It’s All in Your Head

If the adage “mind over matter” is unequivocally true I would be able to fly with my bare arms.  It is mind over matter right?  So if I believe I can fly then I can fly!  Great!  I head off to the nearest tall building psyched up to fly.  However when I jump off the top of the roof believing I can fly most reasonable people would agree an ambulance would be summoned to take me to the ER and later the psych ward to treat my “psychosis” if I was lucky enough to survive the fall. 

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Member Spotlight:

An Interview with Ann Moran-Smith

Ann, can you begin by telling us a little about yourself?

Sure. I'm a baby boomer who wants to save the world so I became a social worker.  I'm a mother and a grandmother.  I'm an artist.  I love to travel.  I believe that it's the little things in life that bring us true joy.

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Environmental Refugee:  Me ka hau’oli a me ke aloha pumehana!

When working at my last job before going on disability I found it very hard to leave and separate myself from my passionate work.  I wrote the following within days of departing from the work world as I struggled to cope with my new loss:

I spent the past year and a half learning I knew nothing at all…

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Secondary Education Options for the Chemically Injured

Are you finishing high school and considering what your next step will be? Have you discovered that you need to make a career change that will require new skills? Are you interested in a topic and feel that you have reached the end of what you can learn on your own? Have you wondered about taking classes from a college or university?

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An Interactive Poem Created by the Members of MCS America

maybe someday
i can breathe fresh air
look beyond ignorance
into the beauty of compassionate understanding
to see the dreams of others
and they will see mine

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Trust:  A Poem by Sharon Miller

TRUST will let a spouse come and go as he or she pleases

TRUST will let a complete stranger prepare your food at a restaurant

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Fragrance Free Soap Search

For many years I have used a particular brand of bar soap thinking it was fragrance free. Suddenly, several months ago I noticed an awful, "perfumy" smell in the bars I had just purchased. Assuming I must have gotten a bad batch, I called the manufacturer to tell them that there was fragrance in this soap. Surprise, surprise! They said it has always had a small amount of  "simple fragrance." (simple fragrance means only one ingredient, instead of hundreds) Apparently I just hadn't noticed it before. Thus began an adventure I don't care to repeat, hunting for a truly fragrance free soap.  

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Get a Whiff of This!

Most people don't know about the dangers of perfume or any other fragranced product.  If I had not become sick I probably wouldn't know either.  Therefore I cannot get angry at someone for wearing it.   Although some tend to drown themselves in it.  Even those who do not get deathly ill from it should not be forced to be assaulted by an invasive scent that the wearer thinks is pleasant. 

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Indigo Canary:  A Story of an MCS Child’s Tribulations at School (Part 2)

My son had previously shown IgE reactions to grasses and weeds so the doctors assumed that the ill health he displayed during the latter part of August was due to these triggers.  Additional medications were added to his regimen and before long he was feeling well again.  We set off to our local department store to gather all the needed school supplies and some new outfits to start off the year.  “Mom, my knees aren’t working- I can not stand up- Mom, I don’t feel good,” my child cried

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Sal’s Place

There are many anomalies when it comes to EI.  I recently ran across two that left me stunned and would like to share them.

I was recently reading an article by Michael Jamison of the Missoulian which was published on August 28, 2006.  Mr. Jamison quotes Brian Sharkey saying “Getting an X-ray has a higher cancer risk than a firefighter's exposure to smoke ever will” (Jamison, 2006). 

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Inside MCS America

Well another month gone by!  How time speeds by!  Much has gone on this month and MCSA has several current focus projects we are working on.

We are in process of writing a brochure about the dangers air fresheners and healthy alternatives which should be completed next month.  In addition we are still gathering data for our Emergency Kit (E-Kit) publication which should be complete by the first of the year. 

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Have You Heard This?

"Oh, you're STILL sick?  Aren't you over that yet?"

“It’s just an allergy.  Deal with it.”

“Why don’t you just use your inhaler?”

“Can’t you take an antihistamine for that?”

“Don’t they have a pill for that?”

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Letters to the Editor

Say What?!

You all did a FABULOUS job on this (September 2006) newsletter!  I've shared it with quite a few friends and family members hoping they will learn a bit about my illness.  Thank you all so much!!

I can't resist sharing some ridiculous conversations with you...

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Community News Web Links

EPA Cuts Soot Level Allowable Daily in Air

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/21/AR2006092101616_pf.html

Those in Power are Poisoning Children

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_mickey_z_060921__22those_in_power_are_.htm

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Products and Services

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Featured Web Links

Study:  Multiple Chemical Sensitivities Following Intolerance to Azo Dye in Sweets in a 5-year-old Girl

http://ai.jsaweb.jp/pdf/055020203.pdf

Study:  Birth Defects, Season of Conception, and Sex of Children Born to Pesticide Applicators Living in the Red River Valley of Minnesota, USA

http://www.ehponline.org/members/2002/suppl-3/441-449garry/EHP110s2p441PDF.PDF

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