MEASLES
I thought I would share my experiences with the readers on the consequences of not being vaccinated for measles as they are still a threat to your children.
I was four years old when I got measles and within four days, they had gone into my right ear canal and ruptured my eardrum. I was rushed to the hospital where I spent one month recovering from the side effects of having measles. This was 1950 and there was no vaccine for measles at the time. When I was well enough, my Mom and Dad took me to Vancouver to the Children’s Hospital where they did tests. They discovered a great deal of scar tissue in the middle and inner ear. I was to spend every year being examined at Children’s Hospital until I was 18 years old.
I was permanently deaf (90% hearing loss) in my right ear. The consequences for me having the measles were that I could not go swimming and if I did, could not put my head under water; my parents had to be very careful washing my hair; I had numerous (too many to count) ear infections that sent me back to the hospital for extended stays. I had to have cotton batten in my ear and wear a hat even in spring to ward off any infection. I suffered from vertigo and also had a problem with a lack of balance.
When I was 20 yrs old, I had my first eardrum transplant taken from live tissue inside my ear canal. My surgery was performed by Dr. Lockhart at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. For what was to be a two day visit, I was there 21 days unable to walk from the dizziness and I lost 21 pounds because I could not sit up to eat. Finally I was sent home and it wasn’t until we got to the Allison Pass summit that my eardrum popped and I could hear again. My hearing lasted for a few years but then I gradually started to lose more and more. Ten years later, in Kelowna, B.C., my eardrum tore and I had a second surgery of manmade material. I went through the same thing of having vertigo for a few weeks until it finally passed. All my life I have suffered from ear infections and dizziness and obvious loss of hearing. Today, I am totally deaf in my right ear and suffer nausea with the vertigo and suffer from being off balance. I feel like I am on a moving ship when I am off balanced especially during rainy or wet weather.
In 1952, my mother contracted German measles when she was pregnant with her third child. She was told that there might be a chance that the baby would be born stillborn. When the baby was born August 16, 1952 it was apparent that something was wrong and arrangements were made for her and a nurse to be flown to Children’s Hospital and so on the 13th day of her life she was in an airplane equipped with an incubator. Over Chilliwack, B.C. she suddenly died. The plane landed at Chilliwack; she was seen by a Doctor who came on board the plane and then her body was flown back to Oliver. An autopsy was performed and it was determined that she died from a deformed heart valve caused by the measles turning inward.
To vaccinate or not to vaccinate….it is your choice but I hope my story helps you make an informed decision.