Vaccines for Children

I believe I will loose what little mind I have left if I hear of one more parent not vaccinating their child.

Lemme see if I can help you out:

My son has crappy lungs (insert the nods from his medical team from AZ that knows this all too well).  He is susceptible to all kinds of extra crap because of this, the regular cold for him is not regular, it could very well end up being a hospital stay.

Two weeks ago in the middle of the night, my little boy was put on a helicopter and flown to a bigger hospital because he had picked up RSV (a nasty HORRIBLE virus) - but, he didn't have to get it.  The insurance company won't pay for it anymore, they say according to their charts, graphs etc that he should have grown out of being in the danger category for this.  They didn't want to pay for the shot anymore.

Hmmmm so let me see:

One shot:  $2500 (according to the bill I used to get from the drug company)

VERSUS (the cost of the following)

ER visit
Admittance to the floor of the local hospital
all medications given
all blood work drawn
helicopter ambulance ride to a bigger hospital in the middle of the night (four man team, fuel, etc - I am sure John and Jennifer would be able to give a good estimate of how much that little trip cost)
oxygen in route
admittance to the PICU
medicines administered
blood tests and swab tests
extra breathing medicines
breathing machines
8 days in the PICU
all of the little extras, boxes of gloves, masks, gowns, etc

My best guess on the estimated cost of this little trip:  $100,000 (and that is conservative)

now... this was RSV, a nasty horrible bug all by itself - the potential for this virus to kill a child like my Wyatt with all of his problems - pretty damn high

now, what if this had been something that I had him vaccinated for, what if I had opted to NOT have him vaccinated for say polio... or better yet... small pox... or German measles... something that 'we' have had vaccines for 50 years (give or take)

What if the difference between my currently being sleepless because he is clinging to me after 10 days of being super duper sick and me sitting in a funeral home directors office making arrangements for his wake and burial was ONE OF THESE VACCINES???? I have read the literature, the studies, the reports - but here is my stance, I would rather deal with the potential after effect of the shot then have to bury my son because some bug we killed 50 years ago took him from me.

In the same breath, if you don't want to vaccinate your kids - fine, then keep them home, keep them with you, and keep them away from my son, my nephew and other children that I care about - because heaven help you if your unvaccinated child gets one of them sick or takes one of them away from me (and their family)