A Note of Thanks
I couldn’t find the right words last week. Today, I feel like I’ve found my voice again.
In reflecting on a few things that had me feeling so down in the dumps earlier, a few people came to mind: the pro-vaccine crowd, the CDC, the mainstream media and some doctors and their medical staff. When those folks crossed my mind, I let them and their negativity invade my thoughts. I wouldn’t be here without them though, so I thought it time to say thank you to those folks. Yes. A thank you. I want to express my gratitude for their contributions, especially their latest ones.
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To the Pro-Vaccine Crowd who continues to add insult to injury (vaccine injury, that is), thank you! Really. I want to thank you for every new Vaccines Are Safe blog, article, interview, FB comment and social media message you share. Why? Well, for some new parents, and for those parents who are on the fence about vaccines, your words spark a question. They’re asking, “Are vaccines really all that safe?” That questions leads to a search. That search turns into a discovery. That discovery reveals a story—a story of a child with an unfortunate vaccine injury. As they read that story, a seed is planted—a seed of doubt. Why doubt? Because you, the pro-vaccine crowd, say the exact opposite, and quite brusquely I might add, of what the vaccine injury story is stating. It’s no wonder that new parents are thinking that maybe vaccines aren’t safe!
It’s through that revelation and that seed of doubt that parents begin to search for further info, info which you, the pro-vaccine crowd, consistently neglects to mention in your pieces. Parents want that information. Where must they turn then to find that info? To other parents, of course!
P.S. That’s where I come in.
Here’s why. When I write, it’s with honesty and it’s peppered with all sorts of undeniable facts. When you write, as a pharma-influenced blogger, writer or newscaster, it’s heartless and glorifies an entity that’s using humans for profit. It’s only right that people hear both sides of a vaccine story—yours, which confuses them, and mine, which is told through the eyes of a former vaccinator who now provides round-the-clock care to a child who was severely affected by vaccines.
Obviously, our stories and motives differ greatly. My story is told with heart and includes an extra-large dose of vaccine-injury reality. Your input portray vaccines as safe all the time for everyone no matter what. Even though you forget to mention everything there is about vaccines, like that pesky vaccine injury, I don’t mind filling that in the blanks in my writing when you forgot to mention it in yours.
So kudos to the entire pro-vaccine crowd and their efforts. Even though some of your posts tend to be sort of judge-y and fear monger-y, you’re reminding parents to keep their thinking caps on when it comes to vaccines. Fear mongering isn’t so great, but getting those thinking caps on is good. Great job, guys!
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To The CDC who continues to sweep important data under the rug, thank you! Why such gratitude? Well, with how you’ve been so super quiet since Dr. William Thompson stepped forward, people are coming to parents like me instead of to you for information. Yep. Just like how the pro-vaccine crowd’s writing can repel the general public, your silence is repelling some of the general public’s trust.
People genuinely want to know things. We’re curious creatures. When it comes to wanting to know what’s going on in the world of medicine, people naturally head on over to the CDC to see what y’all have to say. That is up until a few weeks ago. Dear, dear CDC. Bless your heart! People don’t trust you so much anymore. Manipulated data, fraudulent activity and the fact that Congress is getting involved is causing your reputation to get a tad more tarnished among a circle of parents. You know who those parents are, right?
Psst, they’re the same ones the pro-vaccine crowd is pushing away.
Where do those parents go for help? To people like me. Sure it takes up more of my time to redirect parents to better, less shady resources, but it’s worth every minute. I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right. My plate is already very full, and I don’t need to answer every call I get about vaccines. But I don’t mind picking up the saving lives and protecting part you proudly display in your motto. I don’t mind it at all. Count on me to step in and do just that until you stop hiding and do the right thing.
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To the Mainstream Media, keep those vaccine don’t cause autism stories coming! And, please, don’t hold back! Why? Once you post one of your sensationalized, too-good-to-be-true-vaccines-only-save-lives pieces, parents know to go elsewhere to get real vaccine news. Where do they go? They hop on over to an alternative universe, ours, where vaccines haven’t saved lives.
