tired of having constantly to defend my decision

[melbrodhi]

Hi, my kids recently had a cold so i took them to the doctor to get them checked over as my son is prone to ear infections. my kids are not vaccinated and its not a decision i took lightly but its a decision i stand by and im not going to change my mind and quite frankly am sooooo tired of having to explain myself over and over! the doctor asked if they were up to date with their shots (which quite frankly i didnt see the relevance as its only a cold!) and i when i said no he started the lecture on how its not in the best interests of my kids and how i should reconsider my decision etc etc blah blah blah

im just so sick of hearing it and having to explain myself!!!

[Mrs Shrek]

I hear ya. My 2 are not vaccinated and this belly-babe won't be vaccinated either. Only one doctor has ever had a go at me about it and I forget how the exact conversation went but I was very polite but eventually he started banging on about how I'm putting other people at risk, aren't I concerned about other people and their babies? How could I do that to other people? And I believe I snapped at him "I guess I'm just an anti-social ***** aren't I" lol

I like our current GP, it is hard to find a good one though.


Hope your LO's ears are ok!

[Peg]

Yep, i hear ya too.
I get it all the time. Then i remind myself that doctors are paid to push vaccinations

Just ask the doctor to provide you with a 100% guarantee that your child will not suffer any serious side effects and that he will take full responsibility if something happens and see what he says

[Glamourcide]

I now understand some of what you mums are feeling - my kids are vaccinated according to the schedule, but I have not, and will not, give them the swine flu vax or the Gardasil (until I can get better information about it, anyway). My doctor kept pushing the swine flu one on me, and told me the kids were old enough (repeatedly), eventually I stopped arguing and just fobbed her off with 'Yep, okay, I'll make an appt for another day, I'm really busy right now' etc etc.
The choices we make are not made flippantly - I wish others would understand and respect that

[LimeSlice]

I never get annoyed when people, especially doctors, ask those questions...
I see it as a great opportunity to really show them how much research and consideration really does go into that decision.
Usually with everyday people I launch into a whole tirade about vaccinations, the side effects, the actual risks of infection and actual risks of significant damage from the infections etc and just either totally bombard them with information and knowledge and turn the question around on them - generally people who DO vaccinate do very little research into them and have no idea on the illnesses they are vaccinating against - always catches them off guard. Or they get so stunned by the response, have no comeback so never ask again! lol
With doctors, I launch in to the same spiel, and generally they give up very quickly when I begin to ask them how much money they get paid form the government and the pharma reps for giving out hte vaccinations. That shuts them up very quickly.

I love it when people ask me, or try and bully me, into the convo about vaccinations - it is a great opportunity to inform people of the choice I made, and how much effort went into making it. I feel no compunction whatsoever to "defend" my choice...perhaps look at it from a different perspective

[skybie]

my mum doesnt know about our decision to not vaccinate, because its honestly not worth the arguement that will come from it.
i had an interesting conversation with her the other day about it (she'd found out that even if u dont vaccinate u still get the allowance from c/link, and that it was an absolute injustice!) and she was ranting and raving about ppl who dont vaccinate, and basically ended it with kids who arent vaccinated are going to die!

gee now i wonder why we havent told u!

i did my best to inform her about small things, but didnt go into too much detail because then she might have started getting suss!

[Cassius2]

i'd just be finding a new GP!

[Lolli]

My kids actually are vaccinated, and it still rankles me slightly every time I guessed this question. Next time, I really must ask why they ask. We all know that just because a child is vaccinated, it doesn't make them completley immune, so it's not like they are ruling this out. And they don't ask when the last vax was, like they are checking for side effects....

So, does anyone know why they insist on asking this, and other seemingly irrelevant questions? We took my ds to the ER for gastro at seven months and they asked if he was born in a hospital. Huh? Why does it matter?

[LimeSlice]

Just like any doctor in any consultation, having a whole, or as close to as possible, medical history/status of a patient is essential for clinical diagnosis.
It is vital you tell your doctor these things, just as it is vital he asks - and if you doctor was NOT asking such questions I would be thoroughly concerned and be seeking another physician.
The vaccinations do offer some protection, and can help with ruling things out as well as by taking into consideration reactions to the vaccinations. My assumption though as to why many do not ask when they were last vaccinated is because they ask if the child is vaccinated according to the schedule, and knowing the child's age, they are quite able to assess when the likely vaccination occured. Having said that though, I would expect a doctor to ask when any vaccinations occured if they were off the schedule.

Again though it is VITAL that the doctors are aware of a complete as possible medical history and if your doctor is not asking you of medications and vaccinations, past or current, there is something amiss in his clinical diagnostic skills.

[Reyna]

.... So, does anyone know why they insist on asking this, and other seemingly irrelevant questions?

I think it would just be part of their problem-solving process. For instance, if I were trying to diagnose a problem with a friend or family member's computer, one of the first questions I might ask is "Do you have virus protection?" Because that will give me a better idea of whether it's prone to malware etc.