GARDASIL/CERVARIX ANNOUNCEMENT and Why VAERS Is A Passive Reporting System That The FDA Loves To Quote

GARDASIL/CERVARIX ANNOUNCEMENT and Why VAERS Is A Passive Reporting System That The FDA Loves To Quote ( Big Note: This is to let you know that Rosemary Mathis, her daughter Lauren Mathis, Emily Tarsell and Norma Erickson are travelling to New York to be interviewed today, Friday 15th November 2013, on the Katie Couric Show (show is being recorded). Details of when the show will be aired are not yet known but as soon as we have this information, we will let you all know so that you can watch the programme.    The girls will be representing all the victims who have been injured by the HPV vaccines – Gardasil and Cervarix. This is the breakthrough we have all been hoping for to get your voices out there.  We have also been advised that Dr Diane Harper will be on the show. Let us pray that this is just the beginning. With best wishes    Freda Birrell, Secretary SaneVax Inc www.sanevax.org )   Why VAERS Is A Passive Reporting System That The FDA Loves To Quote By Cynthia A. Janak I have been researching a specific vaccine since February of 2007 and I have learned so much about how the FDA, CDC and the other organizations like the ACIP like to skew the data for their own purposes. It has gotten to the point that you can no longer trust or believe in what they say. They have gotten to the point where they will intentionally underreport the adverse events of any drug or vaccine to suit the purpose of God knows who. Here are the facts in their own words. At the end I will show you the impact this underreporting has on our youth with the HPV vaccine. I will underscore the parts I feel are important for you to remember. "Aside from adverse events associated with specified vaccines (listed in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act), most reporting by health providers is voluntary." (1) "Although the FDA receives many adverse event reports, these probably represent only a fraction of the serious adverse events encountered by providers. A recent review article found that between 2% and 11% of hospital admissions could be attributed to adverse drug reactions. Only about 1% of serious events are reported to the FDA, according to one study." (1) "There are probably several reasons why some serious events are not reported to either the FDA or the manufacturer. First, when confronted with an unexpected outcome of treatment, physicians may not consider drug-induced or device-induced disease, but rather consider the event to be related to the course of the disease." (1) "Unfortunately, this may be due to the limited training medical students receive in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics. A 1985 survey of US medical schools found that only 14% of them had required courses in core skills and principles of therapeutic decision making and clinical pharmacology. Of the remainder, 87% taught only a few hours of clinical pharmacology, and most of the teaching occurred in the early years of medical training." (1) "Another factor inhibiting physician reporting is that it is not an ingrained practice – it is not in the culture of US medicine to notify the FDA about adverse events or product problems." (1) "On the other hand, the FDA does not want providers to report every adverse reaction observed; this would not be practical for the practitioner or useful to the FDA. The FDA's goal is to increase reporting of serious events, not all adverse events. What should be reported are those cases in which the physician suspects that an FDA – regulated product was associated with a serious outcome – death, a life-threatening condition, initial or prolonged hospitalization, disability, or congenital anomaly, or when intervention was required to prevent permanent impairment or damage." (1) Accuracy Of Reports "VAERS is a passive surveillance system, and the large number of reports to VAERS increases the likelihood that some reports may not be adequately checked for accuracy, especially the less serious ones. Some reports to VAERS do not include full medical record documentation and may contain errors. The VAERS forms often have missing or incorrect data, including age, sex, vaccines administered, and adverse events." (2) Underreporting "Since VAERS is a passive system, it is inherently subject to underreporting. For example, a confidential study conducted by Connaught Laboratories, a vaccine manufacturer, indication that "a fifty-fold underreporting of adverse events" is likely. According to David Kessler, former commissioner of the FDA,"only about one percent of serious events [adverse drug reactions] are reported." Less serious vaccine adverse events (e.g., swelling, fever, or redness at the vaccination site) are more underreported than more serious vaccine adverse events (e.g., hospitalizations and death). The current analysis made no attempt to quantify underreporting due to age, type of adverse event, or other factor since only relative trends were utilized." (2) "Approximately 85% of the variation in mean hospitalization rates for children aged 0.1–0.5 years was accounted for on the basis of the number of vaccine doses. If the quantity and severity of adverse vaccine events is, in fact, related to the accumulated total number of vaccine doses, then methodology that includes the complete age-specific vaccination history of the patient might enhance the analysis. Furthermore, while vaccines may appear to be the causal factor leading to adverse vaccine events, other underlying patient medical conditions, including latent mitochondrial disease or vitamin deficiencies, may ultimately play a role. Some reports have postulated that environmental factors, including vaccine administration, can trigger an adverse reaction due to its various components or agents that depleted body resources and/or cause immune insults." (2) "Studies have not been conducted to determine the safety (or efficacy) of administering multiple vaccine doses in a variety of combinations as recommended by CDC guidelines. Our findings show a positive correlation between the number of vaccine doses administered and the percentage of hospitalizations and deaths reported to VAERS.  