Why I choose not to vaccinate anymore.

I have two children, they are 14m apart. When my son was born, he went through withdrawl of some medications the doctors told me were safe to take during pregnancy. He spent 2.5 weeks in the NICU with seizures and then the inability to maintain his body temperature, due to one of the medications they gave him for the withdrawl. He recovered very well, and had no lasting effects from it. He was under the care of MUSC Neurology and Pediatrics for 1 year, when he was released after going a full year without any signs of seizures. He was way above the curve in every category. He walked early, he spoke really well, even using small sentences early. At 13 months old, he could open any child proof locks we found, and was able to remove some of the screws from his crib. This was all documented by MUSC Pediatrics, he was given a glowing health review.

After my youngest was born, we decided to switch Pediatricians, we wanted somewhere closer to home in case of emergencies and such. This new doctor had all my sons records. At the same time, we were seeing a Chiropractor, who was very politely asking us to research vaccines. We halfheartedly looked into it, and I even questioned the new Pediatrician about them. The Pediatrician convinced me that vaccines were the safer option, and explained I would have to fill out a bunch of paperwork if I wanted to not do them, or delay them. While I kept the baby out of the way, they proceeded to give my son NINE vaccines, including the MMR. They told me the records they got from MUSC were incomplete, and he needed to be 'caught up'; they told me this AFTER they did the vaccines. Later that day, my son got really sick. By evening, his fever was so high, I had to put him in a cold bath. After the cold bath and alternating doses of Tylenol and Ibuprofen, his fever registered at 104.5, were not sure just how high it got, I was more focused on bringing it down, then on getting an exact read. I called the Pediatrician, he told me 'no big deal, fevers are normal'. When I tried telling him how high it was, he told me "Your wrong, no way; quit worrying so much" Then he hung up on me. A short time later, my son had a seizure. We rushed to the ER, where they 'couldn't' get a hold of the Pediatrician. So it was only my word that he had those vaccines that day. By then the fever was down to 103, and there was no sign of the seizure, so the ER sent us home.
I brought my son to the Pediatrician a couple days later, they refused to acknowledge any of it happened. When I went to the Pediatricians office a couple weeks later to get our kids records, they had a bunch of signs all over, saying that parents had to sign an agreement and waiver for their kids TO get vaccines, instead of the other way around. My sons records from the Pediatrician didn't show anything about my calling that night, or of the fever, seizure or ER visit. The ER records only showed 'moderate fever- recommended Tylenol and Ibuprofen to reduce fever and released child to parents care'. So I have no documented proof of the reactions.
The day after the vaccines and fever/seizure incident, my son quit talking, would sit there staring at nothing, and lost all fine motor skill abilities, he also began chewing on anything he could get a hold of. He went from a very-happy-go-lucky type of kid to a screaming violent mess who would reach out and hit anything that came near him, it took over 6 months for him to start really taking again, and for the hitting and screaming to calm. He still has many issues.
Things got so bad during 1st grade, we began the process of looking into the possibility of him being autistic. The autism specialists said he did not qualify as autistic, but there was "definitely something going on". They referred us to a Developmental Pediatrics Specialist who ran extensive studies and tests on him. Her final verdict was 'a strange type of ADHD', Sensory Processing Disorder, problems with executive functioning (self-control and planning processes), and extremely poor fine motor skills. He also has the emotional mind of a child 4-5 years younger then him. During the process of diagnosing him, they ran an IQ test on him, it came back at 124, and the Dr stated to me that if the fine motor skills and executive function problems were normal, she estimated it would have been well over 140. He's gone through Speech Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Occupational Therapy. He has a 504 plan at school to offset some of these problems. Yes, I believe these problems were caused by the vaccines, and I believe that with our history, he should never have been given them. I've done more research into vaccines then most others I know. I know exactly what the ingredients in them are and do, and I know I do not want to risk my son or daughter with them again.

This is my families vaccine story, take of it what you will. I do not ask that anyone not vaccinate, it is a choice you need to make for your own family. I fully believe that if doctors pre-screened kids for possible reactions, many of the stories like my families could be avoided. I personally have autism, and my son had a history of seizures, this should have been enough to say that he was likely to have a bad reaction. There is more then enough information out there for this to be possible. Depending on the child's history, and family history, they could recommend either a delayed schedule, or not doing them at all. The 'One Size Fits All' recommendation should be the first indication that something is wrong with the recommendation, as no two people are alike.
I ask this of all the parents, and in fact, of everyone out there. Do the research, and more importantly, look at who did the research you are looking at. If it was a study funded by the pharmaceutical company, a company related to or funded by a pharmaceutical company (including the FDA who is given quite a bit of money from Pharm), or a Dr who holds a vaccine patent, please take the info with a grain of salt. Look at the data in the VAERS, look at the claims from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Act. Read the insert that comes with every vaccine, and look up those ingredients to know what they may do. Also, understand the truth behind what you are vaccinating against, and if the temporary immunity given by vaccines is better then getting it young, as many illnesses are worse if you get them as an adult. Look at the likelihood of a severe illness, in a developed country, in a child who is not already malnourished or ill in other ways. Be careful if you are looking at death rates and severe illness rates, if these rates are including '3rd world countries', or include those who already had other illnesses, these statistics are not accurate for most people living in developed countries, look at data that pertains to where you live. I do not want to make your choice for you, nor for you make my choice, I only ask you understand what it is you are doing and make an informed choice. If you choose that vaccinating as recommended, or on a delayed schedule, or just chosen ones, it is your child, yourself, your choice.

Note: I have left the name of the Pediatrician who gave the vaccines to my son out of this article, because I do not want to risk being charged with slander or libel. As I stated above, due to the choices others made, I have no documented proof.

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/200-evidence-based-reasons-not-vaccinate-free-research-pdf-download
http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/index.html
https://vaers.hhs.gov/index
http://healthimpactnews.com/2013/dr-kurt-why-i-will-never-choose-to-vaccinate-my-own-son-and-any-future-kids-my-wife-and-i-have/
http://www.naturalgrocers.com/nutrition/speaker/kurt-perkins-dc-ccwp
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/anti-therapeutic-action/vaccination-all
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/how-vaccinated-kids-infect-non-vaccinated

There are many books written by Doctors and scientists that approach both sides of the issue. There are articles galore.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Truth-About-Vaccines-Without/dp/1903933927