As my child turns two this year, I’m looking back at some of the earlier memories I have of motherhood. During pregnancy, I recall one of my good friends asking me in secret, “Are you planning on vaccinating your child?” “Yes, of course,” I replied. She said she did as well, and I remember thinking […]
It was 1998, and the chickenpox vaccine was just coming out. At that time–the chickenpox vaccine became available in 1995—my daughter was four and completely up-to-date on all of the recommended vaccinations. However, I didn’t see the point of taking her in to get that one—I mean, chickenpox was no big deal, right? I was […]
Or: Confessions of a Broken Record I post about two things on social media – science fiction and vaccines. The first, because I love it. I am a hardcore Trekkie/Star Wars/Firefly/Isaac Asimov-loving type of girl. The second, because I am a nurse and I practice evidence-based medicine. I never realized that opposition to vaccination was […]
In 2009, I turned in my pipettes and decided to pursue a career outside of the laboratory. I was living in Boulder, Colorado, and had clearly been shielded up to that point from the fact that there were people who are fearful of or against vaccination. In the beginning, I found this topic enraging and […]
August is National Immunization Awareness Month, the month set aside for reminding parents to get their babies, older children, teenagers, and themselves vaccinated. While Voices for vaccines is always all about vaccines, most people simply go in for immunizations and never give vaccines a second thought. This month, let’s get everyone talking to their friends, family, […]
I was still trying to come to terms with how things had played out. In the space of just over a week I’d gone from winding down my work so I could go on maternity leave before experiencing what I hoped would be a natural hospital birth to holding a teeny preemie who had just been […]
I have always been pro-vaccine. My father worked in International Development, so I grew up and traveled all over the world in my youth, meeting children my age who had suffered from diseases that most of my friends back in Canada were lucky never to have even heard of. Later on, when I was going […]
My parents were brought up listening to the radio broadcasts and reading the literature of the Worldwide Church of God, a cult/fringe religion that was developed from a mishmash of Seventh Day Adventist doctrine, revived Old Testament traditions, and prophecies/conspiracy theories about what happened to the Israelites and when Armageddon would rain down on Earth. […]
When I was a child, chickenpox was a very common disease. Most children got it, and it didn’t seem like a big deal to me. You got some spots that were itchy, and a fever for a few days, then you were fine. I was almost seven when I contracted chickenpox. I got the itchy […]
My wife is a very strong woman. She is independent, intelligent, fierce-spirited, and dedicated to her ideals: all reasons why I love her, right? When we found out we were having a baby, we were elated. But, we also felt afraid, small, and uncertain – and rightfully so! When we became pregnant, my wife decided […]