In addition, younger infants were significantly more likely than older infants to be hospitalized or die after receiving vaccines. Since vaccines are administered to millions of infants every year, it is imperative that health authorities have scientific data from synergistic toxicity studies on all combinations of vaccines that infants are likely to receive; universal vaccine recommendation must be supported by such studies." (2) What does all this mean to you? Simply stated is that the VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) is a passive system and the physicians are not even trained properly or at any intensity as to the importance of sending a report of you or a loved one's adverse event to a drug or vaccine. It is not promoted to become an integral part of their practice. This is something that I believe any conscientious physician would want for their patients that rely on their knowledge with regards to the effectiveness of the medications and vaccines that they administer. I feel that because of this lack of training and promotion we have the reporting rate of only 1% of the physicians reporting into a system that would be instrumental in the safety of all vaccine functionality. The next interesting item that I found was that the FDA which is the agency that we trust to want the most accurate information possible to protect the safety of our loved ones does not even want all the adverse events to be reported. Now, I understand that some are mild like a slight fever, flulike symptoms that go away in a short period of time but what about all the other adverse events. They only want incidents "associated with a serious outcome – death, a life-threatening condition, initial or prolonged hospitalization, disability, or congenital anomaly, or when intervention was required to prevent permanent impairment or damage." (1) When researching the different adverse events reported to the VAERS database it seems like the list goes on forever. When you read all the different events reported you would think that over half would be considered serious but as you can see they are not worth the time of the FDA. What I believe has been promoted by the FDA is a system that is grossly inadequate to ascertain the safety of any drug, vaccine or medical device. This has led to so many products that have been touted to be safe left on the market where I feel in reality are highly dangerous. This is how this applies to the HPV vaccines. I am going to reference the information about the Gardasil vaccine as the prime example of this underreporting and how it is used to promote the vaccine. In their documents they will use the present numbers as to how many individuals reported an adverse event to the VAERS data base. Presently, as of October 13, 2013, there have been 32,179 reports. They will insinuate this number as fact per the whole population of vaccines distributed. What they do not bring up is that this could only be 1% as they attest to as the amount that really reports.  So what this gives us if you multiply this by 100% is in realty 3,217,900 has suffered an adverse event from the vaccine. This could also be on the low end because from my conversations with hundreds of parents and individuals over the years I can safely say that I believe that this is only the tip of the iceberg. They will also downplay the deaths that have been reported. Presently there have been 148 young people who have died with relation to this vaccine.  If you use what they stated of 1% you really have 14,800 have died.  The only problem that I see in this is that all the parents that I have spoken with have told me that the autopsy reports were inconclusive as to a cause so I believe that this number has the real possibility to be double if not triple the amount I have stated above.  This in itself should be cause to remove this vaccine from distribution. I cringe and wonder and pray that when I read a news report of some young person suddenly dying for some unknown reason did not receive the HPV vaccine. Another way they will skew the real numbers is what they did for the reports to the FDA. You will hear often that the percentage of adverse events reported for the vaccine compared to the placebo was comparable. In the report to the FDA on September 11th, 2008 this is what the reporter wrote. "Reviewer's Comment: The proportions of subjects in each System Organ Class were comparable. The most common conditions reported were pharyngitis, upper respiratory infections, and influenza. There was a higher proportion of subjects with abdominal pain in the Gardasil group (5.0%) as compared to the saline placebo group (2.7%)." (3) The reality of this statement with relation to table 79, New Medical Conditions After Day 1..., it is referencing is this.  Out of 11,778 participants that received the Gardasil vaccination 8,628 (73.3%) reported a new medical history during the study. In the placebo group out of 9,686 participants 7,390 (76.3%) reported a new medical history during the study. So what the FDA says to you is that there was only a 3.0% difference between the vaccine group and the placebo group. If you look at this that is a small margin but if you look at the real numbers reported which is the 73.3% that is huge. Can you imagine that 3 out of 4 young people receiving this vaccine are expected to have a new medical condition when the real numbers are known and this is acceptable to the FDA, CDC and all the other organizations that use this data? It is because of what these organizations tell us that I can safely say that the HPV vaccine has the potential to be the worse vaccine ever created because by their own admission they promote the under reporting of adverse events, do not encourage doctors to report and omit