Jenni Balck, 47, is an elementary school teacher living in south Orange County, California.
A small minority of children like Brooke, however, cannot get vaccinated because of a medical condition.
With the rate of unvaccinated children on the rise, Jenni is increasingly concerned for her daughters safety.
Image courtesy of the writer
We talked to Jenni about what its like to be the parent of a child in this scary situation.
Here is her story.
Brooke was born healthy.
She was gaining weight, being a normal, happy baby.
Then all of a sudden she was getting kind of sick and throwing up.
We just thought maybe it was reflux, that there might be a problem with her food or something.
He listened to Brookes heart and said, I feel like I hear something funky with her heart.
Lets send her to a cardiologist to check it out.
I figured that if everything looked good after that, Brooke could continue with her vaccines.
We went to the cardiologist and he did several tests.
She is very, very sick.
Our whole world turned upside down.
We learned that Brooke had acquired a form of heart disease calleddilated cardiomyopathy.
They said it was just a random case of bad luck.
It was later determined that it was probably due to a virus.
Her heart was enlarged to three times the size it should have been.
It was like the size of an adults in her little infant body.
She was on multiple medications and she was hospitalized several times.
She even had to be hospitalized for croup, which doesnt usually happen.
Really any illness could have been detrimental.
It was very isolating for me.
Billy also wasnt able to do as much.
We had to get a nanny because we needed somebody to be home all the time.
I was working part-time and we had no family in Southern California.
Hospital staff actually called it a milrinone tune-up.
Every time the doctors put Brooke on milrinone, they would wean her off and send her home.
When she took a serious downward turn at age two she went in for the milrinone again.
This time she could not be weaned off.
Thats when she was listed for a heart transplant.
Since Brookes transplant she has had to take medicine every day to suppress her immune system.
Otherwise her body would recognize her heart as a foreign body and attack it.
Therefore she also cannot have any live vaccines, like MMR or varicella.
Because Brooke is immunocompromised her body might not be able to fight it off.
She had a lot of skin infections and stomach issues happeningshe had MRSA at one point.
A lot of that revolved around the types of medications she takes and herweakened immune system.
Before all of this I was absolutely planning on making sure Brooke got all her vaccinations.
Wefully vaccinatedour son, Billy.
I did my research beforehand as many parents with time on their hands will do.
Im very big on my sources, maybe more than some because Im a teacher.
I wasnt going to listen to some celebrity.
I looked at the scientific data and made the decision to vaccinate my son per the doctors guidelines.
I would have done the same for Brooke, but her immune system was too weak for that.
I can’t imagine that the family that donated her heart would want her to live that way.
Shes done competitive dance, shes been on club soccer and snow skiing.
But knowing these things are out there, its been very scary raising Brooke.
I have to be very proactive about protecting her.
At that point, she was putting things in her mouth.
Everyone knows her and her story.
But I do go in and talk to the teachers before school starts.
I ask them to let me know if any illnesses are going around the class.
But if she has even a pretty low fever she needs to be hospitalized as a precaution.
As Brooke develops friendships and wants playdates with kids, I talk to the parents.
Before a sleepover or something I ensure I kind of know the family and where they stand onvaccinations.
Ill always start by telling Brookes story so they know what shes been through.
And then Ill end with the fact that she cant be vaccinated and kind of get their take.
Its a very awkward conversation.
Its difficult not to have people feel judged.
I also have to talk to Brooke about it.
She has been around kids before who werenot vaccinated.
Then there are general precautions we take to not be in tight, crowded areas.
We never go to opening night of a movie, for example.
We wait until it’s been out a little bit.
I’ve also been very on top of all the coverage of vaccine stories over the past few years.
I follow the news quite a bit and keep track of where big outbreaks are and whats coming around.
I ask doctors to let me know when something is happening.
Its always a concern.
That kind of thing has happened a few times since Brookes transplant.
When she was in preschool, there was the bigmeaslesoutbreak inDisneyland.
That was pretty scary.
It came to our little community and Brooke had to stay home.
I was very on edge not knowing what it would mean for our family.
Then a few years ago, there was a huge outbreak of themumpsat Ohio State University.
Just a couple of months ago there were people at schools in our county who hadwhooping cough.
In my mind Brookes always one illness away from going back into the hospital.
We take every possible precaution we can while letting her live her life.
But nothing is foolproof.
I do all that I can but really its out of my control.
I absolutely feel helpless sometimes.
I can feel pretty safe with her at school knowing everyone who can be vaccinated is.
It makes my blood boil.
My child and other children truly are in jeopardy here.
Look, I know that every parent is doing the best they can.
Were all winging it.
But parents who are deciding not to vaccinate their children could put my child in danger.
If they make that choice then I think they need to be homeschooling their kids.
I dont know how to say that nicely.
But a school should be a safe place.
Parents of children who cant get vaccinated want to let them out in the world safely.
In order for that to happen everyone else who can get vaccinated must.
Im very hopeful that this one goes through because it would mean major protection for my child.
Thats why Ive become so vocal and active in supporting this bill.
I testified in a hearing in Sacramento in June.
Brookes been through so much in her short life.
Shes had so many surgeries and so many hospital stays.
People are generally floored when I mention what shes been through.
She is a super-tough cookie.
The problem sometimes lies in how healthy Brooke appears and how much energy she has.
Even friends thatve been in it with us, they sometimes forget that shes sick.
She is just as normal as can be.
you could forget shes delicate.
Shes also starting volleyball soon, and there could be unvaccinated kids on her team or the other team.
I cant control who shes playing against.
I dont know whos touching the ball.
So as she grows, a lot of this is going to be on her.
She needs to learn how to share her story, too, and protect herself.
Ive been guiding her through some of that, modeling how to have the conversation with people.
Eventually shell grow to be an adult and do it all herself.
We have enough anxiety with normal health stuff for Brooke after her heart transplant.
Kids withlegitimate health issuesand legitimate medical exemptions shouldnt have to go through that.
These kids generally always have a big medical history.
Theyre endangered and vulnerable and should be able to live the life theyve struggled to get.
They shouldnt have to deal with this unfair, unnecessary burden.
We should do better for them.
This story is part of a larger package called Vaccines Save Lives.
you could find the rest of the packagehere.
