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My Personal Battle After Gardasil AND Gardasil: Nothing But Anguish For My Daughter
NOVEMBER
20, 2013 BY
Jennifer Guldin, Bell Buckle Tennessee
My name is Jennifer
Guldin, and I am 27 years old. Gardasil has impacted the lives of
everyone I care about.
I am married to the most wonderful man, Dustin. God
truly knew what He was doing when He had our paths cross seven years
ago. He has been such a blessing in my life, and I truly do not know
what I would do without him. I have the most amazingly beautiful and
smart little girl, named Gracyn. She is my motivation and the reason I
am able to get up every single morning, and fight this battle. My story
would not be complete without my mom. She is my rock and my hero; words
cannot describe how truly amazing she is.
I am unique from a lot of the girls that have been injured by
Gardasil, because I did not receive the vaccine until I was 25 years
old. I was already happily married and had a beautiful 3-year old
daughter, prior to receiving the Gardasil vaccination. Gardasil has not
only affected me, but it has also affected my loved ones who have had to
witness me suffer on a daily basis for the last two years. I truly believe it
has been equally difficult for them, just in a different way.
Life before Gardasil
In high school I was very active. I was a cheerleader,
which I absolutely loved! I also enjoyed dance, gymnastics, and
exercising, among many other activities. After graduating high school,
I went on to college where I met the love of my life, Dustin. We were
married in July of 2007 on the beautiful beach in Perdido Key, Florida.
God then blessed us with a beautiful and amazing little girl named Gracyn in
August of 2008. Life was near perfect in my eyes! Other than two
knee surgeries, from previous cheerleading injuries, and being fatigued as a
new mother, I was in very good health. This all changed in September of
2011.
I visited my OB/GYN for my annual pap smear in September of
2011 and was approached about the Gardasil vaccination. The nurse
explained to me that Gardasil was to prevent against a sexually transmitted
disease, HPV, and that there were absolutely no side effects.
I told her that I was happily married and was not concerned about sexually
transmitted diseases.
She then proceeded to present various scenarios to me:
what if my husband has an affair or what if he passes away, and I
remarry. I was starting to get annoyed with her at this point because
she was not addressing the reason I was there, and now I even felt like she
was attacking my marriage. I once again expressed my disinterest in the
vaccine. She threw the words “cancer prevention” out there! The
nurse continued and mentioned that I was about to turn 26 years old, and once
I did my insurance would no longer pay for me to receive the very expensive
Gardasil vaccine. If I changed my mind later, I would have to pay for
it out of pocket.
After taking into consideration that my mom had breast cancer
not too long ago and that it would probably be silly for me to pass up
something that could protect me from going through what she did, I
reluctantly agreed to get the Gardasil vaccine. That single moment has
negatively impacted the past two years of my life and quite possibly may
affect the rest of my life.
Life after Gardasil
Although I was very sick after the first two Gardasil
injections, the third injection was the most debilitating. After my
third Gardasil vaccination, I was bedridden for approximately six months,
which is especially difficult when you are a stay-at-home mom with an active
preschooler. Preparing meals for my daughter or even doing a simple
load of laundry was a huge task, and afterwards, I was wiped out with fatigue
and even more nauseous than when I first woke up. The abdominal and
pelvic pain was excruciating. Many times while walking across the
floor, the sharp shooting pains would instantly bring me to my knees.
In addition to abdominal and pelvic pain, I also suffer from
non-epileptic seizures since being injured by the Gardasil vaccine. We
had saved money to take our daughter to Disney World in Orlando, Florida for
her 4th birthday in 2012; of course I wasn’t planning on
being sick. I didn’t want to let my family down, so even though I was
reluctant to go on our trip, I did. I thought I was very prepared with
motion sickness patches, Zofran, and Phenerghan to hopefully “get me through”
the trip.
I hated to have the attitude of trying to just “get through”
our Disney World trip, because it was a special time since it was my
daughter’s first time to go. However, that was exactly how I
felt. Not only did I have to be pushed around in a wheel chair the
majority of our vacation due to extreme weakness, but I also experienced my
first non-epileptic seizure. I was lying in our hotel bed one night
when my entire body began to shake uncontrollably. I was overcome with
extreme nausea, and although I was aware of what was happening, I was unable
to effectively communicate with my husband. It was terrifying not being
in control of my body. The paramedics arrived to our hotel room, after
the “episode” had passed, where they determined I probably had a panic
attack.
The nausea and abdominal and pelvic pain were extremely
debilitating for me; thankfully it subsided, for the most part, after a very
long six months. I was then greeted with what has been labeled as
“migraines with aura, hemiplegic migraines, ocular migraines, and menstrual
migraines.” These were very frightening for me, as they mimic strokes.
One morning I was sitting at my dining room table making hair
bows for my daughter. My daughter came in the room to ask me a
question, and when I looked up to answer her, it was as if her face was a
puzzle, and the center piece was missing. I immediately went into panic
mode, thinking I was going blind. Moments later my peripheral vision
disappeared. It was terrifying! Thankfully, my husband was home
for his lunch break from work, so he rushed me to the hospital. On the
way to the hospital, my vision returned to normal, but then the left side of
my body began to go numb. First, my fingers and left hand went numb,
and then the numbness migrated up my left arm and to the left side of my
face. Once the numbness wore off, I had the most horrific head pain,
apparently a migraine. This was one of the times since being injured by
Gardasil that I was quite certain I was actually going to lose my life.
I have never been more terrified.
I have since had three major “episodes” of this nature that
consist of temporary vision loss and distortion, numbness in my left hand,
left arm, and left side of my face, followed by the most excruciating head
pain I have ever experienced in my life.