vital statistics when promoting the safety of this vaccine to the public. How can this make you feel confident in the practices of the FDA? From what I have learned over the years I have a '0%' confidence level in regards to anything that they do. Here is another tasty tidbit. "Postlicensure safety data from the Vaccine Safety Datalink study, including data from >600,000 HPV4 doses administered, showed no statistically significant increased risk for the outcomes studied, including Guillain-Barré syndrome, stroke, venous thromboembolism, appendicitis, seizures, syncope, allergic reactions, and anaphylaxis (15). Postlicensure safety data from a manufacturer-sponsored study found no increased risk for outcomes such as anaphylaxis and venous thromboembolism; however, persons who were vaccinated with HPV4 were more likely to faint on the day they were vaccinated than another period in which vaccine was not administered (16)." (4) Once again they are referencing the differences between the vaccine and the placebo. So in essence what they are stating is correct that there is "no statistically significant increased risk." The real numbers tell the truth and this is what they do not want you to know. They also do not tell you what the other outcomes they studied were. This is how they skew the numbers to say what they want and technically they are not lying. The last item of interest is this. "Studies have not been conducted to determine the safety (or efficacy) of administering multiple vaccine doses in a variety of combinations as recommended by CDC guidelines." (2) This sentence needs absolutely no explanation. So when you go to your doctor for your next well baby visit and he tells you they need this, this and this vaccine that day, you can safely tell them that in doing so they are violating recommended CDC guidelines where multiple vaccine studies have not been conducted. Also, if your school has a vaccine clinic and they decide to administer multiple vaccines to the children at once you can tell them the same thing and reference the document this came from. Now you know why so many children are suffering from various diseases and have Autism. The doctors are not trained and a study was not performed as to the safety of multiple vaccinations per recommended by the CDC guidelines. Will you be one more or one less individual hurt by the underreporting of adverse events which is promoted by the FDA? Think about it. I plan on being one less and will educate myself since it is not an ingrained practice for our doctors to do so. This is very sad. (1) Jama, June 2, 1993 – Vol 269, No. 21, page 2765 Introducing MEDWatch – Kessler (2) Human and Experimental Toxicology, 31(10) 1012–1021, DOI: 10.1177/0960327112440111, Relative trends in hospitalizations and mortality among infants by the number of vaccine doses and age, based on the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), 1990–2010 (3) http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/janak/081204 Clinical Review of Biologics License Application Supplement for Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16, 18) Vaccine, Recombinant (Gardasil®) to extend indication for prevention of vaginal and vulvar cancers related to HPV types 16 and 18. Dated September 11, 2008, (4) Centers for Disease Control – Recommendations on the Use of Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus Vaccine in Males – Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), 2011, Weekly, December 23, 2011 / 60(50);1705-1708 © Cynthia A. Janak Too Much Too Soon Too Little Too Late: HPV Vaccine Safety Lessons By Cathy Jameson For years we’ve been bombarded with multimillion dollar advertisements promoting the HPV vaccine known as Gardasil.  Commercial after commercial, whole page magazine ads and posters at subway stations sent more fear than facts to the public about the human papilloma virus (HPV) and its role in cervical cancer.   Even though I do not care for this particular vaccine, I make an effort to stay updated whenever news comes out about it.  I do this because my oldest falls into the age category for which the vaccine is recommended.  The vaccine, originally designed and heavily pushed on the teenage population, can be administered as early as 9-years old.  After a rather hasty vaccine “safety” study period, the 3-series Gardasil vaccine became available in 2006.  Cervarix, also marketed as a cervical cancer prevention vaccine, debuted in 2009 is an alternate to Gardasil. Like every vaccine that came before these two, reactions post-vaccination were documented and reported in the VAERS database (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System).  Currently, almost 32,000 adverse reactions have been reported as well as 144 deaths.  Despite growing concerns about Gardasil and Cerivax, and about the increasingly serious and fatal reactions young girls have had from them, it was suggested in 2011 that boys as young as 11-years old also receive the 3-shot series. During the campaign to sell, sell, sell this product, we were told that the HPV vaccine would be an answer—an answer to help prevent cervical cancer.  We were told those who got the vaccine would be One Less:  One Less to chance it.  One Less to catch the disease.  One Less cancer victim.  We were also told that 3 doses were recommended for the series to be effective.  Reports are now saying 3 vaccines may be two too many though. Good news for less jabs, right? What, then, should we tell the girls, and now possibly the boys, who got sick from their 2nd dose of the vaccine?  Who tells them, “Oops, sorry.” What do we tell the families of those who died after continuing the series with their 2nd or 3rd doses?  Does anyone say, “Well, were wrong.  We should have said two less; two less vaccines, that is.”   I highly doubt that anyone will utter that kind of apology.  Those promoting and inflicting the most damage, including death, will likely get to walk away.  They do not have to handle the irreparable harm done.  