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AGE OF AUTISM: MMR: It’s ALL or NOTHING! Say goodbye to choice.

5 January 2009 By Leave a Comment

AGE OF AUTISM: MMR: It’s ALL or NOTHING! Say goodbye to choice..

Your choice to work with your pediatrician on safer vaccine schedule has just received a very large blow.  Merck and Co. has decided to take away your option of separating the MMR, instead of getting the whole shebang at once.  Forget those who may be predisposed to not handling 3 viruses at once; you know the weak, the infant who may need a bit more time.  What if they are unable to take one of the viruses due to allergy of an ingredient, but have decided to go ahead with one or both of the others?  Well too bad, allergy or not you have lost your right to choose.  It’s now, all or nothing.

Merck has removed the option to split the MMR into it’s three components. Now you get all three at once, or none at all.

I’ve bitched and moaned about vaccines before. I don’t feel like doing it now. I just wonder, why remove a parents choice to get 2 out of 3 or 1 out of 3 in the belief they will at least do that? I mean, looking at it from a vaccinating parent point of view? I am not a vaccinating parent. I have an autistic child. I stand behind my decision with feet firmly planted in position.

What if I was the parent of a child with life threatening allergies? What if my child was alleric to product B but not A and C? I am fucked out of luck because I wont risk their life delivering A, B and C. Aren’t A and C better than nothing?

I just don’t understand. I am the last person to push vaccines, but I am the first to acknowledge the good they have done for us as a people in the past, why take away choices in the future?

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CMS Goodness

16 September 2008 By Leave a Comment

Had a 9AM appointment at Broward General about Malachai. The RN we spoke with who did our intake (that apparently should have been done months ago) was fantastic, very friendly.

Other than general medical history type stuff, he suggested we see a nutritionist (after we explained M is a very picky eater, rarely sits to eat with the family but always seems to be eating something and is not malnourished) so I’ve already phoned our pediatrician for a referral and will get a call back when that is ready. The nutritionist associated with CMS is only there on Wednesdays, so we’ll be down in Ft. Lauderdale at least once more, on a Wednesday, probably early again. The RN said it may be worth looking at altering his diet to help alter some of his behaviours if they show to be connected. Because he likes so much dairy, there is a good chance they are connected, so we’ll see what happens.

That’s about it for now. I have real work to day. You know, as opposed to daily stuff for the people and house. *laughs*

Filed Under: Medical, Mishpucha Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So far today…

2 June 2008 By 2 Comments

I woke up, did some quick work, got dressed. Michael phoned a new vets office about Sasha, she has an appointment this afternoon. One of his clients said this office treats demodectic mange with a series of injections (vs the oral med, which we are using but isn’t working), so we’re gonna see if we can’t get her majesty fixed up.

I phoned, and missed the number to press, so then Michael phoned our pediatrician so we could take Dorian in. He has plantar worts on his foot. We successfully treated a single one last year with apple cider vinegar, but this was a little daunting. So the doc froze three of them, and the other three we’ll plaster with some OTC stuff (three were medium sized, the other three he said should clear up quickly with the OTC stuff). Dorian was fantastic for it. We got some lunch, threw out his nasty shoes, picked up some sandals, hit target for new shoes and the OTC stuff and some misc. other stuff, and dropped him off at school.

While at the doctors office I phoned, and rephoned, and rephoned again Florida Kid Care. I finally got through to someone and not hung up on. After explaining what was going on, she tried to tell me the application is only good for 120 days and I have to send in another and a bunch of other shit. I did raise my voice, and she fucking scoffed at me. I handed the phone to Michael because the dumb bitch on the other end was *not* listening to what I had to say or not understanding or something. Out of my beloved mouth came “but 120 days is four months, the date you just gave me was two months ago.” That seemed to be the turning point of this conversation, along with explaining that we faxed the Medicaid denial letters two – three weeks ago becase FKC said it would speed things along. Apparently One of my children was approved two weeks ago, and the other is active as of today. Now I am waiting on the insurance cards. Why the fuck do they waste so much postage and money sending things that don’t need to be sent (you know, like papers saying we have to apply again and another application)? It is so wasteful. Oh, and why I couldn’t get online? The system was down. No shit! That does not explain why I kept getting hung up on by the automated phone system. Bah. So I am waiting on the US mail system now I guess. I am stupidly excited to be able to take my kids to the dentist.

