The Eradication of Polio!

I was excited to read on the news yesterday morning that the WHO has a plan in place to fully eradicate polio by 2018 (you can find that news story here). You can also read information on polio eradication from the CDC from this link.

Polio used to afflict hundreds of thousands of people every year. People who caught it (usually children) could die or suffer permanent paralysis. Unlike most viruses, it struck in the summer months. When I was in Pennsylvania a few weeks ago, our tour guide talked a bit about growing up in the age of polio. His mom wouldn't let him swim in the rivers or lakes because they believed the virus spread from the water. It is amazing to me that a kid who couldn't swim for fear of polio would grow up to be an old man in a world where polio no longer exists at all.

If the plan succeeds, this will be the second disease we've completely wiped through modern medicine (smallpox was the first).

In the US, as in most parts of the world, we no longer use the live polio vaccine. The live vaccine was (is) very effective against fighting polio, but it can actually cause polio in one out of a million doses. When hundreds of thousands of children were getting sick, paralyzed, and dying from the disease, that very minuscule risk was worth it. As the number of polio cases declined, the vaccine was switched to an inactivated one. It is slightly less effective, but it can't cause polio. As part of the initiative to eradicate polio, the WHO is now switching all of the live, oral polio vaccines to the inactivated one (which we already use in the States).

The polio vaccine is incredible. We started vaccinating against polio in 1955. Wikipedia reads: "The annual number of polio cases [in the US] fell from 35,000 in 1953 to 5,600 by 1957. By 1961, only 161 cases were recorded in the United States." Last year, there were fewer than 300 cases in the whole world! We are so close to completely wiping out a devastating disease. I find that nothing short of awesome.

Healthcare Changes, Dirty Needles, and Me

Within the past month, I received two important letters in the mail.  

The first was a letter from my insurance company.  It stated that the health care law has some new requirements going into affect at the beginning of August.  They will now be covering all costs for birth control, sterilization, well women visits, tests for gestational diabetes, HIV testing, HPV testing, and more.  

Most of that doesn't effect me personally. We're done having kids, and my husband has already had his vasectomy  Still, it made me feel good to know that other people out there will be better off. I felt good reading the letter, knowing people would get the preventative care they want and need.

Then, last week, I got another letter in the mail. It's very personal, and it's very scary. It came from the Colorado Department of Public Health, and it informed me that I might have been exposed to foreign blood from reused needles back when I had my wisdom teeth removed in 2003 (news story here).  It recommends I get tested the viruses Hep B, Hep C, and HIV.  It also remarked that I am responsible for the cost of testing.

Oliver Gets a Fever

Oliver has his first real fever. I checked his temperature after feeling his warm forehead, and it read 101.5. We knew to look for this, as 1 out of 6 people who are vaccinated for MMR get a fever. This isn't unlike most vaccines he's had (some of which are 1 out of 4, or even 1 out of 3, resulting in fever), except that our information sheet says these side effects occur 7-12 days after the vaccine (instead of within a day or two, as is typical of most vaccines). It's weird the fever occurs so late, but, thanks to our handout, we knew to expect this.

I'm nervous because our sheet also says that 1 out of 3,000 doses can cause a seizure due to fever. After reading that, we've made sure to keep an eye on his temperature. We gave him a dose of (dye-free) baby Tylenol, and I dampened his hair. At the moment, he's napping, so I fear assured that he's OK for now. I'm just so nervous! I want to make sure we keep our baby comfortable and to do our best to keep his temperature down to prevent a seizure.

Vaccinations at 6 Months

I have been so unreliable for the last year. I mean it! First, I had pregnancy brain, and I couldn't remember anything. Now, I have so much going on and not enough sleep, that I still can't seem to remember most of what I need to.

I'd rescheduled Oliver's immunization appointment to Thursday, May 6 at 1:30pm (rescheduled because, as you may have read, I'd forgotten his appointment on Monday and missed it). I wrote it on the calendar in bright blue marker and circled it. Seriously, it's the only thing on the calendar for this month.

Anyway, at about 3:15pm on Thursday, I was changing Oliver's diaper and suddenly remembered the appointment I was supposed to have made two hours earlier. Crap! I had wet hair, and Oliver had oatmeal on his clothes, but I grabbed him and ran to the car.

What could I say? What could I tell them? What would they think of me? Hopefully, they wouldn't look at us and label me as unfit. I finally decided I'd play stupid. They'd offered me appointments at 1:30pm or 3:30pm, and I took the 1:30pm one. I decided that once they told me I was late for the appointment, I'd look puzzled and say, "Wasn't it at 3:30pm? Shoot! I can reschedule it if you need me to."

Instead, they didn't say one word about me being late (which only made me feel more guilty). They simply took us straight in and gave Oliver his shots.

The nurse who helped us, Jenny, was the same nurse Oliver saw for his 2 month old appointment. She's very sweet, and she's so good to my Ollie Bear. She even gave him a book for being so brave.

Oliver's had a few reactions this time--none of which are severe, thankfully! At about 6pm, he started showing signs of pain in his left leg. He didn't want us to hold him, and he'd cry if we accidently touched him in that leg. When I changed his diaper, I saw that it was red and warm. This reaction is listed on our sheet as occuring in 1 out of 4 babies. I knew it was normal, so I didn't panic, but I felt awful for him. We gave him some Tylenol, and he slept happily. By morning, it was better.

Today, his poop was pretty runny. I still don't know how to tell if it's diarrhea, but maybe it was. Anyway, there's that, and he's been sleeping like no other! He's had three naps today. The one he's currently taking is 2 hours long and counting. I've gone to check on him, and he's fine. Still, this is his longest nap ever.

I understand his little body's immune system is working hard, and so it makes sense that he's tired. I'm going to let him sleep and nurse him all he needs. Still, I'm concerned about tonight. Will he be up all night? Hmm.

Vaccinations

Yesterday, Ollie went in to the Jefferson County Health Department for his vaccinations. My mom went with me for emotional support, and, boy, did I need it! As soon as they gave Oliver his first shot, he started screaming, and I started sobbing.

He settled down pretty quickly and acted normal for the rest of the day. I took extra careful with his legs, and I was afraid to carry him and change his diaper. Still, we did just fine. At 2am, he woke up for his usual night time feeding and diaper change. I put him back to bed, but I couldn't sleep. I laid there, listening to him shift and squirm, for about two hours. Then, just after four, he cried.

I picked him up, and he fell asleep almost immediately in my arms. Poor guy apparently wasn't able to fall asleep earlier. I was just about to get up to put him back in his crib when he started to fuss again. I decided to burp him in case he was having gas pains. He burped the weirdest burp. It sounded kind of liquidy, so I figured he'd spit up, but there was nothing. Then his breathing sounded labored. At least, something sounded liquidy in him.

I went to the changing table to unswaddle him. As soon as I set him down, he projectile vomitted. I started freaking out and yelling to Andrew. Oliver proceeded to fall asleep on the changing table. He must have been so tired.

I remembered that one of the side effects one of his vaccines was vomitting. I also remembered that it was supposed to be mild, so I calmed down, too. I rewrapped Oliver in clean blankets and put him to bed.

He slept for a couple of hours, occassionally waking up with a cry, but he quickly fell back asleep. I laid in bed, listening, worrying, falling in and out of sleep. At six, he started crying for real, so we got up to start the day.

I think he's feeling OK. Right now, he's playing with and talking to the bunny on his infant seat.