I’m sitting in the BART station waiting for the next train to El Cerrito. We have a pediatrician appointment for Maia because we’re worried she may be having a reaction to the vaccines she got last Friday (3/14/08). We don’t think it’s anything severe but we don’t know for sure. I have a feeling the doctor won’t tell us anything conclusive either, which is annoying. Western medicine touts its knowledge and superiority but it’s always a game of chance. We’re told we should do the vaccines to prevent something terrible, but there’s only a slight chance our kids would even be exposed to most of these illnesses in the first place. Then there’s a slight chance that our kids may have a terrible reaction TO the vaccines. Of course the argument is that the benefits outweigh the risks but this is coming from an establishment with intimate ties to pharmaceutical and insurance companies. And behind these companies are, of course, people making a profit from all this. Let’s say that the majority of healthcare professionals DO have the best interests of their patients in mind. It seems that by the very nature of their profession it would be impossible for them to fully practice care to this end, because it would mean not complying with mandated protocols influenced I’m sure, by more influential, more powerful people who are in the healthcare business for money.
I know there are benefits to modern medicine and I appreciate this privilege. But as a parent, you can’t take everything wholesale, even from your healthcare providers who are supposed to be caring for you and your family. It seems to me the business of healthcare is so deep, that there’s no way we can fully trust any agent of the system, even your family doctor, because in the end, it all leads back to money and there can be no true care where this much money is involved.
I hope we’ve made the right decisions for our children and lord knows we’re paying a premium for this whole confused mess.