No matter what Jenny McCarthy says or does or claims I always find hard to stay angry at her for long. I like her a lot. She is fun and smart and sexy and refreshingly candid when most celebrities try and obfuscate while they decide what that word actually means. This month Jenny gave a very long interview to Cookie Magazine. No, I don't actually read Cookie Magazine on a regular basis, but I do keep up with them. They are the magazine that interviewed Amanda Peet last year when she mad all the vaccine comments. The first thing Jenny said in this interview was that she thinks vaccines are safe, just not for everyone.
One of the reasons I always end up liking Jenny even when she signs on with Oprah is that she is passionate about her son. She loves that kid like all parents should love their kid and you can't help but pull for someone who has done so much for a cause she believes in and became involved in because of her child.
I will let you read the whole article, but this is an example of why I like her. She talks about a time when her son was put on some anti-seizure medicine after he had suffered through a seven hour seizure. I can't imagine what it must be like to see your child go through a 7 hour seizure and be helpless while you watched. Anyway, the hospital gave him some medicine.
"When he got home from the hospital, Evan was put on a heavy dose of anti seizure medication, which kept him awake for four days and induced hallucinations that made him not recognize his mom and bang his head against the wall until he bled. 'I ran out of my house and into my driveway and screamed at the top of my lungs to God to just take him away, because I loved him so much and he was in so much pain,' McCarthy says of the period she describes as her "second rock-bottom" (the first being the moment Evan's heart stopped momentarily)."
With other celebrities you would think a statement like that would just be hyperbole if they could figure out what that word meant. With Jenny though you sense that it really happened and that she really had those emotions and then she is sharing all of that grief and pain and realization with the world. She never seems like she is doing it just for her own benefit or to make herself better known. I don't always agree with Jenny, but I admire her and respect her and that is a lot more than I can say for 99% of the celebrities out there.
I understand what you're saying about her. I just wish she would drop the anti-vaccine kick - not only does the argument stand in the face of scientific evidence, scaring people away from giving their kids vaccines means that some kids will needlessly contract serious illnesses.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to Mr. T, I wish she would drop the "I cured my kid of autism" thing.
ReplyDelete@Mr. T - so true. My kids are in college now and I'm amazed how many collle kids are contracting major illnesses that my kids have been vaccinated for. Stuff comes back and around again.
ReplyDelete*loves it when you wear your big boy college pants and use big words* ;)
ReplyDeleteWithout starting a mom war, I think her anti-vaccine rants do more harm than good. Mumps and measles are making a comeback in the UK where shots aren't required for school.
ReplyDeleteI also feel for her though. Many parents struggle to make sense of the autism diagnosis. It is easier to blame the vaccines or treat the child as if they have some kind of special spirituality that we can all learn from.
That said, I've never been a fan of hers. I've always thought that she was crude and not funny.
Going against the common grain, here, I have to say that I think she's right. Vaccines ARE safe for most people, but NOT for everyone, and this has been and is currently being studied. It has to do with the mercury levels in certain vaccines which were originally deemed safe because of a lack of evidence otherwise. Now, with exploding autism rates, there is some major tap-dancing going on about CERTAIN vaccines. Like it or not, agree or disagree, if you're going to say she's wrong, could you also explain why autism is going through the roof and provide scientific evidence to support it? Probably not.
ReplyDeleteI really recommend everyone read 'Slow Death by Rubber Duck'. That book totally freaked me out, and it is based on actual scientific study and analysis, not just ignorant conjecture. Also, a good friend of mine is a surgeon and he as much as admitted that the vaccine thing is looking pretty decent as a factor for the incidence of autism in SOME children. Vaccinations are necessary, but we need them to be safe. She doesn't debate the necessity of them, she just wants the government and FDA to look at what's in them to ensure safety. What's the problem with that?
But, everyone can believe what they want, right? Didn't people think cigarettes were safe, once?
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ReplyDeleteKat said it best, I think. The more information there is out there the better informed a parent can be when it comes to making the vaccination decision. I have a couple of friends whose children are autistic, and it is heartbreaking and scary how random the disease seems to be.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love Jenny McCarthy, she seems like the kind of person I'd like to sit and have a drink and conversation with.
can all vaccines come without mercury? i read somewhere that the parents have to "request" that their kid get a mercury free vaccine.
ReplyDeleteenty, whether or not she signs on with oprah should not cause you to dislike jenny. it's business and money. i get that you can't stand oprah, but get over yourself.
"i get that you can't stand oprah, but get over yourself."
ReplyDeleteLol, Quintessential Southerner.
FOR ME SHE WORKED WITH HER SON TO MAKE HIM THE BEST HE CAN BE....SHE GAVE HIM THE BEST OF HERSELF, NOT LIKE OTHER CELEB'S WHO HIDE AN UN- PERFECT CHILD AWAY...BURY THEIR HEADS IN THE SAND......I DON'T ALWAYS AGREE BUT I DO RESPECT HER....
ReplyDeleteAND I BELIEVE IN VACCINATING CHILDREN
IT'S SO IMPORTANT IN THE WORLD WE LIVE IN, MORE NOW THAN EVER...
Kat, the reasons for the increased rate of reported autism are not yet known. HowEVER, it is known, really, seriously, honestly and truly, that vaccines are NOT the cause of autism.
ReplyDeleteThe way scientists become confident in a finding like that is only when studies are done over and over and the findings are replicated many times. Then a "meta-analysis" is done of these studies and the conclusions are drawn.
