Families Use Social Media to Respond to Gardasil Side Effects
When I originally named the final installment in the Empowher Gardasil series, the title was “A Mother Speaks Out.” Yet, I found that that one woman’s story was reflected in the journeys of parents around the world who were searching to understand why their daughters had become mysteriously ill. A series of circumstances seemed to be replicating, and the Gardasil vaccine kept popping up as a common denominator. As parents sought to navigate a situation where their healthy daughters had become sick and, in the worse case scenario – died, they turned to the Internet for answers. Scouring the web for information, checking message boards and chat rooms, they found out that their predicament was not isolated. They reached out to others; harnessed the power of social media; created support systems and advocacy networks. They began to build a grassroots movement to square off against Merck & Co., the producer of Gardasil. Most importantly, for families who were at the start of an overwhelming and arduous process, they found a space to enter which had been constructed by those who had been there before them. In 2009, Rosemary Mathis and Marian Green started the website TheTruthAboutGardasil. It comes up in a Google search for Gardasil second, directly underneath the Gardasil website. With a play on Merck’s advertising pitch, their tagline is “I don’t want to be ‘One Less.’ Investigate before you vaccinate.” I spoke with both women in a joint interview by telephone. They explained their struggles to understand why their daughters’ health had become impaired. Lauren, Mathis’ 12 year-old, had been told by her pediatrician that the Gardasil vaccine was “the best thing for her.” The first shot left Lauren with nausea and headaches. She had the same symptoms three to four weeks after her second shot, and was advised that she had a “virus.” The third shot, which Lauren received in mid-August of 2008, disabled her. By September 4th, she had pains in her legs and side. Comment on this post
We value and respect the experiences of all of our HERWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.
I am looking forward to joining the Empowher team as a Her writer. Health is an integral part of each woman’s ...
Add a Comment14 Comments
Hi Marcia - Indeed, social media continues to be an incredible resource for those of us concerned about health issues. I just wrote about this yesterday:
http://www.empowher.com/community/share/can-e-mail-day-keep-doctor-away
Thanks for the great information, and a very interesting post.
Best, Pat
Thank you so much for doing this article! Because of this you are bringing attention to what this vaccine is doing to girls and their families on a global scale. And thank you "empowher", for giving Marcia the forum!
Marcia, that you for letting us be a voice for the sick girls and their parents. This is not only a national issue, but an international issue. The FDA needs to investigate why a government entity would approve this vaccine and why we continue to allow its use when girls all over the world are becoming injured as a result.
Thank your for the many lives you may have saved by allowing our voice to be heard.
Rosemary Mathis
www.truthaboutgardasil.org
truthaboutgardasil@charter.net
I have a 19 year old who received the Gardasil vaccine. Prior to the vaccine she was a college cross country runner who was in excellent health- Now, over a year after her second injection, she was forced to miss the past 2 semesters of college and would be hard pressed to walk 10 minutes on a tread mill The side effects of this vaccine are devastating.
Very well done! Thank you for you support in not only helping our daughters, but in helping us to get this poison off of the market so that no other family has to go through what we have to go through!
I am no longer referred to as the "cheer mom", the "soccer mom", the "student council mom" or the "taxi mom". I am now a Gardasil mom. And I hate it! My daughter has vomited every day since the first day she got her first and only shot. She has PID, (pelvic inflammatory disease, which causes sterility or makes her high risk for tubal pregnancies) migraine headaches, brain fog, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, depression (but then who wouldn't be depressed?) and every test says that she is fine. This has been the most challenging thing I have ever had to endure as a parent, or as a person for that matter. And the frustration of dealing with the denial in the medical professions is another story! Just don't do it! Don't take the chance! It's NOT WORTH THE RISK!! And thank you for your wonderful portrayal of our story! You did a fabulous job!
Laurie Dean-Smith...mother of Ashlee Smith. Her story is on truthaboutgardasil.org on the injuries page.
As the parent of a girl who has been suffering from the side effects of this deadly vaccine I would like to thank you for taking the time to research the real effects that this vaccine is having on our daughters. If you are a parent who is considering this vaccine for your daughter please visit the NVIC website (National Vaccine Information Website) and read everything they have to say about Gardasil.
I'd like to thank all these women above for sharing their stories and I wish your daughters a healthy recovery from these devastating side effects.
While I'm no way "thankful" that it's your daughters and not mine, I think the fact that so many of you have come out and told your stories will benefit newer moms like me.
My girls are at least 10 years away from being pressured to get this vaccine but from my own research and listening to stories such as yours, I can protect my girls because of your shared experiences and wisdom and I"m very grateful.
I wish you and yours the best.
Thank you Marcia for this well-done article.
I am writing from Spain, here there is an Association of 17 families (AAVP) who are together to try to help each other. Really it is very hard to realise that you are not getting any support from Health Authorities. Some of the girls of our Association are more than one year ill, some of them on a wheel chair, some others with seizures... and Health Authorities do not care about them. Luckily we have contacted with people who are working around the world and we have realised after reading so much information that these girls are not the only ones in the world. Paradogically, when you read about adverse effects you realise that all of them are more or less the same in most of the girls: joint pains, tiredness, headaches. I wish scientist investigated what is happening to these girls, I wish they were the girls they used to be before they got this vaccination.
Thank you Marcia