Re: MCS: Saving Our Lives Battling For Life

[Guest guest]

,

I am interested in publishing your story in our

documentary movie and book, THE BLACK PLAGUE, TOXIC

MOLD. I am so appalled that you have had to go through

this. I too suffer strong MCS symtoms as well as do

many of our members. If you choose to allow us to

publish your story we will need you to email a release

stating: I ____________give publication rights of my

story on Toxic Mold and MCS to Carroll Production Co.

and Carroll-Bower for the book and movie, THE

BLACK PLAGUE, TOXIC MOLD. Right before publication we

will send you another form to sign by snail mail after

you review what we are publishing. You can make or

suggest changes. A portion of the royalties will be

returned to those who publish their story with us.

We will work on getting a donation for your other

cause as soon as we possibly can. Will be in touch.

You can find us at the following websites:

http://ntmc0.tripod.com

http://ntmc0.tripod.com/carrollproductionco.

http://ntmc0.tripod.com/carroll

http://ntmc0.tripod.com/charity

Carroll-Bower,NTMCPresident

Sincerely,

Carroll-Bower,NTMCPresident

--- maggie_panion <cfs-mcs@...> wrote:

> A personal story by Walter

>

> Following is an update of my story I posted August

> of 2001. It will

> be published this summer in " Ecologic News, " a

> publication of 'Heal of

> Southern Arizona,' as well as submitted to various

> other MCS

> publications:

>

>

> I am 52 years old and have battled Multiple

> Chemical

> Sensitivities (MCS) for sixteen years. It began

> with a strep throat

> infection that ultimately led to having my tonsils

> out at age 36. In

> retrospect, I believe my initial overdose exposure

> was related to mold

> that I'd been unknowingly breathing for a year in

> the Birmingham,

> Alabama basement apartment where I was living. When

> I moved from that

> apartment and removed clothing from the bedroom

> closet, I discovered

> the walls caked with mold. I also grew up around

> the farmlands of the

> Yakima Valley in Washington State, an area that is

> heavy with

> pesticides.

>

> My MCS symptoms vary. They include chronic

> fatigue, fibromyalgia,

> depression, and also problems with the digestive

> track. Exposure to

> fragrances is the worst, but other fumes, solvents

> and chemicals also

> make me react. When exposed, I immediately

> experience an increase in

> the chronic pain on my right side and right chest.

>

> I have been through years of medical testing, with

> doctors minimizing

> symptoms and refusing to listen. I sought help from

> anyone who was

> willing to lend an ear. I have tried every possible

> cure:

> antibiotics,

> colonics, fasting, juice fasting, exercise regimes,

> meditation,

> psychotherapy, group therapy, support groups, family

> therapy,

> chiropractic, chi gong, acupuncture, anti-yeast

> diets, fit-for-life

> diets, protein diets, macrobiotic diets, Huggins

> diagnostics, removal

> of

> mercury amalgam fillings, and extraction of root

> canal teeth. I've

> also

> tried supplements, organic foods, purified water,

> medical specialists,

> naturopaths, dentists, and doctors of oriental

> medicine. I still

> suffer

> from MCS. The only way I can get any real physical

> relief is by

> avoidance, which is almost impossible if you have to

> make a living.

>

> In 1999 at the age of 48 and twelve years into my

> struggle with MCS,

> I

> was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer. The

> tumor was so advanced

> that the cancer had spread into my lymph system.

> This was after years

> of consulting gastroenterologists who had never

> bothered to do a

> colonoscopy; they were satisfied to prescribe

> anti-anxiety and

> anti-depressant medications for Irritable Bowel

> Syndrome. After

> cancer

> surgery, chemotherapy, and three years in remission,

> I am not only

> fighting for relief of MCS symptoms, I am literally

> fighting for my

> life. I need to avoid ongoing exposure to toxins in

> order to support

> an

> immune system that will keep my body cancer-free.

>

> For most of the sixteen-year battle with MCS, I've

> been a marriage

> and

> family therapist in private practice. After

> chemotherapy I became so

> ill that I had to stop working. During the year

> 2000 I lived in the

> Cascade

> Mountains near Mt. Rainier, resting and trying to

> regain my health. I

> applied for Social Security Disability Insurance

> (SSDI), but was

> denied

> and didn't have the energy to appeal. By the end of

> 2000, feeling

> much

> better and nearly broke after a year off work, I

> started up a private

> practice. I found myself once again battling with

> clients and

> colleagues about fragrances.

>

> Early in 2001, the director of a hospice program in

> Northern

> California

> offered me a position as bereavement coordinator.

> Having been given a

> written assurance of an odor-free work environment,

> I was filled with

> hope. Feeling a sense of " calling, " I uprooted my

> life in Washington

> and moved to California in March of last year to

> take this job with

> Hospice of Humboldt. To my dismay and shock, I

> arrived my first day

> of

> work only to find that nothing had been done to

> provide me with a safe

> work environment. I was bombarded by scents from

> candles in the

> offices

> and fragrances worn by the staff. Lysol sprays were

> used in the rest

> rooms across the hall from the office that I shared

> with other people.

> It became apparent that the staff had neither been

> informed nor

> educated

> about my MCS prior to my arrival making it incumbent

> upon me to inform

> them and make arrangements for my own accommodation.

> Moreover, I was

> told emphatically by administrators, who had

> apparently intimidated

> the

> director, that staff members had the right to use

> their fragrances.

> In

> my shock I went into denial, believing that I could

> overcome these

> obstacles and make it work; that I was not so

> sensitive anymore after

> living a year in the mountain air. Surely this

> staff of Hospice

> workers

> would come to understand my dilemma and accommodate

> me. However,

> within

> two months my health began to decline and I began to

> fear there was no

> saving grace; that I was encompassed by a work

> environment in which it

> was becoming impossible to survive.

>

> By the middle of July, three and a half months into

> my new job, I had

> to take medical leave, driven out by co-workers who

> refused to give up

> their fragrances. My health declined to a point

> near that of post

> chemotherapy, back to digestive track problems,

> chronic fatigue,

> chronic

> pain, and depression.

>

> Now I am climbing out of the hole once again, but

> this time aware

> more

> than ever that I am fighting for my life. I'm no

> longer in denial.

> For

> the first time I'm beginning to stand up for myself,

> and in the

> process,

>

> fighting for everyone who suffers from MCS. I began

> learning about

> accommodation rights under the Americans with

> Disabilities Act (ADA),

> found an employment law attorney and, as a person

> disabled by MCS, I

> filed a claim last August with the United States

> Equal Employment

> Opportunities Commission (EEOC) against Hospice of

> Humboldt. At the

> same time I began re-applying for SSDI with the

> solid support of an

> M.D.

>

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