Hi Mommy,
Have you seem this? There's a vaccine now to prevent one of the most common STDs that can give people cancer. The experts suggest people my age and Dani's age get it, because they want girls to get the vaccine before they become sexually active. It's been out for a year I think.
I haven't gotten it yet and neither has Dani. Aunt Elaine never cares about these things or tells me what I should do. If I tell her I can't decide about something she says, "Then you'll just have to think about it." And she makes me make all the decisions for Dani and Alex too, and that scares me. I don't know what's good for them - I barely know what's good for me!
When I went to the doctor she asked if I wanted the vaccine after she made sure it would be covered by insurance. I told her no and she said that's fine but I couldn't tell if she thought I was doing the wrong thing. I looked it up online and so many girls who are older than me are saying they want the vaccine.
It's only been out for a little while, and they don't know how long it lasts. Some of the articles I read about it said stuff about morals, like if you get the vaccine then girls will think it's a green light to have sex. But that seems as stupid as when they used to say if you put condoms in schools kids would have sex, so I'm not counting that.
For right now I'm not getting it and I told Dani to say she doesn't want it either, but I really wish you were here and could tell me if we're making the right decision on this. I think if it had been out for more time and they had more information about it I might consider it. Just seems so new. Too new.
Please send me a sign that I'm doing the right thing, and not by having a bird crap on my head or anything gross, okay? Have me find a penny or make my locker easy to open or something good.
Thanks,
Sam
3 comments:
Sam-
I agree that the vaccine is very new, and that waiting is not a bad idea.
I do hope that, when the time is right, you decide to have the vaccine, along with taking all the other precautions you need. The biggest and most important thing you can do is talk to your parents about it.
I love that you are so smart and aware of what is out there and important for you to know. Keep learning and keep growing, and most importantly, be safe. You are a valuable part of your family, and clearly a valuable resource to your family.
Thanks for stopping by my blog! I'll be stopping by yours now too!
Sam,
I don't know if you got a sign from your mother, but I just wanted to let you know why I made the decision I did for my daughter.
HPV is a very very common virus. A huge number of people have it, and the odds of you getting it at some point in your life are very high, even if you always practice safe sex.
The human trials of this vaccine have been going on since 2002, and there have been no major problems associated with the vaccine. They will continue to follow that trial group, so you will always have some advance notice if they discover that it has a limited lifespan and needs a booster of some sort.
If your insurance covers the cost, I believe you should reconsider. It takes 6 months from the first shot to the 3rd, and generally you don't have that much time to plan if you're going to become sexually active. Cervical cancer can destroy your life, this seems like such a small risk in comparison.
This post is over three years old, but I thought I'd comment anyway.
I think you are very smart to be asking the questions that you did, when you did. I certainly was quite gullible about vaccines :)
I am linking you to an article (you might have already read it) that was forward to me by a pediatrician, since I had questions about Indian vaccination programmes.
An excerpt on the HPV I am pasting below-
"For starters, the HPV vaccine Gardasil, which is being vigorously pushed on unsuspecting young girls and women to theoretically guard against cervical cancer still has never been proven to actually prevent cancer. On the contrary, evidence suggests that under certain circumstances the vaccine increases your risk of precancerous lesions by nearly 45 percent, and an ever increasing number of girls are being seriously injured by this unnecessary vaccine.
As of December 13, 2010, 20,915 adverse reactions had been reported in the United States alone, including 89 deaths, 297 miscarriages or stillbirths, and 370 reports of abnormal pap smears post vaccination.
All of this from a vaccine that has only been on the market for four years!
Making matters worse, as of 2009 the US FDA approved Gardasil for use on young boys as well, and the first male death has also been reported. In September of last year, a young boy died just eight days after being vaccinated with Gardasil.
So what's going on here?
Is it possible that vaccines sold by drugmakers like Merck are causing lethal disease? Judging by history, the answer may be yes."
The HPV vaccine experiment in India led to deaths, ofcourse what made it worse is that the trial was carried out on unsuspecting girls who did not know they were trial subjects.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/18/leading-vaccine-doctor-states-cancer-linked-to-polio-vaccine.aspx
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