Jennifer Webb

I’m the mother of two wonderful boys who are unfortunately prone to allergies and asthma - and they take breathing treatments year round to keep their lungs in check.  They really have no idea why they go through all of this but they know that it makes them breathe better. This fall has been pretty scary hearing and seeing all of the stories about the early start of the flu season as well as the H1N1 flu that my pediatrician called “very scary and highly contagious” last week when I took my little Z for his 2 year check-in appt. She highly recommended that both boys get both vaccines…so okay, I go out to the front desk and make appointments for them to get the vaccinations (Z got his regular flu shot that day, but they did not have any H1N1 at that time).  As we are leaving, Dr. F comes over to me and tells me that she “forgot” that children prone to asthma (as mine are) should not get the vaccine nasal mists…only shots. She said it causes problems with their lungs and it isn’t like they don’t have enough problems there.  So then I go back to the reception desk and tell them what I just learned and the response was “well, right now they are telling us to not make appointments for shots only because they don’t have any to give.” (mind you, Z just got a flu SHOT). So okay, I have my appointment and I keep it after they tell me to call the morning of the appointment and see if they have shots. I call this morning and am told they have only the mist vaccines. Ugh! So I make another appointment for Little A to go in next week…but they tell me that they are still waiting on their shipment of shots and I should call again that morning.  This is beyond frustration.  If they knew that asthma prone children NEEDED SHOTS and could not have the mist, shouldn’t that have been a priority to get those children in for shots????  Part of me really wants to call them and ask these questions. Will it get me anywhere? No. But sometimes I really wonder what are the priorities. There are plenty of parents out there who would prefer to give their children the nasal mist…and I would love to do that also.  So I’m not sure why this is so difficult. Let’s see what happens next week.