Speechless

I had a customer come in today for the H1N1 vaccine. Yes I have it in stock and no you can't have it. Unless you are in a priority group.

She was 18 weeks pregnant. Pregnant women are at high risk for complications so are in the priority group for receiving this vaccine. She said she had been going back and forth trying to decide if she should get the vaccine at all but finally decided that having a baby with autism was better than having a miscarriage. WHAT? Okay. Now I was beginning to understand. She was one of those...

Those? The ones who believe that vaccines are the root of all evil. That vaccines cause autism... Even though you can read on the CDC website and the FDA websites that several studies have been conducted and do not show an association between vaccines and autism. The FDA protects people. Keeps them safe from potentially harmful substances. They are not for promoting drugs--but for safety and health. I have a hard time believing that if studies were truly showing that vaccines may be responsible for autism that something wouldn't be done.

I don't want to downplay the importance of autism awareness and how serious autism can be. So, instead of arguing with this patient, I let her express her opinion and kind of kept my mouth shut.

So, as I was starting to give her the shot, she tells me she is afraid of needles. Which is why she had two kids without an epidural. I said, "Good for you! "

She said, "Yes, it was good. Epidurals just slow everything down. It was great!"

I smiled and said that I had had 2 c-sections. She said, "Oh, I'm sorry."

Sorry? Seriously? That was kind of offensive. Just because my labors didn't fall into her "Labor Plan" doesn't mean that they were any less miraculous or wonderful. I said that it didn't matter as long as my kids were healthy. I think she agreed with me. Maybe not...

I was kind of speechless after that.