Vaccines devastated lives on our side of the planet. People know this. They may not want to believe it, but in their hearts they know it to be true. Here’s the why. Viewers tune you in for only a few minutes at a time. Once away from the screen, those viewers run into us and our vaccine injured children in town. In real life. Where commercial breaks don’t exist.
While you can make vaccines look safe and harmless, we cannot hide a vaccine injury so well. The stimming, the meltdown, the flapping, the echolalia? Not so easy to cover up. Why, just a few weeks ago a man stared at my son mid-meltdown. Instead of helping me, the very capable yet stunned grown man watched in horror as Ronan thrashed about. It was pretty intense there for a few minutes, but once over, we dusted ourselves off and continued on. The poor fellow though. He was left speechless and kept standing there. I attribute his response, well, his lack of response, to you! Kudos to the media’s mad editing skills and only showing happy, shiny needles going into kids’ arms and legs. Imagine the alarm that would ensue if the general public really knew what can happen when the needle comes out. I shudder at the thought. I know you do too.
A suggestion, which you really don’t need, Mainstream Media, because you do keep your stories so fresh and always full of rainbows and unicorns, is to continue doing a great job averting the eyes of the public of what’s really happening with autism and vaccines. You cover things up things so well already that no one would dare believe you if you started to share what is actually happening. The public would be too shocked to handle such truth. Despite that, I do feel compelled to share that you did lose a few viewers a long time ago. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I know you won’t be too offended to know that several have already reached for the knob and turned you off. Who are those viewers? A lot of us parents with vaccine injured kiddos. Yeah, we didn’t like it when you stuck your fingers in your ears saying “La la la la la” while refusing to air our autism-vaccine stories. No hard feelings, right?
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To The Doctors and Medical Staff who push, push, push vaccines, thank YOU! Just like people are curious creatures so are they creatures who seek comfort and acceptance from others. Since some of you are doing the exact opposite in your medical practices, my circle of friends has grown. How so, you might ask? When you are being gruff and demanding with your my way or the highway attitude, you remove yourself from the equation and open the door for someone else to step in. Who is that someone? Me! Yes, me. And countless other moms and dads who step in to do what you’re called to do.
In case I lost you, let me break things down for you.
Moms want the best for their baby. We’re raised to trust certain people and professionals. Doctors top that list. Lately, when parents go to a doctor and vaccines come up, moms are finding that their doctors have turned into dictators. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think dictator was included in your job description. At least I hope it wasn’t! Either way, I know for a fact that, for the majority, vaccines are not mandatory. Take a recent story I heard just this week.
A young mom called me and told me she declined the flu shot at her child’s well-visit exam. The nurse stated to the mom that her son was due for the shot. Mom replied no, thank you. The nurse left the room and a few minutes later in walks the doctor. The doctor insisted that her child get the shot. Mom stood her ground and repeated that her child was not getting the flu shot. You know what the doctor did? He stormed off! Quite professional of him, don’t you think? Hmmmm, not so much.
Instead of being able to have a mature conversation about vaccines, this doctor turned into a dictator. Then he displayed toddler behavior. How on earth is that professional or acceptable? Thankfully this mom, after doing her own research seeing other parent’s children suffer vaccine injury, felt confident in her decision and was able to walk out of the office with her head held high. Time will tell if this doctor “fires” her from his practice for declining vaccines. If it comes down to that, fine, I say. Walk away. Walk away proudly. Who wants to feel pressured to roll up a sleeve or a pant leg for a vaccine they don’t need or want? Not I. And come to find out, not a lot of other moms and dads out there who’ve heard us well.
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To all the people who have shaped the path I walk now with Ronan, I have learned so much from you—from what to believe to whom I should trust, all of it has been eye opening. To the Pro-Vaccine Crowd, to the CDC, to the Mainstream Media and to the Doctors and Medical Staff, none of this would have been possible without your contributions. I say, well done, folks. Well done. Thank you so very, very much!