That’s about it. We got home and I was gonna work on a melon that has been ready to go for at least a week now, but the tube I was using was a one piece, so my new grip can’t be put on it. Michael told me I sounded disgusted and he was sorry we didn’t look at it before ordering the grip. The problem wasn’t that. The problem was I had an hour that he could sit me with, we could do this, and something else came up. It’s just frustrating, and I feel like it’s never gonna happen. None of my stuff sold either, so my DSLR probably isn’t gonna happen either. I am not getting it till I get rid of this other stuff, and oh well if it doesn’t happen. I don’t want to deal with ebay. Know anyone who wants a camera, vsmile, serger or embroidery machine? Send em my way!

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Wow, my town is in the top 100

24 May 2008 By Leave a Comment

Let me preface this with, a large portion of my brain wants me to be June Cleaver and move my family into her home. I am convinced if I try a little harder, I can have that perfect household. Of course, the rest of my brain knows it can’t happen, but… I want it.

So it was nice to see, when I scanned for anyplace in Florida, that my little town (ok, not so small, 135K people or so) is on this list. Who knew?

http://men.msn.com/articlebl.aspx?cp-documentid=7560549&GT1=32001

The 100 Best Places to Raise a Family
Find out which cities in America are the best—and the worst—for you and your brood.
Research by Sara Vigneri; Illustration: Sean McCabe

Television executives seized the idea long ago: American families value where they plant their roots. The Cosbys had Brooklyn. The Cunninghams, Milwaukee. The Simpsons, Springfield.

But fathers face reality when they’re not in prime time. They want to raise their children somewhere safe, where they can attend good schools with favorable student-teacher ratios, above-average test scores, and respectable budgets. Plenty of museums, parks, and pediatricians also contribute to a good quality of life, whereas multihour commutes, expensive houses, and divorcing friends and neighbors do not.

Best Life editors used these categories and data from the U.S. Census Bureau, National Center for Education Statistics, FBI, American Association of Museums, National Center for Health Statistics, and American Bar Association to evaluate 257 cities. Here are the best—and worst—places to raise a family.

1 Honolulu, Hawaii (Schools spend almost $9,000 per pupil, unemployment ranks less than half the national average, and you can play on the island of O’ahu’s 125 beaches.)
2 Virginia Beach, Virginia
3 Billings, Montana
4 Columbus, Georgia
5 San Diego, California
6 Des Moines, Iowa
7 Minneapolis, Minnesota
8 Madison, Wisconsin (Madison has a high number of pediatricians per capita.)
9 Colorado Springs, Colorado
10 Santa Rosa, California
11 Wichita, Kansas
12 Los Angeles, California
13 Corona, California
14 Austin, Texas
15 Stamford, Connecticut
16 Omaha, Nebraska
17 Naperville, Illinois
18 Fort Wayne, Indiana
19 Springfield, Illinois
20 Boise, Idaho
21 Manchester, New Hampshire
22 South Bay Area, California
23 New York, New York
24 Fontana, California
25 Louisville, Kentucky
26 Plano, Texas
27 Oceanside, California
28 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
29 Sacramento, California
30 Ann Arbor, Michigan
31 Reno, Nevada
32 Las Vegas, Nevada
33 Lincoln, Nebraska
34 San Bernardino, California
35 Grand Rapids, Michigan
36 Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina (Median value of a home: $202,733)
37 Kansas City, Kansas
38 Fremont, California
39 Buffalo, New York
40 Berkeley, California
41 Cambridge, Massachusetts
42 Kansas City, Missouri
43 Waterbury, Connecticut
44 Syracuse, New York
45 Phoenix, Arizona
46 Albuquerque, New Mexico
47 Akron, Ohio
48 Boston, Massachusetts
49 Escondido, California
50 Fairfield, California
51 Antioch, California
52 Elgin, Illinois
53 Rochester, New York
54 Seattle, Washington (Residents spend $266 per person annually to maintain the city’s parks.)
55 Tucson, Arizona
56 Santa Clarita, California
57 Denver, Colorado
58 Indianapolis, Indiana
59 Glendale, Arizona
60 Chicago, Illinois
61 Atlanta, Georgia
62 San Antonio, Texas
63 Mobile, Alabama
64 Concord, California
65 Denton, Texas
66 Coral Springs, Florida
67 San Francisco, California
68 Cedar Rapids, Iowa
69 El Paso, Texas (Classrooms average fewer than 16 students for every teacher.)
70 San Buenaventura, California
71 Worcester, Massachusetts
72 Baltimore, Maryland
73 Richmond, California
74 Lowell, Massachusetts
75 Portland, Oregon
76 Jacksonville, Florida
77 Fort Collins, Colorado
78 Orlando, Florida
79 Modesto, California
80 Montgomery, Alabama
81 Tampa, Florida
82 Salinas, California
83 Newport News, Virginia
84 Oakland, California
85 Augusta, Georgia
86 Fort Worth, Texas
87 Washington, D.C.
88 Tulsa, Oklahoma (Residents spend just 17 minutes commuting to work.)
89 Bellevue, Washington
90 Cincinnati, Ohio
91 McKinney, Texas
92 St. Louis, Missouri
93 Hayward, California
94 Midland, Texas
95 Sterling Heights, Michigan
96 Greensboro, North Carolina
97 Arlington, Texas
98 Alexandria, Virginia
99 Winston-Salem, North Carolina
100 Lexington, Kentucky

