Kimberly is an author, educator, filmmaker and natural health consultant who was diagnosed with MCS in 1995. I first heard about Kimberly a while back when someone was discussing her MCS Documentary.
I encourage you to visit her site and let her know if you're interested in being interviews just in case she is in your area filming!
She also blogs at Adventurous Canary and Serendipity.
I've been really enjoying her Serendipity blog and finding it very inspiring!
I love reading about her going on journeys and my spirits are lifted by how often she finds people very accomodating about her food and chemical sensitivities.
What I love most about the blog is her gorgeous photos - often of nature.
.
October 19, 2009
Community Site - Planet Thrive
I'm sorry it has taken me SO long to share this resource.
I'm finding writing a real challenge lately so I'll keep this brief :-)
Julie Genser has a really neat community/social site called Planet Thrive that has such a wealth of things do to and read that I won't list them all here but encourage you to sign up (it's FREE) and check them out yourself!
From their home page: "A hip, rockin' community for those who are ready to kick convention to the curb and reclaim responsibility for their health."
Planet Thrive's mission statement reads, "to connect, inform, and support people globally who are struggling to reverse the damaging health effects of an increasingly toxic world"
You can read more here.
.
I'm finding writing a real challenge lately so I'll keep this brief :-)
Julie Genser has a really neat community/social site called Planet Thrive that has such a wealth of things do to and read that I won't list them all here but encourage you to sign up (it's FREE) and check them out yourself!
From their home page: "A hip, rockin' community for those who are ready to kick convention to the curb and reclaim responsibility for their health."
Planet Thrive's mission statement reads, "to connect, inform, and support people globally who are struggling to reverse the damaging health effects of an increasingly toxic world"
You can read more here.
.
September 27, 2009
Healing Humour: A Great Poem About Fudge
Those of you with food sensitivities may appreciate this great poem by Amestress on her blog Life: The Final Attempt (not really).
It's called I Remember Fudge: a eulogy and to me it felt like she was using humour to express some painful feelings about loss.
I am green with envy over her writing skills!
Amestress is using dance to track her recovery from MCS and posts videos (sometimes with fun songs that crack me up :).
I personally have found humour to be a great coping skill and sometimes a healing tool. On down days, I access the healing properties of laughter by watching funny videos online or reading funny stories/books. Studies show that laughter can improve immune system health, increase oxygen to the brain, reduce pain and stress and much more.
Thanks Amestress both for permission to link and for inspiring me! ☺
It's called I Remember Fudge: a eulogy and to me it felt like she was using humour to express some painful feelings about loss.
I am green with envy over her writing skills!
Amestress is using dance to track her recovery from MCS and posts videos (sometimes with fun songs that crack me up :).
I personally have found humour to be a great coping skill and sometimes a healing tool. On down days, I access the healing properties of laughter by watching funny videos online or reading funny stories/books. Studies show that laughter can improve immune system health, increase oxygen to the brain, reduce pain and stress and much more.
Thanks Amestress both for permission to link and for inspiring me! ☺
September 13, 2009
Celebrating MCS Improvements Part 4: Going Maskless
It seems like a very long time since I have posted on the blog! I've been living in clean air in the woods for the summer and it's been so healing... but more about that another time :-)
I came across this old draft of a post I began writing back in January. It was so neat to read it again today and realise how much things have changed since then and I wanted to share.
*Note* There are many different kinds of 'masks' that people with MCS use. When I refer to a 'mask' I am talking about a small 'respirator' I wear that has a layer of activated carbon in it which can adsorb a certain amount of VOCs and chemicals. It is not tolerated by all due to the synthetic materials it is made from.
This is not one of the large respirators that have canister filters - they filter much more and are excellent for MCS from what I hear IF one can get them outgassed enough so as to not react to the respirator itself.
Here is the January 2009 post:
I now have a few select places I can go without a mask - something I thought would be forever impossible. Just yesterday I was out without mask and realised that it no longer felt terrifying like it did when I first began doing so (maybe a year ago).
I know my body and intuition well enough now to trust them. If I have the feeling that today is a mask day, then I wear my mask(s). If not, I try to trust that feeling too although it's a bit harder (scarier).
There are some places that I expect will be quite a while before I go unmasked. Grocery stores (the dreaded detergent aisle that contaminates the entire store), malls (have gone unmasked once), department stores, hardware stores, anywhere that has air 'freshener'.
Fast forward 9 months to September 2009:
I was so excited to read that old post because it is inspiring to realise just how FAST I am improving! it may feel like I am crawling along while I'm doing it, but things like this give me perspective. Only 9 months ago, I though it would be possibly years before I could go somewhere stinky like a mall or big grocery store.
