Staff Writer, DL Mullan
MCS / Chemicals _____________________________________
Here is an introduction to MCS:
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Reflections by Dr. L. Christine Oliver and Alison Johnson www.alisonjohnsonmcs.com Dr. Oliver is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Co-Director of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Alison Johnson is the author/producer/director of books and documentaries on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.
Multiple Chemical Sensitives (MCS) is a real disease. Yet the American Medical Association does not take the illness seriously. What I have gone through dealing with family, friends, and hospitals has been disabling in and of itself.
Help and support are fleeting.
I have MCS. My disease is life threatening on a daily basis and I am one of the lucky ones. More below, but first educate yourself about MCS by listening to doctors and the people who suffer from it. So you may begin to understand the patients with the diesase and begin to protect yourself and your family from this debilitation illness.
Now on with our Movie Night Special:
Interviews with leading physicians and people whose lives have been changed by chemical sensitivity.
I just wish my employer (pesticide exposure from overuse and misuse in buildings and on publicly used patio furniture) and my family (black mold exposure due to a kitchen faucet leak of two years I was unaware of, and then taking another 8 months to remove the mold while I was recovering from the pesticide poisoning; therefore I had to rely on my family to remove the mold once I had a handyman repair the sink) hadn't decided to inflict Environmental Illness on me.
My name is Dawn Mullan, Editor and Staff Writer of the VDP Gazette. I am ill with MCS, TILT, CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), SBS (Sick Building Syndrome), WDB (Water Damaged Buildings) and Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS).
These are some of my stories:
Hospitals have told me: stop using the ER as a doctor's office when I have had life threatening reactions to an infection. The infection came out to be a UTI, urinary track infection. Over a year later, I discovered that mold was detected in my urine and I was told by a nurse that I had mold in my kidneys. Yet, I was chastised at the ER for that emergency situation.
A hospital doctor did a psychological attack on me by stating to my face with a witness by my side that my doctor told them I did not have MCS. I was sucking on pure oxygen because I was having a horrible chemical/mold reaction. Other times, I have been placed on a gurney by the ambulance entrance where I breathed in exhaust for over an hour and placed near infectious patients with high fevers. Hospital staff have also supported my family in holding me hostage in the suicide watch area and not giving me a social worker when I related the neglect and abuse in my home.
Which leads to how family members treat people who are chronically ill. I was a caregiver to my mother for many years. I have seen many emergency and hospital rooms. I have an honor code and incomparable work ethic. As a caregiver, I have never misused my power or abused my patient in any way. Unfortunately when it came time to repay my diligence, my family betrayed that trust.
Not only was I made ill by the black mold by their hands, I was isolated, threatened, neglected, starved, ignored, abused, and refused proper medical treatment that escalated in intensity over a three year period. My sister would come home from work and scream at me: "Psycho!" and "Tough Love! Tough Love!" I was 90lbs on a 5'4" frame under my family's care. Still today I am perplexed how yelling at someone solves a medical condition or combats an infectious disease.
My family defamed me to the point that no mutual friends or family members will have any type of relationship with me. I was accused of being a drug addict. I have never taken an illicit drug in my life. So I have learned that family and friends are of the fair weather kind except for the few people who respect my condition.
Employers are the worst offenders. ADA, what ADA? My employer ignored their own accommodation they gave me. They sprayed pesticides while I was at work, routinely, without notifying me to leave the work site.
What has happened to me is assault, criminal negligence, unlawful imprisonment, and murder for which I haven't died yet, more commonly referred to as a Wrongful Death case once I do pass on from my symptoms. Yet, not one person has been investigated or gone to jail. I have received no monetary settlement because I am on disability and all my funds go toward bills and medical needs.
Since I was cleared of mental illness by a psychiatrist, in addition, I am well educated and talented, I hope my story has weight. Now, with the damage done to my body, going to the store, picking a weed, or walking a distance are all potentially life threatening to me.
Chemicals in the environment need to be tested for safety. Millions of us around the world are sick because of the "profit over people" philosophy of corporations and governments.
It's time for humanity to realize: MCS is a real illness and Patients should have rights too.
Join the going natural club and save yourself from this horrible illness.
If you would like more information, please read books like Chemical Sensitivity by William J. Rea, M.D. and Mold Warriors by Ritchie Shoemaker, M.D.
Source: Youtube, Youtube,