Cathy Jameson is a Contributing Editor for Age of Autism.
Cathy you are great - Winston Churchill supports you - he said Never, Never, Ever Give Up! He was right then and he is right now. Stick to your guns.
By way of contrast Britain has just woken up to the news that its biggest retailer TESCO has mislaid £250 million of its profits. A 'Whistleblower' broke the news and its headlined as the lead item on the morning news bulletins across the nation. Interesting how our media treats big news according to whether its our children's health or our shopping baskets.
Tony Bateson Oxford UK
Posted by: tony bateson | September 22, 2014 at 07:31 AM
Thank you again Cathy, for a great article. I share all vaccine info from AoA, TMR and GMQV on FB every day. I had 3 people support me that knew nothing of vaccines and autism until I posted. They read the info and started posting warnings on their pages. As of today (chuckle) my parents are refusing flu shots this year. My fingers are crossed that their doctor, or my sister, don't bully them into it. Keep talking, writing, arguing...there are so many beside you.
Posted by: Lori Stella | September 22, 2014 at 12:14 AM
William Thompson's confession is really just starting to send out ripples.
You never know who's following this blog.
Here's some stream-of-consciousness thinking after talking for hours with a doc friend.
He's an MD (family practice) and who tells me he gave up the pediatrics component of his practice about 10 years ago because he didn't agree with the schedule back THEN. Says he didn't understand why so many vaccines were being given to a baby with no immune system (other than the mother's) for the first 6 months of life.
So he decided to focus on diabetes, hypertension, cancer diagnosis, procedures, etc. i.e. adult medicine.
He told me recently he's starting to see autistic ADULTS come into his practice with some really exasperated, exhausted parents who quietly whisper to him, "I'm sorry...but I really think it was the vaccines that did this to him."
My friend knows about Thompson's confession. He knows modern medicine is corrupt. And I really think he's on his way out.
He asked me, "Why do you think SO MANY doctors are retiring? They can't take it anymore. Sure, they say it's the paperwork, the administrative hassles, the office/hospital politics, but a big part of it is the pill/shot model of health. It doesn't work, and often causes harm. The patients are sicker than ever...especially the young."
Doc's take on this is that Thompson's whistle-blowing is going to be the last straw for a lot of docs. It isn't the first reason why docs are heading for the exits. It's simple the final straw againt a system that honest docs know causes harm all-too-often.
The price of admission to the club is rising. And an increasing number of honest docs are saying no thanks, I'll pass.
It's always darkest before the dawn. But the trend is unmistakeable. Docs can no longer hide behind intentional ignorance. My friend says that the vast majority of docs truly believe in the vaccine schedule because they REFUSE to consider anything that questions it.
That is the sin. They truly don't know about the dangers of vaccines because THEY. DON'T. WANT. TO. KNOW.
I guess you could say they figure out which way the wind is blowing and don't want to go against that wind. So they just intentionally fail to get around to investigating further. Do not underestimate human laziness.
My friend disagrees that most docs "know" that vaccines cause harm, and yet still give them. WRONG. They give them because everyone else gives them. "Standard of care." Words that strike fear and compliance in every doctor's heart.
George Orwell once said, "To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle." Well, it's not so much of a struggle anymore to see the vaccine carnage.
That's why docs are heading for the exits.
William Thompson is the not the end of the battle. It's just the beginning.
Posted by: Joe Sulaco | September 21, 2014 at 09:29 PM
In support of the newly-coined vax-fanatix
fanatic (fəˈnætɪk)
n
1. a person whose enthusiasm or zeal for something is extreme or beyond normal limits
2. a person devoted to a particular hobby or pastime; fan: a jazz fanatic.
adj
3. a variant of fanatical
[from Latin fānāticus belonging to a temple, hence, inspired by a god, FRENZIED, from fānum temple]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003
fa•nat•ic (fəˈnæt ɪk)
n.