I can now go to those 'dreaded' huge grocery stores, malls and department stores with no mask. (though I do not go down the aisles that have detergent, perfume, air fresheners - that would just be stupid ☺)
There are days when I can tell it would not be a good idea so I go masked but generally, I can now go those places unmasked with no lasting effects. I get a sore throat or nose - depending on whether I breathe through my mouth or nose - and I get varying degrees of brain fog still. Other than that, my reactions are almost none and my recovery time is almost immediate upon getting into clean air again.
Even one year ago, I would have a chemical 'hangover' for at least the following day if not longer. And that's if I went wearing a mask.
I can't imagine how bad it would have been without the mask. I know the recovery time was much longer if my mask was older and less effective at filtering out VOCs.
I waited a long time to post about this and here is why: people with MCS sometimes take risks like this when they are getting better and end up having it set them back.
I knew that some readers may be concerned I was taking a foolish risk. It's hard to communicate to anyone else what my relationship with my intuition is like and the decision to go places maskless could seem ridiculous and totally unsafe. I wanted to wait to post until a good deal of time had passed and I could say, with confidence, the following:
I am still improving while taking these calculated risks. I am not setback, I am not in a holding pattern. I am still getting better and better... and it's wonderful! ☺☻☺
I want to add a very important caution here.
Please, please do not try something like this based on my personal experience.
This is a big risk to take and should only be taken if you and your health care professional confer about it. I only made the decision to do this after I had been steadily improving for quite some time. I began very tentatively with a lot of time in between exposures at first to assess how my body was reacting. I also listen very closely to my body and, if it is having a harder day, I either wear the mask or just stay at home.
I feel it is very important to move forward in ways like this only when it is realisticly wise to do so - not just because we want to be able to. It is possible for people with MCS to be vulnerable to denial - to wanting our freedom so much that we take unwise risks.
I came across this old draft of a post I began writing back in January. It was so neat to read it again today and realise how much things have changed since then and I wanted to share.
*Note* There are many different kinds of 'masks' that people with MCS use. When I refer to a 'mask' I am talking about a small 'respirator' I wear that has a layer of activated carbon in it which can adsorb a certain amount of VOCs and chemicals. It is not tolerated by all due to the synthetic materials it is made from.
This is not one of the large respirators that have canister filters - they filter much more and are excellent for MCS from what I hear IF one can get them outgassed enough so as to not react to the respirator itself.
Here is the January 2009 post:
I now have a few select places I can go without a mask - something I thought would be forever impossible. Just yesterday I was out without mask and realised that it no longer felt terrifying like it did when I first began doing so (maybe a year ago).
I know my body and intuition well enough now to trust them. If I have the feeling that today is a mask day, then I wear my mask(s). If not, I try to trust that feeling too although it's a bit harder (scarier).
There are some places that I expect will be quite a while before I go unmasked. Grocery stores (the dreaded detergent aisle that contaminates the entire store), malls (have gone unmasked once), department stores, hardware stores, anywhere that has air 'freshener'.
Fast forward 9 months to September 2009:
I was so excited to read that old post because it is inspiring to realise just how FAST I am improving! it may feel like I am crawling along while I'm doing it, but things like this give me perspective. Only 9 months ago, I though it would be possibly years before I could go somewhere stinky like a mall or big grocery store.
I can now go to those 'dreaded' huge grocery stores, malls and department stores with no mask. (though I do not go down the aisles that have detergent, perfume, air fresheners - that would just be stupid ☺)
There are days when I can tell it would not be a good idea so I go masked but generally, I can now go those places unmasked with no lasting effects. I get a sore throat or nose - depending on whether I breathe through my mouth or nose - and I get varying degrees of brain fog still. Other than that, my reactions are almost none and my recovery time is almost immediate upon getting into clean air again.
Even one year ago, I would have a chemical 'hangover' for at least the following day if not longer. And that's if I went wearing a mask.
I can't imagine how bad it would have been without the mask. I know the recovery time was much longer if my mask was older and less effective at filtering out VOCs.
I waited a long time to post about this and here is why: people with MCS sometimes take risks like this when they are getting better and end up having it set them back.
I knew that some readers may be concerned I was taking a foolish risk. It's hard to communicate to anyone else what my relationship with my intuition is like and the decision to go places maskless could seem ridiculous and totally unsafe. I wanted to wait to post until a good deal of time had passed and I could say, with confidence, the following:
I am still improving while taking these calculated risks. I am not setback, I am not in a holding pattern. I am still getting better and better... and it's wonderful! ☺☻☺
I want to add a very important caution here.
Please, please do not try something like this based on my personal experience.