The 10 Worst Places to Raise a Family (from best to worst)

Springfield, Missouri
Dayton, Ohio
Corpus Christi, Texas
Flint, Michigan (Country’s highest violent-crime rate)
Columbia, South Carolina
Waco, Texas
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Beaumont, Texas (Long-standing air-quality challenges)
Clarksville, Tennessee (Low educational spending: $6,729 per student)

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Busy Little Bee

7 April 2008 By Leave a Comment

Today we went to two food stores. I saved almost 50$ at Albertsons, whoohoo! I probably didn’t save shit at Sams, but I never do.

We dropped Sasha off to be groomed. We can see her face! Michael called around to find the cheapest place for Scarlett to get her shots and then be groomed. The place we go wouldn’t take her without proof of rabies vaccine, which we didn’t have. Poor puppy. She goes in on Thursday for a check up, shots and grooming. We also looked into training, but it’s quite expensive. She went on the pad in the bathroom last night, and I didn’t find any errant shit anywhere else, so maybe it’s a good sign. Then we just need to work on her excessive barking. All the time. At everything.

Michael phoned the camp we’re sending the boys to in order to find out when the latest we can register is (May) and if they could go without vaccines. Yes, we just need a copy of the exemption (which is currently at the school). I am still undecided on sending Shivie.

I made an appointment with the MW that was attending when I had Dorian. Sheila is no longer there, she is only at the hospital. I am very, very upset over that. I don’t especially like the other MW, but I don’t dislike her either. I am taking my sister for her first check. It dawned on me last night she has never been to anyone other than the pediatrician and I thought it better she know what to expect and have it done by a person I know and trust than stumble around trying to find a doc in a few years not know what is normal for a check. I told her she could be mortified I am taking her now, but in five years time she’ll be glad it was me and not dad and that I took her so she knows what to expect. She said that’s fine, but I’m 16 now and I can be embarrassed. Fine with me.

Michael just took Dorian out for a haircut, because we forgot to go yesterday. Yesterday we went to see my gram and zaide. They look well :-)   As we left zaide gave me a huge hug and told me I am doing a good job. Yay, go me. It was well timed although somewhat random.

I think that’s all the current news. We’re having mini turkey burgers, twice baked potatoes and fries tonight (I want the potatoes, Michael wants the fries b/c I keep forgetting to make them on his off days). I’ve got the potatoes in now since they take the longest. I am thinking about applying to one of those online schools for a degree, but we are in debt already, I can’t see racking up more for a degree I’ll probably not use (I was thinking early childhood education, which is birth to eight years). Tattooing fell by the way-way-way side. I had a somewhat steady stream of work, but it’s slowed to a stop right now. Not a big deal, it gives me time to putter around. I’m knitting the marsupial bag out of one of the Stitch n’ Bitch books. I’m about five inches into it, so a couple more days of working on it at night and then felting it. I think I might line it too… I guess it depend on how it felts.

So that’s it!

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