In addition to the migraines, non-epileptic seizures,
abdominal and pelvic pain, and severe nausea, I have also experienced:
§ extreme brain fog
§ internal tremors
(I can feel them throughout my body, however they are not visible),
§ extreme
temperature intolerance
§ food allergies
§ extreme light,
smell, and noise sensitivity
§ dizziness
§ joint pain and
stiffness
§ tingling in hands
and feet
§ hair loss
§ lightheadedness
§ extreme fatigue
§ blurry vision
§ chest pains
§ muscle weakness,
especially left-side (all three injections were given in the left arm)
§ out of body
experiences
§ heavy menstrual
cycles
§ flu-like symptoms
§ abdominal
bloating
§ mouth sores
§ constipation/diarrhea
§ gait disturbances
§ pressure in head
§ feelings of
intense electric shock or sensation in my head
When I get up each morning and look into the mirror, I have to
tell myself that it’s really me looking back. I do not feel like “me”
anymore. I feel like a stranger living in this body. I watch in
envy as others’ lives continue on, I want so badly to have my “normal, near
perfect” life back again.
I refuse to accept that this is my new “normal.” I have
to overcome this, if not for myself, then for my beautiful daughter.
She is growing and changing every single day, and although I’m here
physically with her, mentally I feel as if I am elsewhere; I am lost.
Gardasil has already stolen so much from me and my loved ones.
My family, especially my husband and my mom, miss the girl that they once
knew…I miss her too. I know that their love for me has not changed, but
I hate knowing how difficult this has been for them. I feel like a
burden to those around me, not because they make me feel that way, but
because I have lost so much of my independence since Gardasil. I have
to rely on others to help me with things that I was once able to do on my
own. Every time I have an “attack” it sets me back several weeks to
months in my recovery process; it’s very frustrating and discouraging.
I am writing my story for a couple reasons. One reason
is for me. I feel like this is an important step in my recovery
process. I have been going through the grieving process since finding
out that I was injured by the Gardasil vaccine…denial, anger, bargaining, and
depression. I’m hoping that by writing my story, I will be able to move
on to acceptance and begin to heal from what I have lost, which is my health
and the person I used to be.
Secondly, I am writing my story in hopes of helping other
girls, and boys, not have to go through the horrible experiences that I have
had to endure, along with thousands of other innocent girls. Is
everyone going to have the same outcome from Gardasil as I have? No,
thankfully. Some will and have tolerated it fine, while others are far
worse than me, or not alive to share their stories.
I am here to urge you to educate yourself before you choose to
vaccinate, something I wish I had done because if I had researched, my
outcome would have been very different.
NOVEMBER
20, 2013 BY Lisa
Haislip, Rockvale Tennessee
Gardasil has impacted our lives in ways we never could
have imagined.
Paralyzed is the one word that describes how I have felt
for the past two years as my daughter, Jennifer, has been very sick. It
began with severe abdominal and pelvic pain and eventually wound up with
neurological issues, including seizures and complex migraines that mimic a
stroke. My poor daughter has been to the emergency room on several
occasions, been admitted to the hospital for testing and observation, and had
multiple appointments with 15-20 specialists in two years with an
insurmountable amount of testing, only to find no answers.
Jennifer has been her own health advocate, as we
couldn’t find a physician willing to review her history to determine the
cause of her issues. All of the physicians wanted to just treat the
symptoms. My poor girl has spent many hours researching her symptoms,
presenting them to physicians, and requesting that certain tests be
performed, while I was paralyzed. Her strength to do all of this alone
amazes me.
Physician after physician told us she was fine.
Jennifer was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, complex migraines with
aura, Vitamin D deficiency, dehydration, gastro paresis, pelvic floor
dysfunction, and gluten and dairy allergy/intolerance.
Many times she was just “brushed off” as having panic
attacks, depression, or anxiety. But, why? Both Jennifer
and I knew that something caused this normally very healthy young lady to
become ill with very random symptoms. She was always very active – a
cheerleader all through high school! She enjoyed working out! Now
she couldn’t make her child a meal or do laundry without extreme fatigue.
Jennifer has missed Christmases, birthdays, weddings,
vacations, and other important events. Even when she attended events,
she wasn’t really there. The lights, sounds, smells, and temperature
are never quite right for her fragile body. Weather changes really mess
with her health.
Dustin, Jennifer’s husband, planned a wonderful trip to
Disney World in September of 2012. In order for Jennifer to watch her daughter enjoy the attractions,
she had to be pushed in a wheelchair. This once vibrant young lady was
too fatigued and weak to walk around Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, and Sea
World. Paralyzed.
On August 26, 2013, I came across a Facebook post that
said “Beware of Gardasil!” I thought to myself, “Oh my God, could it
be? My Jennifer had all three injections. Did this vaccination
make my baby sick?”
I immediately researched the side effects of
Gardasil. The first site I reviewed was MERCK’s website. I will
never forget it. It said the serious and non-serious side effects were
headache, nausea, dizziness, unusual tiredness, weakness, or confusion,
seizure, generally feeling unwell, bad stomach ache, etc. Oh my God, I
think this vaccination made my daughter ill.
Despite her ailments, my daughter was a very good
historian and documented her health issues in a timeline. Her timeline
did not include the dates of the Gardasil injections, because we had no idea
that these had made her sick.
I was appalled when I added the dates of the Gardasil
injections to her timeline. It was so clear at that minute. I was
100% certain that Gardasil made my daughter ill. Now, what?
I have felt even more paralyzed since we determined the
cause of Jennifer’s debilitating health issues. Thankfully, God has
blessed us with knowledgeable people that are helping to guide us in a
treatment plan for Jennifer. Hopefully one day soon I will be able to
overcome this feeling of paralysis.
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