October 23 2011 – Before telling my story I just wanted to say thank you for your website. My story is not as bad as many that are posted there, but I was looking for vaccine reactions and I’ve not come across anything similar to my children’s reactions.
In May 2006 we went to the doctor to get my daughter’s 4-6 yr old booster shot done. She was fine for the next couple of weeks although she complained her arm was sore from the needle. The soreness persisted, then on June 8th, after a day of fun at the amusement park and later trying to settle her down at bedtime, she started to cry and said she couldn’t sleep. We thought she was trying to delay bedtime, but after 15 minutes of crying, her father decided to check her arm which was red and sore with a lump the size of a toonie just below her shoulder.
The next day I took her to a nearby walk-in clinic, where the first doctor thought it was odd and wanted to rule out a blood disorder so he sent us for blood work. The next morning when we checked her arm, the lump was racquet ball size. Back we went to the walk-in clinic where the second doctor said he wasn’t sure what it was and ordered an ultrasound.
I was getting worried as the swelling had increased and it looked as if she had grown another shoulder. The next day we went for the ultrasound and waited 2 weeks while the lump remained the same size. Where the needle had gone in, there was a black dot surrounded by a small area of yellow skin that was starting to peel.
Our family doctor (3rd doc to look at my daughter) told me he highly doubted it was from the vaccine and if it did not resolved in 3 weeks to bring her back. I did not agree with him so we then went back to the walk-in clinic on the way home. The 4th doctor looked at her and agreed it should be looked at but couldn’t help us because we had already seen another doctor that day and he wouldn’t be able to bill OHIP (health insurance) for the visit.
I went home angry and frustrated. I even called public health who had no idea what could be wrong with her arm. The next day I receive a phone call saying that her ultrasound was normal.
Next I took my daughter to the “prompt care” center where we saw a 5th doctor, who prescribed antibiotics and said it would be gone in 2 weeks. Over the next two weeks, while the swelling went down, the area was still red with the black dot and yellow peeling skin. I took her back to “prompt care” and saw the 6th and 7th doctors who told me she would be fine and it should be gone in 2 weeks.
Frustrated and upset, we then decided to try the walk-in clinic again. The doctor on call that day was from Toronto. After explaining the events of the past 2 months, he seemed to know what was wrong with her arm. He said her flesh was rotting and that she would need surgery. The next morning I drove 45 minutes to the children’s hospital where they put numbing cream on her arm thinking it was just below the skin.
As they sliced her arm, they found the infection was almost to the bone. They held down my 4 year old daughter and dug out all the rotting tissue with her feeling all of it. They could not close the hole as they wanted to make sure that any remaining infection drained out. She now has an ugly scar on her arm that really bothers her.
After her surgery, my only comfort was being told it was a good thing I had her looked at when I did because if the infection had gone into the bone, she would have lost her arm. Because plastic surgery is considered cosmetic, unless we’re willing to pay 3500 dollars, she will have this scar forever. We’re not able to get plastic surgery covered by health insurance because none of the doctors who saw her will say it is from the vaccine.
This past Thursday October 20 2011 my son went for his 18 month booster which I believe is the same as the one my daughter had. His arm is now red with a large lump and 2 doctors have told me he is fine even though I have told them of my daughter’s reaction.
Thank you for your website and allowing me to share my story with you. I am now going to be getting vaccine exemption paperwork as my children are never going through this again.
N. Boyd – Ontario