1. a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal, as in religion or politics; zealot.
adj.
2. fanatical.
[1515–25; < Latin fānāticus pertaining to a temple, derivative of fānum temple]
syn: fanatic, zealot, devotee refer to persons showing more than ordinary enthusiasm or support for a cause, belief, or activity. fanatic and zealot both suggest extreme or excessive devotion. fanatic further implies unbalanced or obsessive behavior: a wild-eyed fanatic. zealot, slightly less unfavorable in implication, implies single-minded partisanship:
Posted by: Brainstorm: Vax-fanatics | September 21, 2014 at 07:56 PM
How bout this collective noun for our little troll and shill friends: vax-fanatix
Posted by: Brainstorm: Vax-fanatics | September 21, 2014 at 07:51 PM
Unity is Strength..
Thanks Cathy
MMR RIP
Posted by: Angus Files | September 21, 2014 at 05:54 PM
Keep up the good fight, Cathy! We are winning, slowly but surely. Educated parents are becoming less compliant to the vaccine schedule. Legislators are not going to start fighting the wealthy constituents who aren't vaccinating. So while we might not get much relief from Congress I doubt the CDC will get any relief either. The U.S. seems to be having a collapse in new families and that will probably mean fewer children for all those baby markets and as parents turn away from vaccines they might also turn away from the media that pushes vaccines and those products associated with the pushers. That might shift the tide some.
Also there is another bright spot on the horizon and that is more unvaccinated and under vaccinated children who are a great advertisement for not vaccinating. Recently I was at a family gathering where one family had heavily vaccinated their children and another family had not. The vaccinated kids (exquisitely beautiful) were in melt down non-stop. The mother was trying to help one very constipated girl who was screaming at the top of her lungs in pain. The unvaccinated baby was crawling around unaffected by the chaos, eager to interact, and didn't cry at all. What an amazing baby everyone said... little did they know (I know both mothers). There are ways to have happy, self actualizing children that make being a parent joyful and easy, and not vaccinating tops that list.
Posted by: kapoore | September 21, 2014 at 04:00 PM
Though medical science remains inexact, evolving, and subject to human failings, doctors wield inordinate power over people's bodies and health.
Great comparison about the doctor who "displayed toddler behavior" over a declined flu shot. He's forgetting who's the vendor and who's the customer.
Doctors need patient input to make the best diagnoses, Shutting the door on dialogue is hazardous to the health of the patient -- and the doctor's business.
Posted by: nhokkanen | September 21, 2014 at 03:26 PM
I'm grateful for your writings every week Cathy.
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | September 21, 2014 at 03:15 PM
Does anyone think that Stockholm syndrome explains the mindset of those who still get vaccines? Bullied and abused by doctors, magazines, schools, TV programs, friends and neighbors, for years and years, to accept the vaccine philosophy and all the vaccines possible, or die, people are literally brainwashed into becoming a frightening, subservient, holographic image of their kidnappers, their free will, logical thought, and sense of justice and compassion annulled. And then we see the videos they make of themselves proclaiming their questionably sincere allegiance on Voices for Vaccines.
Posted by: cia parker | September 21, 2014 at 02:10 PM
Benedetta,
I don't think the "anti-safe vaccine" label is that good either. There can be no safe vaccine, and it would be confusing to say "anti-as safe as it is possible to make them, which isn't very, vaccine" group. Someone said the other day that the general public just isn't ready to cut the cord to the old paradigm yet. They will have to make up whatever labels and concepts they can live with, but I think the truth tellers are just going to have to go with "anti-vaxxers," short, simple, accurate. What's not to love?
Posted by: cia parker | September 21, 2014 at 02:00 PM
Brilliant, Cathy!
Now, if we could just encourage more parents to skip all the "well-baby" visits in the first place (so their children might actually have a chance to remain well), unless they have a genuine concern about their child's health or development. And then, perhaps we could encourage them to see another type of healthcare professional, like a chiropractor, homeopath, or non-vaccinating naturopath.
