Gardasil: We thought it was the right choice

By Gayle Dickson, Auckland, New Zealand

Essentially, our lives rocked along with the usual family squabbles, snotty noses, heat rashes and teenage pimples … nothing really major to concern ourselves over. Until the youngest, our daughter, started at College! Then all hell broke loose! In her final primary year (Year 8), we’d received notices regarding Gardasil. I was about to toss them in the bin, when the words “cervical cancer” caught my attention. My skin prickled and my eyes widened – we have a great deal of female cancer history on both my side and hubby’s maternal side … breast, ovarian, cervical … so I read on! I then did some very basic research, going onto Merck’s site, discussing it with friends etc.

Some friends cautioned outright against it; others were 50/50 and still others were, like: Why wouldn’t you if it can prevent cancer? Given that I couldn’t find anything specifically negative in my searches at that time, we came to the conclusion that we should go ahead.

There was no immediate reaction to the vax … even after the third shot …. Apart from the odd sore arm, short term headache and a slight feeling of not being quite right, but we ignored that as normal for vaccinations. She left primary and went off to college … vibrant, healthy, getting good grades, participating in all manner of sports and, often to our mind, taking on too much!

About six months later, things began to crumble … she complained most nights about being extremely fatigued to the point where she was in bed by 7.30 every night. Okay, she was always an early-to-bed-early-to-rise girl… But this was beyond even her capacity for sleep!

We then noticed that she was starting to wake tired, too. It wasn’t long after that when the nagging nausea started. Then she started slipping with her grades and we succumbed to extra tutoring. She kept complaining of “not being able to pay attention or keep up” and saying things like “I’m just so stupid, mum!”  Initially, we told her that she was now in college and needed to buck up her ideas, work harder, etc.

Visits to the GP were fruitless…. endless blood tests, urine and stool samples etc … all proved nothing. They just kept stone walling us with more and more scripts that achieved nothing and, in my opinion, exacerbated the issues! Most times, they merely concluded that it was all in her head!

By now, the joint pains had started, too. We wrote these off to her demanding regime competing nationally and internationally at cheerleeding, and berated her for not being fit enough and not working on her core strength enough.

Eventually, about 3 years ago, we went off to see an iridologist who’d worked wonders for a friend with gut issues. He took one look at my daughter’s ridiculously blue eyes and said her acid levels were off the scale. He immediately commenced a detox program and had her off dairy, gluten and sugar in a flash. We plodded through this regime for 3 months, slowly noticing an improvement in her attitude, behaviour and energy. Phew, we thought, things were back to normal. Even when we were able to resume a normal diet, we did however, stick to the gluten-free aspect as that seemed to set her off again when re-introduced to her diet… but sugar and dairy came back in with no adverse reactions.

Sadly, the peace and quiet didn’t last. It wasn’t long before the nausea and fatigue crept back again, only this time it was accompanied by anxiety and depressive bouts, too. The GP had prescribed about four different anti-nausea tablets, none of which really helped and three of which make her so tired she couldn’t take them at school for fear of falling asleep at her desk! He then put her on The Pill – according to him, this might help regulate hormonal imbalances! He gave her Losec and other antacids.

In fear that we were facing cancer or something just as evil, we requested a gastro scope only to be told the wait list was six months. A ranting mother in a doctor’s waiting room can work wonders – we were in within weeks instead! However, that showed clear – no lumps, blockages that we need concern ourselves over – the stomach and duodenum appeared normal. Biopsies were taken with a cold forceps for Helicobacter pylori testing so that they could do an evaluation for coeliac – bearing in mind she’d lost about 10kg over about a year through not wanting to eat most of the time. Those results are now in, and she’s clear of Coeliac.

Frustrated beyond all belief, I went to see a holistic GP – not a cheap exercise, but we were at wits end. Within minutes of our consult with him, he asked if she’d had the Gardasil vax … OMG, light bulbs exploded in my head, my heart raced and my hands went clammy! Really, was it that simple?

Haha – simple? I really kidded myself with that one, didn’t I?