They will not witness adverse reactions that lead to future health problems.  They are not left with a lesson to be learned either, unless that lesson is to publicly continue to herald their own efforts while hiding behind the protection they’ve been granted by the government. What irks me when I read articles like the one suggesting that only one HPV vaccine is needed, besides the fact that that this vaccine was made out to be the vaccine that would save the most lives, is that our nation’s children have once again become pin-cushioned guinea pigs.  With all safety cast aside, our children have become part of an experiment and not a solution. If ever there was a reason for someone to learn how to educate themselves before choosing to vaccinate, this ‘whoops, two less vaccines’ discovery is more than reason enough.  Being fully informed before opting for any unavoidably unsafe product like a vaccine is better than finding out too little too late.  Fortunately, being informed is something anyone, including my pre-teen daughter, and the girls she is talking to, can do. First, start learning the facts, all of the facts.  Learn as much as you can about vaccines and particularly the ones you’re opting for.  Look at the track record of each.  Listen to what your doctor or provider has to say about them, and then, research what they’ve shared.  Research what they didn’t share also. Read more than just the Vaccine Information Sheet  the medical staff is required by law to give you, too.  Instead, request, read and study (or download) the 30 pages of each vaccine insert: Gardasil  and Cervarix. Look up what’s being reported in the news about the growing list of negative side effects making sure the news comes from a reputable source.  Read as much as you can, and continue to read some more. Know that this vaccine proposes to protect only 4 out of the 40 known strains of cervical cancer.  Realize, too, that this vaccine hasn’t been around all that long.  Long-term studies don’t happen overnight; they take years to be conducted and only after gathering hundreds of pieces of data—data gotten from those who received the vaccine, including from the ones who escaped vaccine injury to the ones who succumbed from it.  Remember that while some side effects from vaccines can be seen immediately (fainting, nausea, dizzy spells and seizures), others take time to be discovered and subsequently reported.  Understand that through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund, the US government has awarded $6 billion toward 49 cases of HPV vaccine injury and death.  (Keep in mind that while 49 may not sound like a lot, over 200 claims have been filed and that all of them have yet to be processed.)  And finally, remember that you have a choice; a choice to say yes, no, or not right now until you know as much as you need to know.  Vaccine choice is a benefit, but being fully informed about a vaccine can have a much more lasting effect. I’ve come to realize that the best way to be avoid vaccine injury or death resulting from vaccines is to abstain from vaccinations.  My daughter, and now her middle school friends are well aware of this too.  My daughter will continue to use her recess time to talk about vaccines, particularly the HPV vaccine.  She does this not because she’ll be getting it, but because she personally knows girls who have received it, and she is genuinely concerned about their future health.  I don’t blame her for wanting to stay as informed as I do or for attempting to educate others.  With how things have gone for so many HPV vaccine recipients, one more conversation on the playground could very well lead to one less tragedy. Cathy Jameson is a Contributing Editor for Age of Autism. http://www.youtube.com/user/TheCanaryParty?feature=watch

TODAY'S NEWS AND VIEWS:DICKENS IS ALIVE AND WELL IN THE USA

TODAY'S NEWS AND VIEWS :DICKENS IS ALIVE AND WELL IN THE USA Pat Buchanan does not seem to be a fan of Pope Francis, skewering the new pope in his latest column for “sowing seeds of confusion among the faithful” and not being aggressive enough in the “culture war.” He warned that if the Catholic Church places a greater emphasis on social justice, it will only aid the “cultural revolution preached by Marxist Antonio Gramsci” that seeks the church’s destruction. Yet here is further confirmation His Holiness seeks to move the Catholic Church to a stance of non-belligerence, if not neutrality, in the culture war for the soul of the West. There is a small problem with neutrality. As Trotsky observed, “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.” For the church to absent itself from the culture war is to not to end that war, but to lose it. What would that entail? Can we not already see? In America, the family has disintegrated. Forty percent of working-class white children are born out of wedlock, as are 53 percent of Hispanic children and 73 percent of black children. Kids from broken homes are many times more likely to drop out of school, take drugs, join gangs, commit crimes, end up in prison, lose their souls and produce yet another generation of lost souls. [Laurie] Goodstein quotes the Holy Father as listing among the “most serious of the evils” today “youth unemployment.” And he calls upon Catholics not to be “obsessed” with abortion or same-sex marriage. But is teenage unemployment really a graver moral evil than the slaughter of 3,500 unborn every day in a land we used to call “God’s Country”? … The cultural revolution preached by Marxist Antonio Gramsci is continuing its “long march” through the institutions of the West and succeeding where the violent revolutions of Lenin and Mao failed. It is effecting a transvaluation of all values. And it is not interested in a truce with the church of Pope Francis, but a triumph over that church, which it reviles as the great enemy in its struggle. Indeed, after decades of culture war waged against Christianity, the Vatican might consider the state of the