Also, we need to continue to encourage parents to face their fears, and get to the bottom of them. For example, the American public has been brainwashed to fear each and every disease for which a vaccine exists (Cynthia Cournoyer does an excellent job addressing this topic in her book "What About Immunizations? Exposing the Vaccine Philosophy"). We need to encourage parents to learn more about these diseases, what to do if their child contracts one of them, and the benefits their child might derive from encountering them versus being vaccinated supposedly against them. Most importantly, we need to encourage parents to learn more about safe, sensible, and risk-free ways to protect, maintain, and enhance their children's health, of which there are so many!
So, although I can never thank anyone who has been involved in the harming and killing of millions of children and people of all ages worldwide, and/or involved in the subsequent cover-ups, either through willful ignorance, prideful arrogance, or sheer evilness, I can agree that the lies have gotten so huge and the evidence of vaccine injury so evident that any parent-to-be will have trouble blindly accepting the vaccine propaganda. I recently heard something that really struck me...that when this whole vaccine nightmare crumbles, it will crumble quickly, almost overnight...and I believe that night is coming soon.
Clear the courtrooms, it's time to make room for the multitude of vaccine criminals.
Posted by: Laura Hayes | September 21, 2014 at 01:14 PM
And you'll notice that there seems to be louder questioning about every new vaccine they come up with. Ebola vaccine is getting a lot of mention lately and none of it is positive.
You also hear of the people in other countries that are terrified of health care workers and do not believe they are really helping with some of their interventions. No wonder. Now a great many peer sons know that the truth is being suppressed by most media. It's all building up to a lot of mistrust.
Posted by: Too little trust at this point | September 21, 2014 at 01:13 PM
An intelligent spin on this whole mess. Yes, thank you, Deniers - I was once like you, too. But unfortunately I had to learn the hard way, and my children are suffering because I didn't listen.
Posted by: Meg | September 21, 2014 at 12:52 PM
I meant to say sociopaths attack us for speaking of our suffering. Sociopaths attack us for speaking the truth. This is to drown us out. Sociopaths see that Jenny Mccarthy speaking about her son having seizures after a vaccine is impossible to counter. So they attack her personally so that it distorts and hides her story . when actually her outspokenness is heroic and truly the only ethical choice. And when they attack her they are attacking us. And the truth of our eyewitness accounts. Everyone is waking up. The light bulb is coming on.
Posted by: Time to free yourself of living a lie --whistleblowers this is the time | September 21, 2014 at 12:51 PM
This is going to sound corny. But one of the anti-safe-vaxxers posted something desperately trying to figure out what motivates us! And the answer came to me. There is a phrase "they will know you are Truth by your love". What motivates us? Love and Hope. Love for our child, that the truth might free up the cures that will actually work and the resources to correct the damage. Love for all the families out there who we simply cannot bear to see relive our tragic choices. love for our world and the babies and children and teachers and autistic adults whom we wish could be freed from the fog and the pain.
What motivates the troll types and the dictator doctors and the media? Fear, Greed, Denial, and Hubris. How do I know ? Why are they not making an impact as much any more ?? The ways Cathy so brilliantly said . And Two ways I will mention. One, they attack us the victims. This is so classic when you hurt someone. You attack the victims. Even when I didn't believe the vaccine injury theory (of course before it happened to my son) years ago, I felt deep compassion and pain for the parents whom the media had convinced me were grasping for reasons. Normal people see our children and feel compassion. Sociopaths attack us for our suffering . Sociopaths are in troll land. Second, we talk with reason. In general, until pushed by their cruelty or just desperation , we don't waste our time shaming or attacking them for their incredible inability to see the damage that has been done. The point isn't them the point is the facts. Anyone who studies argument has to see that they keep making the point us. You only do that when you don't have the truth. It's a sick bullying technique meant to scare others from admitting they hear us. But smart people recognize that .they think wait this person is pummeling someone with an ill child. Wait which side am I on? Like I have posted when did it bro me a crime to warn others based on what happened to your child! Does anyone attack mothers against drunk driving? We are mothers against irrational unsafe stupid vaccinations! We lead with the truth. We just state our truths . We walk with love. Anger and love --which is what happens when you have been denied justice. But we walk with love (I think of Dr Wakefield here more than anyone) and love walks with truth. Every major movement motivated by love has in the end won out. Thank you for reminding me Cathy!! You are a heroine to continually speak your painful truth.
