Celebrating MCS Improvements Part 1

How do I know I am healing?

I noticed tiny things at first...

• a few extra moments before a reaction set in
• a reaction less severe than I was used to
• a faster recovery after exposure

Then my body seemed to reach a point where the healing took on a life of it's own. A momentum had picked up and I seemed to move forward steadily.

• I could use the blender, vacuum, toaster without wearing a mask - as long as I did it quickly and left the room afterward.
• I was able to read select books again if they were not too old, new or scented.
• terpenes from grass didn't bother me much anymore (in small doses)
• I could touch paper whitened with chlorine without an instant skin reaction.
• I could walk in a pine forest without getting instantly 'stoned' from the terpenes
  
• I could eat small amounts of foods that had 'flavour' as an ingredient (many chemicals in flavour are similar to ones in fragrance due to how our sense of taste is connected to sense of smell)
• I could be around leaf mold, coffee, potted plants and more with much less reaction
  

All of the above are things that only a few years ago caused such severe reactions that I went to great lengths to avoid them.

Now I can read most books - even new, old or somewhat scented. I can even read books from the library (notorious for having picked up fragrances/smoke from people's houses).

I vacuum, use the blender, toaster and more without even thinking about it. I don't have to hold my breath, leave the room or worry about how long I vacuum for!

I go to a few restaurants, garden with no mask, have a few potted plants in my house, cut my own lawn (electric mower)... I can even have certain cut flowers from my garden inside my house. It used to be only totally scentless flowers I could tolerate but now I can even have higher VOC flowers inside.

Small exposures to dryer exhaust, wood smoke and cigarette smoke from neighbours while I am in my yard cause little or no reaction. This is such an awesome thing because I can actually use my nose as a warning system and still have time to go inside before an actual reaction happens. Before, even a few seconds was too much/too late.

When did all of this happen? I don't exactly know.
The dramatic changes happened sometime in the last year I think - the lesser ones in the year before that. Most of my healing happened so gradually and softly that I only notice things in hindsight.

I know how good it makes me feel now to notice so I've been trying to do it often.
If I had noticed more as I went along, I think I might have healed even faster due to the mind-body connection.

As I move forward, my 'normal' keeps shifting. I keep having a new normal.
It's exciting to think of how far I have come and know that one day, the way I am now will be far in the past and will seem incredibly limited!