are vaccines really needed?

Cameron went to the doctor for his regular check-up yesterday and of course needed a vaccine. only one shot this time which is a break from the usual 3-4 they give at a time. never has he had a reaction to a vax until yesterday. last night around 11pm he woke up with a fever of 103.8!! after attending to his immediate needs (water, love, Tylenol) i call the on-call doctor as i'm packing a bag for the hospital... but apparently i was over reacting because the doctor basically said to give him Tylenol and deal with him. so i did. he slept with me in our bed as Chris graciously took the couch (we need a King size bed!) this morning his fever was still high at 102.2. more Tylenol. it did drop to 99 at one point today but then jumped back up to 102.8 this afternoon...arg! called the doctor again and the nurse tried to tell me that his fever was probably from him getting Mayden's cold and not the vax... ummm excuse me?!? anyway if the fever is still hanging around tomorrow i'm taking him back so they can fix him (after all he was perfectly fine before i brought him there on Tuesday).

seems like the majority of Americans are okay with our country's vax system but there is a very vocal minority (at least in my circle) that choose not to vax their kids. i shamefully (and purposefully) had decided not to educate myself on the issue and to blindly trust (as many parents do) the medical community with this decision. the basic concept of vaccination i understand and i totally believe that because of vaccination we have come this far in defeating many diseases. but i think i have even more reason to disagree with vaccination. i think the sheer number of vaccinations that infants receive is way over the top. and why do we have to vax for the Chicken Pox, isn't that just a right of passage for growing up? when do we say that a disease is totally gone? i mean will my grandkids have to be vaxed for Polio? and on top of all that i'm mostly sure that the pharmaceutical companies aren't entirely ethical.

i just wish i felt like i had a choice in the matter. this is really horrible to say but i think not vaxing or delaying/selective vaxing is just too much of a pain in the ass to do. you have to fight with your doctor, sign waivers, resign yourself to homeschooling, worry about litigation and be very educated about your decision so you can defend yourself at every corner.

i feel like such a sheep.