I’m going to focus on the positive tonight. There was plenty of things that didn’t go right, but the ones that did, matter more in this very moment.

I mentioned earlier that Emmett had an appointment with his pediatrician today. It was a combination med check; well check and physical. We needed to touch base in regards to his ADHD and Depression medications before his care transfers to the behavioral health clinic at the main Akron Children’s Hospital campus. He also needed his 11-year check-up and physical. Part of that included discussing vaccines.

Emmett is the only one of our three kids who’s technically behind on his vaccines. Emmett has a rare fever disorder and has had it since he was about a year old. His symptoms have evolved over the years, and since he had surgery as part of his treatment.

He essentially would run fevers of 105°F for roughly ten to fourteen days. The fever would subside for roughly ten days before starting all over again. This went on for most of his early years and still goes on today, but his symptoms are a little different now.

Anyway, his pediatrician recommended postponing his MMR because, in the exceptionally rare instance that he would have a bad reaction, we wouldn’t be able to tell what was what. The water was too muddy all the time. The other factor was that you don’t give kids a vaccine when they’re sick or with fever. More often than not, Emmett was running a high fever, and there was no way to know if it was part of the fever disorder or if he was actually sick. He was miserable during these flares, but most of the time wasn’t actually sick.

The point is, his MMR was postponed until 2015 when he was finally able to receive his first dose. We don’t mess around with vaccines in my family. We believe is science and medicine and follow the advice of the experts we entrust our children’s health with. It was best to wait, so we waited.