Faith. Our civilization is being de-Christianized. Popular culture is a running sewer. Promiscuity and pornography are pandemic. In Europe, the churches empty out as the mosques fill up. In America, Bible reading and prayer are outlawed in schools, as Christian displays are purged from public squares. Officially, Christmas and Easter do not exist. … “Who am I to judge,” Pope Francis says of homosexuals. Well, he is pope. And even the lowliest parish priest has to deliver moral judgments in a confessional. “[S]ince he became pope,” writes Goodstein, Francis’ “approval numbers are skyrocketing. Even atheists are applauding.” Especially the atheists, one imagines. While Pope Francis has not altered any Catholic doctrines in his interviews and disquisitions, he is sowing seeds of confusion among the faithful, a high price to pay, even for “skyrocketing” poll numbers. If memory serves, the Lord said, “Feed my sheep,” not “get the smell of the sheep.” And he did not mean soup kitchens, but more importantly the spiritual food essential for eternal life. But then those were different Jesuits. And that was long ago. - See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/buchanan-pope-francis-sowing-seeds-confusion#sthash.TcqyOS7S.dpuf Fukushima evacuees express anger, resignation at government policy shift.  More than two-and-a-half years since the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami triggered the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant, the government effectively reversed its stated goal of eventually allowing all Fukushima evacuees to return to their homes. Asahi Shimbun , Japan Radioactive poisoning may still be risk on Treasure Island, memo says.  Despite six years of U.S. Navy cleanup and San Francisco city government reassurances that Treasure Island is safe, children living there might be at risk of radioactive poisoning, a newly released state health department memo concludes.Center for Investigative Reporting Something Is Really Wrong with the USA Firearms, healthcare, inequality, government shutdowns. I'm an incurable Americophile, but the US has a lot to work on. As I'm sure Americans have a particular view of Australia (if they remember us at all when they're not at Outback Steakhouse), so too do Australians perceive the  United States through a lens that simplifies and possibly distorts the truth. When I think of "America", it's usually difficult to disentangle exactly what I mean by that… If Only Right-Wing Christians Knew Where Their Ideas Came From Progressive evangelical Christianity is not merely a relic of the 19th century; it’s making a comeback. The media spotlight has focused on the growing split in the Republican Party between its corporate-business wing and the libertarian-leaning Tea Partiers. But what about the third leg of the GOP tripod, the one that used to get all the attention: the evangelical Christian religious right? That’s where the spotlight ought to be. We know the corporate-business types want an active federal government, because it can be counted on to serve their interests, especially if Republicans regain control of it. We know that the libertarians, who are the driving force in the Tea Party, want to shrink government; that’s their whole reason for being. What we don’t know yet, and what will determine the fate of the GOP, is which way the religious right will break in this intramural fight over the role of government. Even the conservative evangelicals themselves don’t know, because the split in the GOP runs smack down the middle of the religious right. Many politically active evangelicals are happy to be Tea Partiers and align with the libertarian call for smaller government. They see government as a force imposing its secular ways upon them. And Tea Party politicians have been equally happy to talk the religious right talk because it wins them votes. Many other evangelicals will join the corporate-business Republicans in rejecting the Tea Party’s extremist anti-government agenda. They’ll see why Tea Partying is a trap for them. Only a powerufl government can do the things evangelicals want most, like banning abortion and gay marriage, and more generally, imposing strict rules of personal behavior on every American. The more the Tea Party weakens the government, the more it deprives the religious right of its most potent tool. That should be easy enough for most conservative evangelicals to see. What most won’t see, though, is the hidden place where evangelicals and libertarians do meet: way back in U.S. history, where both movements were inspired by a radical worldview. Just as the libertarian call for less government has its roots in radical, not conservative, assumptions about human nature, so the religious right’s call for government intervention has deep roots in evangelical demands for policies that were radically progressive at the time. Some of them are still radical, even by today's standards.   As early as the 1820s, the evangelical style of Christianity was beginning to dominate American political life. It didn’t stop dominating until the 19th century was over. Looking back across the history of that century you’ll find evangelicals, demanding strong government intervention in everyone's life, popping up in all sorts of places. And most of those places are well to the left of where you might expect them, if your view of evangelical politics is shaped only by the era of Ronald Reagan and Jerry Falwell… As America Slides Toward Dickensian Nightmare, Novelist of the 99% Is Trending Big-Time Charles Dickens is a man for our season, an artist who got people to think about economic injustice. Can art do anything for the 99%? The case of Charles Dickens argues that yes—when genius, perseverance, activism, and admittedly, luck, combine, artistic creations can spark fires that burn through encrusted layers of human wrongs. It doesn’t happen overnight, and not as often as we wish. But it happens. Maybe that’s why we’re turning to Dickens for