Just went to our first visit with a new family practice doctor, Dr. Blanner. He's at the Family Health Specialists of Lee's Summit (by LS Hospital at 816-524-8488). I was very impressed with Dr. Blanner. He listened to our situation and was very objective when presenting information. My girls and I were in his office about an hour. I can't tell you the last time I had a doctor who actually listened and discussed things with us for 15 min, let alone an hour. We explained we were looking for objective info re: vaccines, but needed a doctor who could still work with us even if we continued to claim religious exemption. He said he would do that.
We have had a recent case of pertussis in one high school, one middle school and my 2 girls' elementary school. Because my kids aren't current on vaccinations, we were told by the Department of Health and Senior Services to stay home 21 days (incubation period) or get a 5-day prophylactic antibiotic to make sure we weren't passing it to anyone. My girls have no symptoms of cold or cough at all, nor was this child in their grade or on their bus. I have one child with some gut issues (gluten, dairy, soy and tomato sensitivities) and I don't want to give antibiotics without reason. I also was questioning how many times we'd have to give antibiotics just to appease the state if another case was seen at our school soon after this one. So we opted to stay home. Thank goodness they made the 21 days retroactive to the first day of school (first possible day of exposure) and we are schooling at home 8 days total. These do count as absences and we do not qualify for homebound teaching even if 21 days out. The vaccinated child who obtained pertussis does qualify, just FYI.
Our doctor's office of 7 years, Lee's Summit Physician's Group, told us over the phone they wouldn't give prophylactic antibiotics without symptoms/testing (yay!) but then told us to be prepared to ask to leave their practice. The nurse said she didn't know how we slipped through the cracks but their policy is to only treat those who immunize. We have not been to the offices much in 7 years and the only reason we still stayed was because they never questioned our decision to stop vaxing, even as soon as last March. I decided to just find another doctor before we were kicked out and found Dr. Blanner. We'll see how it goes, but I'm way impressed after our first visit, and it looks like our whole family can go to him. He would follow the State orders for antibiotics even without symptoms because he is mandated, he said, but his general philosophy is more hands off. He did not seem to question our pertussis vaccine choice much. He did strongly recommend the tetanus shot, and presented a good case for it. He was ok if we still continue on our current non-vax path. He's fairly young and has a child under a year, so he may solidify his views more as his own child grows. Currently I don't see him going to bat for us much. We'll have to see. In the meantime, I'd recommend him for an allopathic doctor just after our one visit. I still want to go to a naturopath, as well. Hope that helps!
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