He did some further questioning and honestly seems to believe her symptoms are all related … and the timing certainly is impeccable. She wasn’t his first, it seemed – there had been quite a few … and his alarm bells were geared to look out for the symptoms.

The hair analysis he ordered showed a sensitivity to dairy. The bloods he ordered showed that her iron levels were “depleted” – not even a number alongside – they’ve just recently gone up from 6 to 13 – the first time an iron supplement has actually absorbed within her since this whole mess started thanks to having them injected rather than taking oral supplements!

For the last few months, he’s been working with us to boost her immune system, clean out toxins and generally fix what didn’t actually need to be broken in the first place. He has been fantastic in terms of providing me with information on Gardasil as well as other vaccinations.

We are intravenously injecting Vitamin C (which can at times make her feel awful as her blood pressure is horrendously  low post-Gardasil). We’re are also taking SA (Sodium Ascorbate powder) in high doses, as well as Lypospheric Vitamin C.

I inject her with B12 every couple of weeks. She’s on the following supplements: Vit D, iron, magnesium, St Mary’s Thistle, NAC and Ashwaganda. She’s also started on Sacromyces Boulactis, aloe concentrate and Kombucha, and a host of others I can’t recall right now – suffice to say, I thank heavens for iHerb.com!. We have managed to secure some very generous donations through a Give A Little page set up by a friend (https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/tawnidickson) without which we may not have been able to continue with some of her expensive treatments.

We are attempting reflexology and acupressure points to ease the constant nausea, as well as seeing Anthony and Fay at Stillpoint for a variety of osteophathy sessions – one to help relax and the other to detox the aluminium deposits. She’s also seen a wonderful kinesiologist who is helping with the pain and tension in her backs and shoulders.

We have also been dealing with outbreaks of boils (which have now appeared to stop thanks to upping her B12 levels). At one stage her breasts started leaking quite heavily (worse than mine did through both pregnancies!) – we discovered this was a direct result of one of the anti nausea pills … yet again, a known side affect of a medication that was never pointed out to us … we had to research it ourselves!

We have good days, bad days, and really bad days. It’s not often a day goes by without at least some queasiness, pain or anxiety creeping in. We are all trying to remain positive, but the tears very often flow – from her and us!

Most days during school term, she attempted to go to school chipper; within hours we usually either heard her car in the driveway or we’d get a call from the school nurse that she is so ill she couldn’t drive herself home ….on those days, I thanked God I don’t work for a boss and am self-employed!

Her school attendance got so bad, sometimes not attending for up to two weeks, that we have now, in conjuction with her teachers and with their full support, decided to home school in order to complete her final year in College. At this stage, we aren’t sure what she’s going to do about University studies that she was so intent upon, as there is no way she could cope. She is currently looking at correspondence courses to achieve even a Diploma level.

I’m at the point where I’m collating data madly. I am now living 18-20 hour days, fitting in work somewhere amongst the medical appointments and then frantically reading, researching, messaging and chatting to all and sundry. Running ragged, but determined to do something to get my nearly 18 year old back to her former self.

We’ve recently met and chatted with so many other mothers, fathers and daughters going through the same or even worse symptoms, and it’s made me realise how important it is for these girls to know they’re not alone … and for us mothers and fathers to feel that we have an outlet. Thank God for social media and the support groups.

Over and over the Facebook posts in groups such as this, I’m very keen to set up a regular get-together over coffee (or wine!) and nibbles so that we can all vent, share solutions and start to regain our lives again. If anyone is in the Auckland region and keen, do message me on E: gayledd@me.com. Parents or girls are welcome to ring me, too: C: +64-21-2817699.

I refuse to allow this vaccine to continue harming our girls and am doing everything in my power to bring it to the attention of the media and authorities. I’ve had two interviews done … one has already been ”shelved” as they maintain that I can’t provide scientific proof that the vaccine is to blame! Go figure!

But I won’t give up …. Another interview should hopefully see the light of day soon, and I’ve had talks with a member of the Waitemata (Auckland) District Health Board, and am trying to get to see our Minister of Health. I’m also pushing local MP’s to sit up and take notice!