guidance as America careens toward the nightmare he warned us about in the brutal early days of industrial capitalism. In this late finance-driven stage, as our top-heavy society teeters on the brink of self-inflicted disaster, we need him more than ever. Dickens is a man for our season. Poet of the People Dickens was the most famous writer in Europe and America during his lifetime, just 25 when his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, rocketed him to the heights of literary success. Ebeneezer Scrooge gave us the icon of miserly capitalism, while Oliver Twist indicted economic injustice in the simple request of a hungry child, “Please, sir, I want some more.” A friend of the laborer, the poor, the prisoner, and the sufferer, Dickens was likewise the enemy of the miser, the hustler, the social climber, and the hypocrite, all of whom he could slice and dice in a fury of satire. In the subjects Dickens took on we find a menu of concerns that reflect our current ills: laissez-faire capitalism ( Hard Times), class divides ( Great Expectations) child poverty ( Oliver Twist), debt ( Little Dorrit), legal injustice (Bleak House) and tyranny ( A Tale of Two Cities). No wonder Dickensia is everywhere right now. Since the financial crisis, there have been BBC adaptations, a hit biography, and retrospectives celebrating the 200-year anniversary of his birth in 2012. Oprah doubled down on Dickens with aGreat Expectations / A Tale of Two Cities combo for her book club. Most recently, Bill de Blasio rode A Tale of Two Cities all the way to the New York mayorship, making the title of Dickens’ novel a campaign slogan for a divided metropolis. A new film version of Great Expectations featuring Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham and an upcoming biopic starring Ralph Fiennes seal the author’s resurgence. Charles Dickens didn’t just imagine hard times; he lived them. The world was very nearly deprived of one of its great artists and humanitarians when poverty struck his decidedly ordinary family. When Dickens was 12 years old, his father, a clerk, hit a rough financial patch and was thrown into debtor’s prison. Young Charles left school and labored in a rat-infested shoe polish warehouse, toiling 10 hours a day, six days a week, for two years. If not for the death of his grandmother, who left the family a small inheritance, Dickens would likely have remained there and never continued his education. Fortunately he was able to make his way to school and eventually landed a job as a newspaper reporter. Dickens’ childhood story, which haunted him for life, is a vivid example of what happens when people fall on hard times in the absence of a social safety net: they get trampled. No doubt Dickens and his family would have been sneered at today by Tea Partiers and self-serving 1 percenters who pretend that poverty is a deserved condition. But Charles Dickens learned firsthand that poverty is no more a sign of depravity than wealth is an indicator of superiority. He saw that very often the reverse is true. This theme would feature in Great Expectations, where the working-class Pip longs to be a gentleman, but soon finds out that many gentlefolk were either dissipated or conniving or sadistic—or all three. Pages 1 2 3 Next page »

Julie and Lisa: Gardasil: The Worst Thing That Ever Happened to Me and I Lived Through A Gardasil Nightmare

Gardasil: The Worst Thing That Ever Happened to Me OCTOBER 31, 2013 By Julie Davidson, Fort Worth Texas My name is Julie and I am 26 years old. I have remained fairly quiet since being vaccinated by Gardasil because talking about the damage it has done is very difficult. The pain inside that it has caused is so extreme that it has been easier for me to try to forget Gardasil ever existed.   For the past two years, I have tried to pretend that my life was not stolen from me and to forget that I was poisoned.  Unfortunately, I can’t forget because every day I am reminded when I wake up that I am living a real-life nightmare. I have chosen to speak out because every day I learn of another girl suffering unexplainable health problems.  Her diagnosis is to be told she is crazy or that there is no way to help her. What is the link between me and thousands of these girls? Gardasil. I see a stranger when I look back to the girl I was before Gardasil. This vaccination literally changed my life in every single way possible. In some ways, I’m glad that I’m not that same girl. I now have more appreciation for those who deal with debilitating health issues. Instead of passing by someone in a wheelchair without a second thought, I say hello and then I cry. I cry because I know the struggles they go through, and I cry because I know how few others show that they care. I have learned who my true family and friends are.  I have also learned the value of researching the truth and not instinctively trusting medicine. Mostly, I have learned the true value of health because without it we have nothing. Other than those few things, I am extremely saddened that the girl I used to be was stolen from me. I was once a very healthy and active girl, full of energy. I was a personal trainer and loved all things associated with health and fitness. I yearned to do anything outdoors and all that is adventurous. I was a free spirit who craved the beauty of life in every way.  