Sandy -

My daughter was sick the whole month of February, 2001. I noticed the change in her the day we came home from getting her 6 month shots. Before that day, she was happy, smiling all the time, slept through the night and only cried when she was wet or hungry. The very day we got home, I noticed she was awful fussy. I thought this was the "normal" thing to expect after shots, even though she never acted this way before. I knew something was wrong because she did not sleep at all that night. I don't know how she stayed awake, but she cried on and off all night. I put her in the bed with me, because I was scared to let her sleep in her crib. From that night on, she did not smile, laugh or seem at all happy. She acted like she was severely depressed. She did not sleep through the night that whole month. She stopped eating like she had been. She fussed on and off constantly and I cried every day. (I knew in my heart this was a bad reaction to the vaccines, because I had read about them). She got her shots on a Friday. That Monday morning, I called the pediatrician and the MOA advised that I bring her in. By Monday she was badly congested, wheezing, and running a fever. The doctor advised that I give her Tylenol for the fever. He said her lungs sounded clear. I brought up the "reaction" I believed had taken place. He sort of laughed and suggested he did not think it was that. He said she just had something viral and they hated to prescribe anything for it when they are as young as she is and we should just let this "run it's course". We went home, needless to say, nothing changed, except for her fever; it did go down. We took her back to this doctor 4 more times in the next two weeks. I begged him to do blood work and a CXR on her. I knew something was in her lungs because I could hear it rattling. He would not. The last time I took her to him, I was treated terribly. (You know how people talk in a doctors office, they probably thought I was crazy). The doctor again told me that what she had was probably viral and we would just have to let it run its course. He finally prescribed a nasal decon. The last visit was on Saturday. That next Tuesday, my husband and I had had enough. Carlie had taken 2 ounces of formula since Saturday. We took her to a Pediatrics Emergency Center (not associated with her previous physician). This doctor spent 1 1/2 hours with her. He did blood work, CXR, checked her ears, lungs, heart, everything. My husband, my mother, and myself were in the room. He said he could tell by her blood work that she did have a reaction to her vaccination, but that he was very surprised that it was not immediate and acute. She also had severe double ear infection, and bronchitis. He prescribed Albuterol, an antibiotic and a different decongestant. We took her home, gave her the medication and she slept that night for the first time in a month. The next day, she played in the floor, smiled and started eating again. The day after that, she was like my little girl again. I cried and thanked God for her healing.

I requested her medical records from the emergency clinic we took her to. Guess what? No mention of an adverse reaction to her shots. So you tell me.

I consider my daughter to have been "severely and negatively affected" by the shots she received at her 6 month check. I believe they caused her condition and everything associated with it. My daughter has been wonderful ever since. She has not, and will not ever get another vaccination. If we have to, we will homeschool her to avoid it.

Sorry for the book, but I did not know how else to explain this.

God Bless

Cathy R. Lawler