Living with MCS (multiple chemical sensitivity)

Who knew that living in a diesel tank, um, I mean a three bedroom home, would cause our young family of four to become ill. Let me start at the beginning....

In the mid 90s, we moved into a three bedroom home that was close to a dairy farm my husband ran. We were in our mid 30s with two healthy adolescent daughters. Within a year, all of us came down with odd symptoms (fatigue, memory issues, rashes, joint pain, numbness/tinging, irreg. heart beat, word recall issues, etc.) No idea what was going on. Attended my grandparent's 70th wedding anniversary dance and both of them danced to every song while we sat and rested between songs (shortness of breath, fatigue). What the heck??? Blamed it on jet lag.

My husband was in the middle of starting a new business (building a bottling plant to sell our milk in glass bottles), and out of nowhere it appeared he had a stroke (not sure as he had a rash, arm numbness, unable to write down his symptoms on a piece of paper because his brain couldn't think through the thought process). Brought him to Duke Hospital here in NC. Tests were done over the next few days and nothing was found (he started feeling better). Back home for a couple weeks and the symptoms returned. Off to the ER where they again admitted him saying "we will leave no stone unturned".

In the meantime, back at our home, our daughters were experiencing odd symptoms. The oldest had what appeared to be a petit mal seizure and the youngest (11 years old) had some urinary incontinence. I had a pediatrician check her for an irregular heartbeat and was told that this occurs with younger children and they usually grow out of it.

After attending to my husband in the hospital (friends were watching our girls), I came home to a house that had been shut up all day. It reeked of an oil smell! I thought "this smelled of oil before and my husband blamed it on heating with fuel oil, but this was June and we had our air conditioner on!" Checked the crawlspace under the home (with the owner) and nearly fell backwards from the oil fumes under our home. Also pointed the flashlight on what appeared to be a small bedroom size area of oil directly under our home (the filter had been leaking oil for who knows how long). I called the fuel oil company to report it and naively asked "could this be what is causing our family to be having these weird symptoms?" and told him about my husband currently in the hospital. His response "no ma'am, our guys are routinely tested for hydrocarbon poisoning and never have any issues". I thought it was odd as to WHY they would be routinely tested so I called PCC (poison control center) next and was told "get out of that house!" Next, I called the hospital and spoke with one of his doctors. Response? "Never heard of this happening before". He was discharged home that day with a prescription for an antidepressant. He was told that it could take years before signs and symptoms manifest to the point where they can make a better diagnoses. Nothing in his discharge about any fuel oil found under the home (later to be found 3-4 feet DEEP under our home). The only tests for poisons were for street drugs. I wasn't even able to pick him up because the fumes had made me severely unsteady from that morning...almost like I was drunk. I slurred my words, lips were numb, unable to balance when standing, etc.

We ended up moving in with the owner of the house while our home was getting cleaned up (they ended up having to dig through the foundation and making a mini basement in order to get all the oil out). We tried to move back in but our symptoms just got worse. We became EXTREMELY sensitive to EVERYTHING that contained a chemical. I couldn't stand to go into grocery stores, craft stores, dept. stores, home improvement stores, etc. because of how sensitive I was. It wasn't until later in the year (1996, or early in 1997) when I watched John Stossel on 20/20 (I believe) showing some people living out in the middle of nowhere, away from chemicals, and portraying them out to look like idiots "claiming" to have MCS (multiple chemical sensitivities). I about bounced out of my chair saying "that is what we have!!!!". This was back in the day before we had a computer and I had to go research it at the library. It was reported as being a "controversial" illness. Ha!

I researched enough to find out we had to detox our bodies. Hello sauna! Best purchase we ever made. It took a few years to feel like we weren't 99 years old anymore. I learned doctors didn't have all the answers. We no longer use anything scented with perfume and no longer use pesticides or harsh chemicals. We warn anyone/everyone who will learn from our story as we have met many people since who were poisoned (from other things) and are sensitive like us. We actually don't have MCS to the same degree anymore (thank goodness!), but we stay as natural as possible so we never have to live like that again!

As a side note, my brother who served in the Gulf War, kept saying he thought he had what we had. At the time (not knowing about the effects of toxins), I thought "why would he have our symptoms as he was rarely in our home". Years later (and after his death) I got on a Gulf War Illness website and read about many other vets with the same kind of symptoms (as well as Vietnam Vets). We've learned a lot since 1996, but obviously, there is still a ton to learn. Please! Unplug those air "fresheners"....they are neurotoxins!!!! Thanks for reading this (believe it or not, I left a lot out!) [IMG_8770.JPG] ()