At the age of 23, I had many dreams and was excited for the future. Gardasil Plus Tetanus Recommended While Battling a Sinus Infection –   Why Did I Listen to My Doctor? On March 26, 2011, still at age 23, I went to the doctor for a sinus infection. At that time, he thought it would be wise to give me the Gardasil and Tetanus vaccine. Immediately afterwards, I had my regrets because I felt strange, and I realized it did not make sense to get vaccinated while my immune system was already busy fighting a sinus infection. I remember calling my mom, scared and crying, that something bad had happened – I guess my intuition was right. In the days following the shots, I developed extreme fatigue. It became difficult to perform daily tasks. I was lightheaded all of the time and blacked out often. I also developed pelvic pain, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite and a 30lb weight loss within two months. It became difficult for me to perform well at my job as a personal trainer because I constantly felt like I had the flu. I called in to work sick often because I thought that I actually was battling something like the flu. By July, things escalated very quickly. I had severe chest pain that shot all the way down my left arm and heart arrhythmias. I had three episodes where my whole body tingled and went numb. By this point, I knew I had something serious, but I could have never imagined how serious it was going to get. Post Gardasil Paralysis and Central Nervous System Damage August 6th, 2011 I woke up in bed and went to stand up…and I fell to the ground. On the ground, I realized I was unable to move my left leg. A few days later, the same thing happened to my right leg. Both of my legs were paralyzed and I was unable to stand or walk. I was admitted to the hospital where I stayed for 10 days. I was tested in every way imaginable with two spinal taps, CT scans, MRIs of the brain and spine, an echocardiogram, an abdominal scan and tons of blood work. Doctors were unsure what I had – so I was treated with a high dose of steroids and then sent home in no better condition than when I arrived. By September, I woke up unable to move anything below my head – besides my right arm. I was paralyzed from the neck down.  We went to another emergency room where I stayed for a week. I went through more extensive testing and was once again told by doctors that they did not know what I had. They set me up as an outpatient with a neuromuscular specialist and discharged me again in no better condition than when I arrived. This was the beginning of my two year journey with specialists. I have now seen countless neurologists, a neuromuscular specialist, multiple rheumatologists, an infectious disease specialist, a neuroimmunologist and a neurophysiologist. The only discoveries so far have been a positive Rheumatoid Factor, positive ANA Titer, elevated SED rate and elevated CK – all tests pointing to inflammation in my body and that my immune system is not functioning correctly. In addition to these positive tests, I also was diagnosed with an overactive sphincter. Why would a once healthy 23 year old all of the sudden develop an overactive bladder along with unexplainable neurological problems if there was no root cause? The rheumatologists and neurologists bounced me back and forth to each other for quite a while – each specialty claiming the other specialty would be more capable of diagnosing. Finally, I had a rheumatologist and a neurophysiologist work together to try and help me. The neurophysiologist and rheumatologist suspected transverse myelitis based on examination and my symptoms that showed an upper motor neuron problem. They explained that the inflammation that shows on my tests is most likely coming from damage to my brain and/or spinal cord. I was told there is nothing to do about this except time. To this day, none of my damage or symptoms can be explained. The Array of Symptoms Post Gardasil My symptoms since the Gardasil vaccination are: Paralysis, gait disturbances, paresthesia, hypersensitivity to sound and touch, whole-body shakes, tremors, stiffness and pain in joints, feet and hands turning purple and blue, adrenal insufficiency, endocrine problems, weight loss, nausea, vomiting, hyperventilation, uncontrollable laughing or crying, low blood sugar, sensitivity to smell and chemicals, hot/cold intolerance, loss of appetite, pelvic pain, overactive bladder, chest pain, chest palpitations, shortness of breath, swollen glands, memory loss and memory gaps, confusion, hair loss, lightheadedness, blackouts, and a fatigue so extreme that it is hard to do simple daily tasks. My physical symptoms have been tough to deal with, but the emotional and mental turmoil that all of this has put me through has been even harder to deal with. The once free spirit is now afraid of life. I’m afraid that if I drive, I may fall asleep at the wheel because of how confused and fatigued I can get. I’m also afraid to drive or be alone because my legs may stop working.  I’m afraid of going to any social events or traveling because of germs. I get sick at a minimum of once a month with a cold or virus, and every time I get sick it sets my progress back at least a month.  I was once very independent, but I am now completely dependent on my husband. I was once full of energy but now I fatigue taking a shower. The girl who once craved adventure and anything outdoors is now afraid to go outside due to newly developed severe allergies. When I get allergies, it flares up my already overactive immune system, and all of my symptoms come on stronger. That is not even the most painful part.  The most difficult and painful thing to deal with is to think about all of the things I could be doing with my life if I were not ill. Maybe I would have finished school, started my own personal training business, or even started a family with my husband.  I watch everyone else live out their lives while I sit at home sick every day.  