courtesy Jason Morrison
Both of these stories scare me to no end. But not for the reasons you may think. Let me explain before you leave, thinking I’m a parenting freak. Both of my kids were immunized and do receive regular medical care. I have taken them to the ER as needed. But I do question their doctors before I agree to thing. Do they need that antibiotic? Can we delay this shot? Are steroids for asthma a good thing? And most of the time, we have discussed it and I agree to the needed treatment.
However, I have gone against my doctor’s advice. When my daughter was four, we discovered she had fluid in her ears that would not drain out. It caused her some hearing loss. We consulted with an ENT. The doctor’s advice was we take out the tonsils and adenoids, which I was not opposed to. But she wanted to put in ear tubes at the same time. I said no. I know how much fun ear tubes can be, my brother in law had them until he was 20. I did not want to do it and asked it we could wait until the day before the surgery to make a final decision. She was not happy, but hesitantly agreed.
The day before the surgery, there was no fluid in my daughter’s ears, so she decided to hold off until later if needed. I was relieved. But scared until that day. I had a fear that she would go against my wishes and put the tubes in anyway. Then I would be stuck with their care and maintenance, not the doctor.
It’s scary to question your doctor. But at the end of the day, I have to live with the decisions I make, why aren’t these moms allowed to? They want to treat their child with prayer? I see it no differently that antibiotics and Tylenol. I fear the day that parents will be arrested and forced to get medical treatment for a child because a court decides that is what’s best for the child. What if you are strongly against vaccines and agree to live with that choice? Does a court have the right to force your child to get the shots, if you understand what could happen? Do I want to feel threatened with legal action for doing what I think is in the best interest of my child?
I watch these cases with great interest. I never want a court to determine how I should take care of my child. And no one else should have to go throught it. These two families, and many others, have been through enought without the courts getting into it.
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My husband and I were talking about this a few days ago. i think it is pretty scary too. I would hope that as a parent, I would be able to call the shots on what I think is best for my children. I hate knowing that the courts can step right in and take over.
When I was a teen, I crashed on my dirtbike and burned my legs really bad. I had 3rd degree burns on my thigh and calf of one leg and calf on the other leg. The doctors were very adamant on me needing skin graph. My neighbor, an elder lady advised my parents to use a Volcanic Oil on my burns. They healed beautifully and today, you can barely even notice the scar. I am so glad my parents decided to use alternative medicine. The reason they tried it was because 12 years earlier, she is the one who recommended a medicine from Mexico that “cured” my brother’s asthma. He was always getting attacks and it virtually went away.
You never know what types of alternative medicines there are. We live in a big, big world and sometimes our US doctors are not always right, but of course, lots of times they are. As parents, we should be able to make the final judgment call.
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