Posted by: Time to free yourself of living a lie --whistleblowers this is the time | September 21, 2014 at 12:42 PM
Who on here said we should call the pro vaccine group - the anti safe vaccine group. Who was that?
That was a good idea.
So Cathy you mean the anti- safe vaccine group got ya down?
Me too - got me down for the last 30 plus years.
I could tell you stories of what happened when we declined - or tried to decline.
Posted by: Benedetta | September 21, 2014 at 09:35 AM
Cathy Jameson you are such a good writer, glad you found your words. I always make sure I read your articles/stories/posts, but your comment "Yeah, we didn’t like it when you stuck your fingers in your ears saying “La la la la la”" made me blow my coffee out this morning LOL thanks :-)
To all the Moms (& Dads) who is being pressured/bullied by your doctor to vaccinate, you can find out how much your doctor really believes in vaccines by asking him/she to be personally responsible for any vaccine injury, and will not try to hind behind the vaccine waiver, that he/she agrees to a jury trial & he/she will not appeal the decision. If he/she believes in vaccines THAT much this should not be a problem.
Posted by: Jeff Ransom | September 21, 2014 at 08:54 AM
We are winning.
Posted by: tara | September 21, 2014 at 08:42 AM
Cathy, thank you so much for continuing to speak on behalf of other parents, like me, and for our children. I read AgeOfAutism everyday. It helps me feel that I am not alone. Life is certainly not all "rainbows and unicorns". My sitter just quit because my 18 year old son, who is 6'2" and 290 pnds got aggressive because she would not take him to the store. We live the VACCINE INJURY everyday. I am ready to stand, to speak out, and to fight with other parents !!! Just let me know, where and when !!!
Posted by: Cathy Siarris | September 21, 2014 at 08:14 AM
Doctors are among the scariest people on earth. I have recently been terrorized by a doctor demanding that I have to take blood pressure medicine. Blood pressure medicine plus a second medicine to prevent possible clots from the first. I have reached the age that people are supposed to line up the pill bottles on the dresser. Pills for this, then for side effects, and then for more side effects from the second. What next? How nasty they can get. I have fled in terror. Who needs these people???
Question Authority. That was my favorite bumper sticker back in the 1960s.
Posted by: Eileen Nicole Simon | September 21, 2014 at 06:25 AM
I agree. There is nothing more calculated to arouse the seed of doubt in a sincere and searching soul, as in young parent who wants only the best for his/her child, than paying a visit to one of these so called 'science based' pro vaccine sites. The depth of ad hom vilification and sneering contemptuousness toward 'safety first' vaccine proponents, is so deeply unpleasant and unbalanced, that the truly open mind will find nothing but revulsion in their content and a clear indication of 'methinks they do protest too much' - I wonder WHY, syndrome.
One can indeed only be grateful for their existence. They are fine examples of how NOT to approach a troubled and clearly unresolved scientific health care crisis.
Having said that I am now coming to believe that since the cards are stacking up daily in support of Andrew Wakefield and his colleagues, his loss of a court appeals suit may no longer be of any import. The raving reporter Brian Deer and the BMJ will soon be seen for what they are, supporters of a corrupt UK NHS and US CDC Health service. It's a global issue now - part of a whole rotten House of Cards soon to come a tumbling down.
Now THAT is what I call real God Given Justice.
Andy if you do happen to need some financial support, just tell us where to donate!
Posted by: patricia | September 21, 2014 at 06:21 AM