Friday, October 30, 2009

H1N1 Revisited


Well, I initiated an email conversation with my family. 2 daughters, 4 sisters, 1 brother (and 1 sister in law) and my mother about whether or not they and their families would be getting the H1N1 vaccine and their reasons for doing so or not. Interesting. Copy and paste articles were passed on, debunked, debated and even made fun of. :( I posted a survey a few posts back and even though more that 125 people read it, only 7 responded.


It seems like information abounds. What to believe? What to do? After taking with my sister on the phone yesterday and talking a little excessively with one of my daughters (right Jen?) this is the conclusion I have come to:


We will not be getting the H1N1 vaccine. Now or ever . Paul will not either, even though he is the First Responder for our district and will likely come in contact with it a lot. We believe that our bodies have the power to heal and to keep us well. We further believe that there are many compounds in the adjuvanted vaccine that are not healthy for us and could be harmful. We are eating well, getting lots of rest, washing hands, doing daily nasal swabs and mouth rinses, taking our vitamins, getting plenty of fresh air and exercise.

Will this prevent us from getting the illness? Probably not. (I actually think I had it, looking back on my Malaise post). Will these measures help us to heal quickly and get a milder illness? I think so. Will our bodies be stronger and our immune systems strengthened by fighting it. Definitely so.


Fear is often a motivator for people. I have been motivated by it in the past and likely will in the future as well. I choose to use common sense as an approach to this issue. Common sense and Lysol spray! ;)

2 comments:

Jen said...

I've read the true measure of a healthy immune system is not if you get sick or not but rather how sick you get and how well your body fights it.

As you know, I think our family may have had it as well a few weeks back. And it was mild because we prepared our bodies immune systems for battle.

After a day or two of feeling a bit of panic and fear, I've come back to my senses and as of right now, we won't be getting it either. I sure wish we could get our titres tested so we could know for sure!

dawn klinge said...

It sounds like you put a lot of thought and consideration into this, a wise thing to do, no matter which way you would have decided to go...although I'm with you on the no vaccine thing. I like what you said about avoiding making decisions based on fear.