Some people are making their dreams come true, and, unfortunately, some are wasting the precious gift they were given. I crave life every day, but I am unable to live it right now because of how fatigued and weak I am. Gardasil has placed me in a jail inside my own body. I no longer dream of the future because I don’t know if my body will ever allow me to make those dreams come true. But You Don’t Look Sick As I fight to get better, I can’t count how many times I have been told that I don’t look sick. I just choose to not show the ugly side of the illness to most. I can assure you that I suffer daily along with thousands of other girls. We are alone because we are not understood. We all suffer in silence because we are told that we do not look sick, that there is no way to help, it’s in our heads, or we come across those that don’t even want to hear or believe us because we do not have a “label” to our illness. I, along with many others, have lost friendships during the time I needed friends the most. Some family relationships have even become strained due to lack of understanding. Those I have met after I got sick will never know the real me trapped under illness. My husband has not even gotten to experience life with the woman he knows he married. He spends his days taking care of me instead of living newlywed bliss. Gardasil stole that from us. Trying to Heal Post Gardasil Today I eat, breath and sleep focused on trying to heal.  I live in a bubble to make sure that nothing sets me back from my progress so that one day I may have a future. The only type of specialist that has helped me practices natural and functional medicine. My strict diet and supplement program has helped me to walk again after two years in a wheelchair, but I still struggle with many symptoms daily. In January of 2014, I plan to work with a Homeopath to detox the vaccine out of my system with CEASE therapy. I chose to share my story after two years because I can no longer sit back and watch beautiful lives be destroyed by something that was meant to protect. I can only hope and pray that all of this happened to me for a reason. If my story has not convinced you or someone else against the shot, I hope at least I have convinced you to do more research before making that choice. The research will speak for itself. My story is my reality because I was not warned and I did not research. I hope and pray that this story finds you in time to protect yourself or your loved ones from the Gardasil vaccination. I Lived Through A Gardasil Nightmare OCTOBER 30, 2013 By Lisa from Spokane, Washington My name is Lisa and I had a horrible reaction to the set of Gardasil vaccines. It took almost six years to get back to being somewhat normal. Back in 2007 when I was 22, I was going in for a normal woman visit and I had a test come back positive for “abnormal cells.” They were cancer cells caused by HPV. I went in for the whole “cut and burn” procedure and my Doctor told me there was a new vaccine called Gardasil for HPV to protect against cervical cancer. She said I should get it so I don’t get cancer again, or lose my fertility; and my insurance covered it, so I might as well. So I said, “Sure go ahead, I don’t want cancer again.” Well after she gave me the first vaccine of the set of 3, I started feeling dizzy. She said “That’s normal, see you next time for you second dose.” I left the office and got in the elevator and passed out in the elevator. Luckily there was someone coming back from their lunch break who took me back into the office. I went to my car after 15-20 minutes and felt really “heavy”.  I thought nothing of it and put it out of my head. For the next few weeks I started getting horrible painful screaming migraines where the pain would linger for 3-4 days. I lost all feeling in my hands and had tingling throughout my arms. My face and lip went numb on one side and my eyes lost sight. For some reason I could not speak because words would not form in my mind. I was so scared. I went to the ER because I thought I was having a stroke. They referred me to a neurologist and I went to her to get her opinion. Her diagnosis was chronic migraine, so she offered me pain pills. I rejected them asking her if we could just find a way to stop them all together. So after 2 months of this, I went in for my second Gardasil dose. The same thing happened but, this time I was prepared for it. I stayed in the office for 30 min after the injection. The Doctor told me I could leave when I felt fine. After this shot the migraines were worse.  My brain literally hurt. My nose would bleed so profusely that I felt as if I was bleeding out. I started getting confused while driving, could not figure out if a green light meant stop or go. One day on my way to work I just simply did not step on the breaks and ran into my office building up the cement stairs and my boss did not know what to say, or how to help me so she told me to take the day off. I would have to pull over and call my fiancé to help me through the migraines while I was driving home so I wouldn’t wreck. I couldn’t read street signs anymore. I did not even understand letters. I visited the neurologist again and she said confusion during migraines is normal. So after going through the horrible pain, bleeding, confusion, numbness, sight and sound problems for 6 months, I went and got my third dose of Gardasil, not even thinking any of this was related to the vaccine. After all of my suffering and with no real answers, I decided to research the symptoms I was experiencing. Come to find out I was not alone. I found a few support groups and blogs of mothers and teens who were struggling with the same symptoms I was. Some were worse; some had even died. The one thing we had in common was we had all taken the HPV vaccine, Gardasil. I do not believe this is a coincidence. I suffered for almost 5 years before I started researching to see if there were ways to ease some of the symptoms. I learned how to detox, adjust my diet and use natural alternative methods. It took a whole year of using multiple methods including eating organic, detoxing of heavy metals, doing Epsom salt baths, etc… Finally, I am beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel. My symptoms are nowhere near as horrible as they used to be. I still have periods where my hands will go numb and then they feel “non-existent,” but it’s rare. I’ll take that over everything else I went through any day. I am just glad that for the most part it is over. Before you decide if Gardasil is right for you, please do your research. Regular cervical exams would have never given me all of the pain and suffering Gardasil has.