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ReplyDeleteI HAVE A FRIEND WHO WORKS WITH FAMILIES HELPING TO GET THEM THE AID FOR PROPER EDUCATION, SPECIAL SCHOOLS, EXTRA ATTENTION...SHE THINKS IT'S A COMBINATION OF THINGS...OLDER PARENTS, STDS, CESAREAN DELIVERY...NOT TO MENTION THE FAMILY HISTORY....
ReplyDeleteIT WILL BE YEARS BEFORE WE KNOW FOR SURE...
Kat....the govt have never said that vaccines are meant for everybody and totally safe but the alternative have not having vaccination is much more dangerous.
ReplyDeleteCould you imagine rubella, polio, mumps, measles b/c more of a common occurrence today.
Those are communicable diseases....very dangerous ....and not something you can ignore.
You could also say that the reason why we have more autism today b/c of the fact there is less of a social stigma attached to it, better understanding to the point where can diagnose it earlier and provide some type of treatment.
Most moms would not run out to to their driveways to scream -- only she would think to do that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Vanessa that autism is being diagnosed more and more because there is less of a social stigma attached and also because we have a larger population as a whole.
Wow! I continue to vacillate about the possible causes of autism but am glad that you all provided different perspectives and interesting medical information to this blog.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion of Jenny, at the very least she keeps the causes of autism at the forefront of the public's mind. Her tireless effort to support Evan is commendable.
I have no problem continuing to dislike her. I'm totally with you Mr. T.
ReplyDeleteI'm with ENTY on this
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm not against vaccines.
Let's just do them later.
My son got them started at age THREE and he tolerated all of it alot better than my daughter did at 18 months.
I have adored her since she was on Oprah (YEARS ago), where I was prepared to just HATE her... She brought her poster, and marked on it where her hips *really* ended and where her boobs really ended. She talked about the changes made (to the poster) that weren't really her. She was so funny, and so honest....
ReplyDeleteI like two things about her. She is NEVER afraid to laugh at herself and her child is EVERYTHING to her. Jenny is a Mom and not a Hollywood photo op Mom.
ReplyDeleteI think the best thing any parent can do for their child where vaccines are concerned is to be informed at the whole vaccination process. Children are not the only ones that need to be informed. My sister has Lupus she can not have a live virus vaccination or be exposed to someone who has had one.
Do what's best for you but be informed in your choices.
If I had autism, I'd sure prefer her as a mom than John Travolta as a dad.
ReplyDeleteActually, my son is autistic, and I do appreciate the work she does, but like cancer, one treatment does not fit anyone else, but one person. Very individual. Actually, the vaccine thing is correct, but it is not the mercury. When you put 7 horrendous diseases into a 5 month old's body in 1 day, the immune system is supposed to mark it, and attack it for a kill. But with vaccines, it has to mark and attack 7. It overloads the immune system and it crashes them. For some reason, the MMR is especially brutal on children.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Wakefield, Jenny. Look it up.
ReplyDeletei have a child with autism and i have spoken to andrew wakefield. the original study was recanted by all of the associated doctors (except wakefield) because they were threatened, not because they didn't believe in the study.
ReplyDeleteshe has a right to do what she thinks is best for her child. why should we be forced to vsccinate so that other people's children can be "safe"? and if you think those vaccines are so great, then it won't matter if my children are vaccinated because the vaccines protect your kids, right?
to answer the previous question about thimerosal, it was removed from children's vaccines a couple of years ago (by law). buit the vaccines that still contain it may or may not still be on the shelf. and, while the children's flu vaccines are made w/o it, last year in california we ran out of the children's vaccines andkaiser was giving adult vaccines (which contain it). parents were not told, it came out in a press release.
tetnus shots also contain it.
Actually, college kids getting mumps is an argument against vaccination. When I was a kid, just about all children had mumps. For most children it is a very minor childhood illness. The mumps vaccine may be preventing...6 deaths a year...if that. However, the vaccine appears to wear off, or fade out, or something...and then college kids get mumps. Mumps in adults is a much more serious and painful illness. This is an improvement? This is a benefit?
ReplyDeleteI just wish people would research and think about vaccination. Why in the world do all the babies in the U.S. receive the Hepatitis B vaccine within a few hours after birth? Only a very small number of babies are actually at risk. There are methods for identifying the babies who actually need the vaccine. So?
until they can ensure that these studies aren't funded by companies who will make a profit one way or the other, how can we even trust the results?
ReplyDeleteJamie's Girl: I agree 100%. I have two on the spectrum, one more Aspberger's and the other more typically autistic with mental retardation. I think the vaccines are given too much all at once and far too young. As a parent, you have the right to have them spaced out and not given all at once on their schedule (which from working for doctors I can tell you is most times for the convenience of the staff and not for the benefit of your child).
ReplyDelete@ahdaboom - Without engaging in a full vaccination debate, can I please just point out one thing? That 1998 Wakefield study (which involved 12 children) was discredited because the data was falsified. Andrew Wakefield is not some martyred crusader, and his colleagues were not 'intimidated,' - they're now under investigation by the UK medical council. This information is unfortunately too late for the children who died as a result of the dramatic drop in UK immunisation rates between 1998-2008, and the resulting 23 fold rise in measles cases. Unfortunately, I now see he is working in Texas (he certainly wouldn't be hired in the UK). I respect your desire to understand your child's condition - and it's great that you're researching things thoroughly, but I would be very wary of anything that man has to say. He's an old fashioned snake-oil salesman, and an embarrassment to the medical profession.
ReplyDelete