The Beginning...

Hello. :)
My name is Caleigh. I'm 17 years old, and I am very sick.

Two years ago, I was a perfectly normal (physically;D) girl. I was in my freshman year of high school, a clarinet in the marching band, an active person in my youth group, blah blah blah. Point, I was fine.
Then I got the shot...

The Gardasil vaccine is supposed to prevent against HPV. They say it is BETTER for us to get the shot. Well, we did just because we wanted to cover all the bases (medically speaking) for a 15 year old girl who was just starting to get comfortable with her newly formed body. We got the same talk doctors give before you get any type of vaccination... It goes something like this, "Your arm might hurt for a few days after the shot. You might get a little dizzy, a headache even, but nothing too extreme. It is safe." We got the first shot out of the series of 3.


About a month later, my life pretty much flipped. I remember the first time something wasn't right. I was in band class talking to my friend about a guy I liked at the time, when I just passed out. Just like that, plop. I'm down. I remember waking up and gasping for air... And I had that horrible feeling when you can't feel your legs. I was full blown panicking. Well of course everyone freaks out and screams for other people to go get the nurse. My band teacher (bless his heart) stayed by my side as well as my best friend (bless her heart too) until the nurse arrived (bless her heart even more). She had my dad on the phone and was trying to get me to talk so my breathing would calm down. She loaded me into a wheelchair and had me sing nursery rhymes into a paper bag until I was calm and breathing normally. M daddy came and picked me up from school and took me home. I don't remember what happened the rest of that day, but I remember it didn't stop there.


I kept having these "episodes" where I would pass out and hyperventilate and all that good stuff... And we couldn't figure out why. I had been to the emergency room a few times, had gotten blood taken, gotten poked and prodded and stethoscoped. Every time, though, they couldn't find an answer. All they would say was for me to stay home from school the next day and rest. That is what I did.


After a particularly hard night (being rushed to the E.R. for not breathing right...AGAIN.) I expected to have a nice and relaxing day at home. I was hoping not to get sick. My dad stayed home with me, because obviously someone needed to be watching me just in case. Well, my Pappy had stopped over to talk to my dad about computers. My aunt came over too, and it was just this little awkward party. I started not feeling good and immediately laid down and told my dad to bring me a paper bag just in case my breathing hyped up again. I didn't start hyperventilating though. I started seizing.


I remember my aunt saying, "Paul, she's having a seizure. We need to time this." And then it felt like 30 seconds later, but she said, "Okay it has been 8 minutes. We need to take her to the hospital." I don't remember much after this. I remember getting there and them sticking those oxygen tubes up my nose... There were a lot of people standing around me that I didn't know. My family was corralled and squished into the corner, out of the way. I remember one lady saying, "Sweetie, I'm going to give you this medicine to stop your seizure." Then my mom came in the room, and I blacked out. I seized for another 5 hours, totally drugged out.


I was pretty much in and out of consciousness for the next few days.I remember a few bits and pieces... I remember them loading me in an ambulance to transfer me from one hospital to another. I remember waking up for like 30 seconds in the ambulance and hearing them talking about all of their relationship problems. I remember a guy with dreadlocks gluing wires to my head. I remember sitting up to use the bedpan and barfing on people. I remember a light panel above my bed that had butterflies on it, my youth pastor commenting on said light, and his wife smacking him because apparently "that isn't what you say to people who are in the hospital." I don't remember any more until I woke up for good.


I was in the hospital for 5 days before they let me go home. After that we had to deal with these seizures on our own.


My pastor's daughter coincidentally started having the same type of seizures 2 years before me, but I didn't know much about that. I just knew she was sick. Her dad came to the hospital when I was asleep and talked to my mom, and asked her if I had gotten the Gardasil vaccine. She said yes, I had. He then said that he and his wife believe that is the cause of their daughter's sickness, and that we should really research to see if that might be the cause of what was happening to me.


My mom hasn't stopped researching for 2 years, and we firmly believe that I am sick because of an adverse reaction to the Gardasil vaccine.




My goal with this blog isn't to complain to everyone about this. I have had my time to complain, and for a while, now, I have just had to learn to deal with it. I live my life to the fullest. I now have a restricted diet, I have to go to a small private school, I am restricted to a limited amount of exercise, and I now have to have a lot more sleep just to handle a few hours of the day. And yes, I still have seizures. I have only been seizure free for around 2 weeks.


My goal with this blog is to give my voice to others who may have suffered from the Gardasil vaccine, or another vaccine related injury. This is my way of giving a stand. I can talk a lot, yes. But I am always fumbling over words, and I feel that I speak with more power through writing. So, here I am, speaking my words. Just one sick girl with a laptop. Yeah, cool story bro. :)