When I adopted a pair of twins, one of the first things that struck me was how many doctor's appointments they needed to go to. As we took them to all of their baby well-checks, I realised that these appointments were designed to find and address issues early before they caused other problems. Fortunately, our family paediatrician found a few critical problems that we were able to resolve head-on, and it was immensely helpful. Check out this blog for information about health care, preventative care, and helping your child to enjoy a better life. I know that some of these tips helped me, and I know that they can help you too.
If you are a teen under your parent's health insurance, there is a good chance that you go to the same doctor that you have been going to since you were little and that your mom or dad makes your appointments and goes with you. This can make asking the pediatrician personal questions somewhat difficult because you might be too embarrassed to do so in front of your parents or that asking your parents to leave the room is too much conflict. One thing that you might have heard about but don't know how to bring it up is the HPV vaccine. There are a series of shots that will vaccinate you against certain strains of HPV, which can make it safer for you to be sexually active. However, you might assume that your parents are not going to be okay with the vaccine because they could assume that you want to have sex. Here are some tips that you can use to talk with your parents and your pediatrician about the HPV vaccine.
1. Get Your Pediatrician Involved
You can get the email address or phone number of your pediatrician off his or her website. Give him or her a call when your parents aren't home and leave a message explaining your dilemma. Ask if he or she could advocate for you about the vaccine and convince your parents to allow you to get it. Email is a good solution if you cannot leave a message for your pediatrician. If your appointment is not for several months, make sure that you call or email him or her right before your appointment to jog his or her memory.
2. Print Out Information
If your parents won't take you to the doctor for a long time, consider making your own PowerPoint presentation or pamphlet that has research to show the benefits of the HPV vaccine. One source for such materials is this. When you are doing your research, be sure that you are keeping track of the sites that you use. Try to stay away from sites that have a .com or .info ending and instead using sites that have a .gov, .org, or .edu ending. These tend to be more reputable cites. The Center for Disease Control is also a good source.
3. Don't Mention Sex
Parents don't like the idea of their kid having sex. When you are pitching the HPV vaccine to your parents, make it clear that you do not consider it to be permission to have sex and stress the fact that it is a way to prevent cancer.
For more information, talk to your pediatrician.
Share7 December 2016
