Gardasil: A parent’s worst nightmare
March 30, 2014 By Andrea Jimenez, Waipahu, Hawaii
Gardasil, from normal to nightmare after two injections.
This is Tyler, my youngest daughter and an amazing young woman of God. During one of her regular medical check-ups, the doctor recommended that she be given the HPV vaccine, Gardasil. I trusted that the doctor was giving me complete and accurate information – this is what I was taught to do – trust the doctor. Because of this trust, Tyler’s life has become a nightmare.
Tyler is now a competitive gymnast who cannot do gymnastics. She is a teenager who cannot go hang out with her friends, a student who cannot go to classes and a sister who cannot help her siblings with homework. She is a daughter who cannot sit and eat dinner with her family.
Tyler was given the first of a 3 shot series on April 15, 2012. Immediately after the injection she fainted and was out for about 45 seconds. Within days she began having severe daily headaches and insomnia ensued from there. Over the summer she was hospitalized several times to help with pain, nausea, vomiting, and lack of sleep. At this point, the doctors diagnosed her with migraines.
She missed the entire last quarter of her freshman year but was an excellent student who had maintained good enough grades to pass her classes. She had to quit gymnastics because of the pain.
Not realizing the cause of her symptoms, we took her to have the second shot on August 14, 2012. She then began having severe neck and back pain that on occasion radiated into her arms and legs (diagnosed as fibromyalgia for lack of any other explanation), insomnia, persistent nausea, dizziness, chronic fatigue and migraines in addition to the chronic daily headache.
Not knowing what caused this onset of ‘fibromyalgia’ we took her to the doctor frequently and hospitalized her when necessary. We were completely baffled by the rapid decline in her health.
She missed her entire sophomore year of school but had a tutor come into our home – she barely passed most of her courses and ended up having to drop some classes due to inability to keep up.
It was purely by the grace of God that we determined she had an adverse reaction to the vaccine which caused so many health issues.
She has now been officially medically diagnosed with fibromyalgia, chronic daily headache with frequent migraine & dysmenorrhea. These are all conditions she never had to deal with prior to the HPV vaccine. The doctors refuse to admit any possible connection.
We have tried everything presented to us, with little or no improvement. The doctors continue to try to treat the diagnosis of fibromyalgia but the symptoms are not responding to the treatments. They continue to give her pills that simply cause more health issues. It seems crazy to continue with the pills but we do.
The medical community says she will have to live with the pain for the rest of her life. They recommend that we seek alternative treatments to help ease the discomfort – which is very costly and not covered by insurance.
We have even attended a pain clinic in Cleveland to teach her how to “live with the pain.” A lifetime of pain is not what any parent envisions for their child. This is not what our faith says her destiny should be!
Our entire family’s life has been completely turned upside down since Tyler’s Gardasil injections. In addition to her trials, I lost my job during one of her many hospitalizations. I continue to be unemployed due to her frequent flare ups and doctor’s appointments. My husband works very hard to provide for us, but it’s not the same as it was when we had two incomes!
Tyler wants to get her driver’s license, get her GED, hang out with her friends, go to college…she just wants to be normal again! Our daily prayer is that she will soon have her life back and we will have our daughter back!
If you are a parent, you understand how hard it is to see your child suffer. It has been 2 years since I last saw my baby be herself. I would do whatever it takes to help my child feel better, but at this point, we are out of options! SaneVax.org
Andrea, I am so sorry Tyler and your family have had to endure such a tremendous trial. Thankfully, Tyler has such a strong team behind her. Thank you for your courage in sharing your story. I have no doubt that at least one child, and family will not be ravaged by the effects of this injection, because You shared this story.
I am so grateful you have found the team at SaneVax Inc. They will help guide you, and I have some superb doctors as well through my Featured Doctors menu option. You can get an idea of their personal style, and find a methodology you prefer. You need someone with expertise in this area as you well know. Healing can come with the right physician. I would love to hear from you in the future with how Tyler’s progress is coming along. You all will be in our prayers too.
As I was driving today, I was thinking of how the arts are a wonderful supplement to healing. I imagine you have wonderful music, smells, and scenery where you live. I wanted to share a piece of music that has lifted my soul, and the artist truly sings from the heart. I have her clip below. I hope you, and your family enjoy.
Later today, I was kicking back, and felt like reading some scripture. As I read over a couple of verses, I couldn’t help but think of our day, and how merciful God is, and if he can be patient then I can too. Sometimes, I get upset with injustices, and the poor treatment so many of us have encountered, and I just remembered that we are not alone. That none of us are perfect, but as we learn, we can reach out to others. Here are the verses I read:
3 Behold, it is expedient that much should be done among this people, because of the hardness of their hearts, and the deafness of their ears, and the blindness of their minds, and the astiffness of their necks; nevertheless, God is exceedingly merciful unto them, and has not as yet bswept them off from the face of the land.
4 And there are many among us who have many arevelations, for they are not all bstiffnecked. And as many as are not stiffnecked and have faith, have ccommunion with the Holy Spirit, which maketh manifest unto the children of men, according to their faith. Jarom 1: 3-4
With all the turmoil in the world around us, and more directly, with injured children being ignored by those that can help. These verses brought me a lot of peace. I do believe miracles can happen.
jen 🙂
