Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Vaccines…there I said it…let’s get it out of the way.

Hello? I hear clicking. Don't leave just yet...I promise I am not implying a remake of “The black plague 201 0, The Squeakauel” So, are you still with me? I write the following 547 words to really say one, be informed…(ok two.)
As I said in my first blog, Sophie was A+. We did everything we did with our first baby. Second child...even easier. So here’s the Reader’s Digest version of the beginning of the end.

Cut to Wizard of Oz cyclone: Sophie had a bazillion ear infections…I hated the idea of continually giving her antibiotics…there was even talk of adding the alien tube trauma. During this illness frenzy, it was time for her usual check up, including vaccinations, MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) Sophie’d been sick...was it ok to give her the vaccines? Should we reschedule? All those shots…she’s so little, can her body handle them? I called, I pondered, I gave her Tylenol and off we went. Bam! Bam! Bam! A few tears, a band aid…done! Vaccination side effects were handed to me on a bright green sheet of paper. Off we went! (Note to self: did I miss the part about the child slipping away into darkness? Maybe it was in-between hives and slight fever)

But I digress. Glassy-eyed Sophie spends the next days with a fever and a disposition much like Barney on LSD…. Hmmm, this is odd. Of course we called in, like the green sheet of paper told us to…“slight reaction”...Yes, ok I’ll go with that. So life marched forward. She seemed to recover..maybe...sort of.

It must be difficult to imagine, how you could miss the disappearance of a child. But...it happened kind of gradually (and who wants to notice anyway???)
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Here’s how it went:

Me: (to anyone who would listen) “She’s quiet…as in...too quiet…don’t you think? It’s like Invasion of the Body Snatchers…”

Me: (to anyone who wouldn’t listen) “Am I crazy? She had the abc’s down…her name, nursery rhymes…she’s too happy playing with NOTHING”

Me: (to myself, when no one would listen) Something’s’ terribly wrong…I look deep into those huge brown eyes…where is she? She’s slipping away…

Most of the world to Me: “Oh, she’s such a good baby” “She has her big sister to talk for her”. “As children gain new skills they sometimes seem to lose the old ones” “Einstein didn’t talk until he was 3.”

People stared, our lives crumbled. We couldn’t go out. It was hard to stay in. Her behaviors were getting worse. The whole world seemed to become a black and white movie with a never-ending melancholy soundtrack. The same movie just played and played and played.

The trigger had been pulled. By whom? You’ll find no blame here. What you’ll find here is strength in knowledge. After years of researching, reading and being pointed again and again to the same answerers. Something triggered Sophie’s autism. Was it a coincidence that we lost her after her vaccines? Is it a coincidence that thousands of families tell the exact same story? Thousands?

As I write, Sophie continues, taking her first footsteps into biomedical intervention. Shots...creams...drops...change of diet...hire tutors...interview speech teachers, therapists…run tests…track results…Sleep…don’t sleep…Wake up…start over….....Pray.