to go through their first, at some point... he just wasn't prepared, because I wasn't sure WHAT to prepare him for... if they had JUST given me 15 minutes to talk with him... calm him down and explain what was going to happen and why, we'd be done by now... She said "well, WE told him what was going to happen..."

"You aren't his mom... I'm sorry, but to him, you are a stranger..." After I hung up my son told me that after he said that he didn't like shots, what they told him was he needed to be good or they were going to have to tie him up... yeah... that'll calm his nerves... sheesh... I called my husband and told him that HE could call and talk with them... They were probably hoping that I would just go somewhere else...

So, Hubby called, and they said that they were just looking up his number to call him... They didn't want him mad at them... Apparently he convinced them that they should give our son another chance and he would take him back down there himself and sit with him... they never even gave me the chance... When I heard him crying and got up to look down the hall, they told me I could go back to him, but he was already on his way out, and you know the rest of the story... I'm not sure that I'm happy with the decision to go back, but I don't want my son's mouth in pain any longer... so off they went... My oldest Son and I are supposed to go in to the same office a week from Monday... should I keep that appointment?...Perhaps they're hoping I won't...

Drug Use May Start Earlier Than You Realize...

I am really getting tired of the amount of drugs and vaccines that society is wanting to "push" on to our kids. I saw a sign this morning that stated something like "15 vaccines in 15 months"... The point being that your baby "should" have 15 vaccines in his of her first 15 months of life. Call me dumb, but that sounds like an awful lot of "stuff" to pump in to their little bodies... Not that I'm strictly against vaccinations. My kids have each had some, and thankfully, are all fairly healthy kids, thank you, Jesus... But it seems that with each kid I've had, the vaccine "list" gets longer... The latest being Gardisil, to "protect" our little girls... no, thank you, very much, and last week the news was talking about wanting to Rx cholesterol meds to young school age children... I'm sorry, but there has just GOT to be another way...

The general public wants to just eat all this "great" information up, all in the name of "health", but do they take time to think about what the long term affects on their children will be? We lecture and warn them from the time they are old enough to understand, about the dangers of taking drugs, and the long term affects on their bodies. What about these so called "legal" drugs and medications? Just because something is labeled as "legal" doesn't make it safe. All medications give a whole list of "side affects". And if you listen or read closely, many of them include, in at least some cases, "death". How many young girls have to die or become paralyzed before they stop pushing Gardisil as the newest and latest "miracle" medicine to "protect" them from "some strains" of cervical cancer? What ARE the long term affects of giving our young people cholesterol meds starting at a very young age? I don't know the answer for that... But I am not going to rush out and have my kids cholesterol tested tomorrow, either...

Like I said, I'm not completely against vaccinating children. Though I do like to stay informed on the types of vaccines out there and have a choice as to what I will have them get. I do steer clear of the chicken pox vaccine, when I learned that it derived from human embryos. But I am not real concerned about my kids getting chicken pox, either. It used to be, pretty much, part of childhood... Although I did not get them until I was 22 and working in a pre-school... and only my oldest son has gotten them, one week before he was scheduled to receive the vaccine, and before I knew about it's origins... Anyway, if I have any "neighbors" out there, that have kids with chicken pox, I'd be more than happy to have them over to my house to "share" : ) It would be nice to have them all get it done and over with!