Every time I think it's over, something crops up from his past.

Good thing you're moving at full speed into the future.

Oh, Ginger. I hope you feel better soon.

Ugh, one of my friends here is preggers and is asking for advice on whether she should follow the doctor's recommendation and get a flu shot and a TDAP booster. Here was the first response:

I'm not a mom but I say no way!!! If people say not to dye your hair while pregnant or eat sushi why would you put a virus in your body while growing a baby? Doesn't seem right to me.

::headdesk::

Thankfully I'm not the only one talking sense, and I linked the relevent CDC pages as well as that article from the NYT about the study showing that babies usually get infected by adults in the household.

eta here's another prize-winning comment:

And the best antibodies ever are in breast milk, which I got the idea you were planning on breast feeding anyway. I don't think antibodies from a vaccine could even compare to the ones found in breast milk.

I don't think antibodies from a vaccine could even compare to the ones found in breast milk.

The antibodies that are put in breast milk by pixie dust, I presume.

smonster, the stupid... it burns.

So I still have a fever (illness started Saturday). As of 2 minutes ago, it's 100.9. I'm not pleased. And I have to be on a plane Wednesday afternoon.

smonster,

the only caveat I would say is that perhaps she should get the shots on different weeks? I was MISERABLE when I got flu, TDAP and pneumonia the same day. My weekend sucked and my arm hurt like fuck.

I don't know if it makes a difference to get them on different weeks though. I'd get flu soon. There is a nasty flu running around now.

And the best antibodies ever are in breast milk, which I got the idea you were planning on breast feeding anyway. I don't think antibodies from a vaccine could even compare to the ones found in breast milk.

Because if the mother gets flu and pertussis, that's totally okay!

Here's another!

Eat well, rest well, sleep well, be well and so will your baby. Enough meddling from the medical community! The more the pharmaceutical industry pumps into us the weaker our natural immune system seems to get.

To which I responded:

"Jessie, vaccines save lies. Period. Fact. Do you know anyone who's had polio? Do you know anyone who's had scarlet fever? Because I don't. We've forgotten how heart-breaking and deadly those diseases are, because no one gets them any more. Because vaccines.

"Pertussis is making a comeback because of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children fully. Fact.

"And those of you who've never gotten a shot but never gotten the flu, I'd like to gently suggest that herd immunity may play a factor in that. In other words, all the people who do get their flu shots help protect those who don't.

"Yes, I'm passionate about this issue. I find it disheartening that so much misinformation and speculation and personal "anecdata" (IOW, the plural of "anecdote" is not "data") outweighs decades of proven science. And it puts us all at risk."

Umm, if she is pregnant she isn't exactly nursing yet.

Ginger, I hope the ick passes quickly.

On odd medical stuff, I was doing a walk through at a customer site a couple days ago and we went into each of the 10 exam rooms to see where we were going to install equipment and so forth. The office manager hit the hand sanitizer every time we entered one of the rooms, sometimes on the way out too. It amused me because it was clearly such a routine she didn't even know she was doing it. Office was closed, no patients, etc. Just a reflex reaction. Kill dem germs.

I was MISERABLE when I got flu, TDAP and pneumonia the same day.

Seconding that. Never again. space out the vaccination schedule.