When H1N1 was just starting up last fall, I was really frightened for my daughter, who has cardiac issues. I was afraid she'd get pneumonia. I read up on the dangers of the flu shot, and decided that the dangers of the flu, for her at least, were worse. So I had decided to get her the shot, but she got the flu before the shot was available.

She did get pneumonia. She's OK, but it was really scary there for a while. Again, I can only imagine if I had made the decision not to get the shot--I would have felt terrible.

So, now I have a story about how terrible I would have felt if I did get the shot and X happened, and one about how terrible I would have felt if I didn't get the shot and Y happened.

Thanks for your input. I am starting to get it into my thick head that the situation is this: there's no crystal-clear answer. I will read up (thanks, Mrs. D., for the links) and make a decision, and then if something bad happens, I'll try to remember that making a reasonable decision that turns out to have bad consequences is not the same as making a mistake!

Abby