Should You get the Swine Flu Vaccination?

I have been a patient at McLeod Eastpointe Chiropractic for seven years now. Most of my family and some of my friends are regulars as well. When I first started there I had been diagnosed with endometriosis. This is not a fun disease. There is a lot of pain involved, and I really had no quality of life to speak of. I was miserable.

It wasn't long after I started there that my symptoms started to ease up. I started feeling better, and I wasn't so miserable. I could make plans, and I was even becoming a nicer person. Being in pain and spending so much time in bed didn't do much for my personality.

I've learned a lot over the years because of my involvement with McLeod Eastpointe Chiropractic. Spinal health is no longer a mystery to me. I understand it's importance in our overall health and immune system function. It has become so valuable to me that I don't mind the out of pocket expense each year. It is just part of our budget now. Trust me, it can be a sacrifice sometimes as we do not have health insurance. Fortunately, their rates are affordable enough for us to have all of our children attending regularly as well. I even worry about moving. Where would I get such good care? I cannot imagine life without my chiropractor.

Anyway, they have a monthly newsletter that you can subscribe to, and I receive it personally. I don't always read everything in it, but sometimes something catches my eye. As some of you likely know I am very leery of vaccinations. I especially find the flu vaccine an eyebrow raiser. Not to mention some of the things that have come up under our new administration. I'm just not a trusting soul.

If you have any reservations, or even if you don't, this article shared in their newsletter is a worthwhile read:

Swine Flu Vaccine Should Not Be Given to Children in Schools

The above is the headline from a July 22, 2009 release from the National Vaccine Information Center, (NVIC). Along with this article is a video by Barbra Loe Fisher, founder and president of the non-profit NVIC, an organization designed to provide information of vaccinations to the general public.

The video and accompanying article question the safety of the vaccination based upon very limited testing. Ms. Loe Fisher also notes that since a national public health emergency was declared by officials in the U.S. Departments of Health and Homeland Security, back in April, "..drug companies, health officials and anyone who gives experimental vaccines to Americans during a declared public health emergency, (are) protected from liability if people get hurt."

In the video, Ms. Loe Fisher calls for more proof, "The National Vaccine Information Center has been a vaccine safety watchdog since 1982. We are questioning the need to turn schools into medical clinics this fall where swine flu vaccines being rushed to market will be given to children first. We are calling on the Obama Administration and state Governors to provide solid evidence to parents that it is necessary to give children experimental swine flu vaccines in schools." The original NVIC article and video can be seen at the NVIC website.



In an additional article in the August 7, 2009 Examiner, author Bill Underwood asks the question with his headline, "Is Baxter International's swine flu vaccine a godsend, a scam, or something worse?". In his article, Underwood presents the case that the vaccine company may have actually created the problems for which they have created the vaccine. He makes his case by noting, "According to reports in the mainstream media, this strain of influenza contains viral code fragments from: Human influenza, Bird Flu from North America, Swine flu from Europe, and Swine flu from Asia. For this to have been a natural combination of viral fragments, it means an infected bird from North America would have had to infect pigs in Europe, then be re-infected by those some pigs with an unlikely cross-species mutation that allowed the bird to carry it again, then that bird would have had to fly to Asia and infected pigs there, and those Asian pigs then mutated the virus once again (while preserving the European swine and bird elements) to become human transmittable, and then a human would have had to catch that virus from the Asian pigs — in Mexico!"

Other articles also quote experts who question the panic and rush surrounding the swine flu issue. British epidemiologist, Dr. Tom Jefferson, was quoted in the August 2, 2009 Pittsburgh Conservative Examiner as questioning the continual over reaction to various flu scares, "There are some people who make predictions year after year, and they get worse and worse. None of them so far have come about, and these people are still there making these predictions. For example, what happened with the bird flu, which was supposed to kill us all? Nothing. But that doesn't stop these people from always making their predictions."


I am a big proponent of educating oneself on vaccinations and at least making an informed decision. I so wish I had been better educated when my children were younger. Here are a few resources for further investigation:

National Vaccine Information Center

Michigan Opposing Mandatory Vaccines

Vaccination Exemption Form

State of Michigan Immunization Waiver Form

World Association for Vaccine Information

It is my prayer that you will find this information beneficial and thought provoking. With something like this that has such potential to alter our life it is definitely beneficial and imperative to be educated. Knowledge truly is power.

A New Trail to Blaze

For those of you that have spent any time here over the past year my health struggles are no news flash. You know that I have had endometriosis that has been suppressed via chiropractic care. You know that I have a bum shoulder, an ongoing battle with my weight, struggles with fatigue and depression, a cancer scare, and a new confrontation with perimenopause. Any time spent here would have told you that I do not fancy traditional Western Medicine, rather I opt for the alternatives like chiropractic, massaget therapy, prayer, and homeopothy.

The current challenges being fatigue and perimenopause sent me on a journey of discovery that is slowly unfolding at my feet. With my husband's encouragement, silly guy doesn't like a tired and whacky wife everyday, I have sought out a remedy to my most demanding ailments. Thanks to a friend I was referred to a homeopath in my homestate, not my hometown...unfortunately. However, fortunately, she does phone consultations. A little over a week ago I spent two hours on the phone divulging my entire health history to the best of my ability along with my entire immediate family history. She got the full scoop and then some. We hung up, and I awaited her call to learn the recommended remedy.

The call came quicker than anticipated, and I had the recommendation. Sepia 1lm in alcohol suspension once per day until I either start feeling better or agitated. Of course, for me, it was agitation. Aren't I lucky? I really do dislike that feeling, and it was an immediate reminder of struggles past. Unfortunately, part of the curative process involves old issues resurfacing just to remind you of your struggles. Doesn't that sound fun? Don't fret. I was encouraged by her reassurance that any old issues that I may have to face will not be so intense that I will not be able to handle the.

Well, since I began experiencing agitation Friday into Saturday, I did not take the remedy on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. The new project is to determine when I need the remedy and administer it on an as needed basis. My relationship with this remedy will more than likely be a long one. Since it is a curitive process, it is not something that will remedy itself overnight. Why is it that we spend a lifetime destroying ourselves, and we expect to be rebalanced and cured to a like new state overnight? It really is silly when you think about it. Don't you think?

The process of chiropractic is the same concept. I find it entertaining when people say to me, "I don't want to go to the chiropractor, because you always have to keep going back." Well, duh! How on earth can you spend 30 or more years disrupting your body and training it to be out of alignment and expect that one or two adjustments are going to pop it back to normal? It makes absolutely no sense at all. Trying to rebalance one's body is exactly the same concept. Getting things back to a desirable state will likely take years, and I am cool with that. I look forward to the progress.

I am sure there will be plenty to learn along the way, and I will be sure to share. In the meantime I am going to figure out how I will know when to take my remedy and when to take a break. Provided this goes well for me, I plan to have the same thing done for my husband and my boys. What a blessing this could be for all of us. If any of you have any experience with this sort of thing I would love to learn of your journey as well.