Vaccine Requirement for Liver Transplant Nearly Cost Life of 11 Year Old Boy
Politics have no place in hospitals. My son, who is 11 years old, suffered tremendously because of a mandatory vaccine policy at his transplant hospital. Kendetrick was diagnosed with newly onset liver disease out of nowhere on October 18, 2016. From that day forward, his life went out of control. Several procedures and tests were done over the next few months. Experimenting with medications, there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel. He was getting worse and worse. He stopped eating, stopped playing, stopped living. He was evaluated for a liver transplant on January 12 and 13, 2017. I was told they would not transplant my son or even list him on UNOS unless I agreed to get him fully up-to-date on his vaccines. I stopped when he was a baby, with the support of his doctor, after a failed RSV vaccine and the fact that he was always sick. I did my homework. This is a child who has many problems. He has congenital heart disease as well and has never really been "healthy." When speaking with one of the members of the transplant team about the fact that they "required" him to get vaccinated I asked "what would happened if I don't get them for him" and she said "we will make him comfortable and continue to try things, but he could not get listed on UNOS."