Mrs Furious is So Mad That She Is... Well... Furious!

Goddammit! I am so fucking pissed that if you are sensitive to a lot of swearing you might want to skip this post. Goddamn Mother Fucking Doctor! Arrggghh... I'm actually shaking from adrenaline I am so mad.

Here is the deal...
Today I took both girls into the pediatrician for their well visit check ups. The Furious Clan has chosen a particular "liberal" minded pediatric practice that is supportive of some of our family practices, co-sleeping and extended breastfeeding. Our first pediatrician, with Kid, was not supportive of these choices and often pushed us into making medical decisions we were not comfortable with. After a TERRIBLE vaccination reaction to her MMR shot at her 12 month check up we switched to our new doctors. Our new practice has two doctors. They both have good and bad points and I have a hard time deciding which one I want to see for what kind of appointments. Today I made the wrong mother fucking choice.

Being the highly educated mother that I am I have thoughtfully, and by thoughtfully I do mean "with serious fucking thought", chosen an alternate vaccination schedule for Baby. Let me make one thing perfectly clear... I am not asking you for your opinion on this, just like I wasn't asking my goddamn doctor for his... so I really don't care if you agree with this or not. When you have a kid with a neurological disorder... who just happened to have terrible vaccine reactions then you can get back to me with your opinion of mandated vaccines. I didn't say I am NOT vaccinating Baby... I said I am following an alternate schedule.

So our appointments are going fine. I know "Fucking Doctor" (as he will be known) is a strong vaccine proponent so I was some what hesitant as we approached the end of our appointments... but although he doesn't agree with me I didn't expect what was about to go down.

me "ummm... "Fucking Doctor" I'm just gonna give Baby the DTap and Hib today and give Kid the Tetanus Booster (Kid is actually all caught up)

FD "is there a reason you have chosen those"

me "yes I'm following an alternate schedule"

FD " where did you get your schedule"

me "I have done research"

FD "that's not what I asked.. where did you get it"

me (somewhat peeved at the weird pressure) "I'm following a schedule from one of the Sears doctors"

FD kind of smirks "that's fine...it is CRUEL... but that's fine"

me... starting to shake and tear up because I hate confrontation... " "Fucking Doctor" do NOT tell me it is CRUEL, beating your kids is CRUEL, abusing your children is CRUEL... following an alternate vaccine schedule is not CRUEL!! I know plenty of people who bring their kids here and follow alternate schedules and there are other doctors in this office who do not challenge that. I know you don't agree with me... but when you have a child with a neurological disorder, and you have an auto immune disease, not to mention your child had every conceivable negative reaction to all her vaccinations... following an alternate schedule is not CRUEL it is thoughtful parenting!"

FD "I don't need your money if you want a different doctor that is okay"

me "If you aren't going to follow my schedule then I won't vaccinate them at all today... this is already a compromise for me. There are MANY people and doctors who do NOT believe in following the mandated schedule I am an intelligent well informed mother. You do not have to agree with me but that does not make me CRUEL. "Fucking Doctor" that is disrespectful. Do NOT ever tell me that being an informed parent makes me CRUEL."

FD "okay (he was like the calmest person ever throughout all this) I still want to work with you... you guys are some of my favorite patients.."

me "Fine... do not challenge me on this."

My children proceeded to get their respective shots... I said thank you... and left the building.


FYI
The US vaccination schedule was developed to follow the early childhood well visit check ups because it meant that more children would have access to vaccines and they would be easier to track and manage as a series. This means that babies get 4 shots every 3 months. All of these shots have side effects some children are more sensitive to these than others. Either way their little bodies must fight off the vaccines as they develop antibodies to the "viruses"... which is a lot for them to do four at a time. If you have adequate health care coverage and continue to take your children in for well visits there is no reason why you cannot follow a slower and or alternate vaccination schedule. As I said Kid is actually fully vaccinated. Many vaccines need a "booster" ... not if you postpone them... some of those you can actually receive when they are older and avoid needing to boost it. "Fucking Doctor's" take is that Baby will remember getting vaccinated at 2 years old and have a fear of the doctor... why that is "cruel" I do not know. In fact Kid was able to get caught up last year and have 3 vaccines placed in one shot... making it ... one shot... so that seems less painful than the three shots that would have been had she had them when she was younger... but maybe that's just me being... logical! Having a child who has had surgeries, and spinal taps, CT scans, MRIs, etc and still is not afraid of the doctor or the hospital kind of negates this theory to me. The Baby might not remember the pain... but she still feels it... and not everyone agrees with the benefits versus the risks of some vaccines. Just ask anyone you know with an autistic child. Always be informed of your child's medical treatment. That is the definition of good parenting.