This is a big risk to take and should only be taken if you and your health care professional confer about it. I only made the decision to do this after I had been steadily improving for quite some time. I began very tentatively with a lot of time in between exposures at first to assess how my body was reacting. I also listen very closely to my body and, if it is having a harder day, I either wear the mask or just stay at home.
I feel it is very important to move forward in ways like this only when it is realisticly wise to do so - not just because we want to be able to. It is possible for people with MCS to be vulnerable to denial - to wanting our freedom so much that we take unwise risks.
May 9, 2009
Celebrating MCS Improvements Part 3
Along with all of it's many gifts, Spring has brought me many opportunities to notice ways in which my health is improving and moving forward!
With MCS, one can react to any source of VOC (Volatile Organic Compond) - even a 'natural' source such as flowers, mold, fresh cut grass, wood etc.
All of the things on this list caused very bad reactions only 2 years ago - bad enough that I had to avoid all of them. Last year I was much better than the year before but still quite restrictive however... this year is dramatically better than last year and I feel no restrictions at all to these four things listed below! This is absolutely wonderful and feels like such a gift and blessing. I'm outside for hours each day and it's so good for my soul.
Gardening: rarely, if ever, do I react to mold from soil now. I garden every day! I used to have to wear a mask and gloves. I garden maskless now but do sometimes wear gloves if my eczema is acting up.
Fresh cut grass in the neighbourhood smells fresh and lovely to me! This blows my mind since only a few years ago, the terpenes and other VOCs released from fresh cut grass felt like poison to me and I had run and close the windows if I heard anyone mowing their lawn. As long as the grass smell was in the air (often days) I had to keep the windows closed and stay inside or only go out wearing a mask.
*note* there is an interesting PDF file paper here that shares results of research done on VOCs emitted from grass - it gives the actual VOCs and amounts after specific time periods (includes formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and more! ack!).
If PDF form is a problem, you can view it in text form here (hope that link worked!)
Fragrant flowers blooming in the neighbourhood such as Lilac, Hyacinth, apple etc are enjoyable instead of making me nauseous and terribly sick (and necessitating the same frantic run for indoors and battening of the hatches as cut grass used to). What a joy to be able to appreciate a pretty, natural smell instead of feeling it's the enemy. I still don't bring fragrant flowers into the house but can envision a day when that will be possible!
Raking leaves: mild to no reaction to leaf mold (I used to get 'stoned', exhausted and incoherent).
As a wonderful added bonus, my reactions to the following chemicals have also dramatically improved. I suspect it's been happening gradually over the winter and spring is giving me the chance to notice it since I'm outside more and wanting to open windows.
When I say 'reaction' I'm also including recovery time improving.
It takes more of a substance to cause a reaction, even then the reaction is much milder than in the past and my recovery time is much shorter. Yay!!! ☺
- dryer exhaust
- lawnmower fumes
- BBQ fumes
- car exhaust
- cigarette smoke
- tar (including new roof smell - a neighbour just got a new roof)
- wood smoke
- perfume, cologne and body spray
- laundry products on people's clothing, scented products on their hair and skin (I've actually been able to meet some of my neighbours after living here for a few years!)
I get so much hope and inspiration when I catalogue these improvements!
If any readers have noticed improvements, I love hearing about them - please share them in the comments section if you'd like to.
If this post was of interest to you, you might also like:
Moving Forward... Noticing The Positive Part 1
and
Celebrating Improvements - Noticing The Positive Part 2
April 27, 2009
Planet Thrive Interviews Derval Dunford (woman who recovered from MCS)
Hello!
I feel like I haven't written in a very long time and this post will be short.
Spring has sprung here in southern Ontario and I'm outside puttering in the yard and gardens whenever possible.
I've been battling frequent migraines and find they can be triggered or worsened by the computer screen so I haven't been online much.
Today I want to share a link with you to a great interview done by Julie Genser and Julie Laffin at Planet Thrive (a very neat site - check it out!!).
I mentioned Derval Dunford back in March and was so excited to see the interview done with her on Planet Thrive.
When I started this blog, one of the things I wanted to do was interview people who have improved with MCS. So far, I simply haven't had the energy to and I am really happy that someone else is doing it!
Thank you Julie and Julie! :-)
Some day I'd love to see you interview Sweigh Emily Spilkin, Debra Lynn Dadd, Raymond Francis, Annie Hopper, Julia Tuchman and others. It can be so inpsiring to hear of others healing and improvements.
Okay, here is the link to the interview:
Healing trauma and chemical sensitivities an interview with Derval Dunford, creator of the meditation CD Sui
After hearing the sample track from the Sui CD (and loving it), I decided finally to order it. When I get it, I'll let you know how I liked it.
If you haven't listened to the sample track yet, I encourage you to do so.
You can listen to it here (click the link just above CD TRACK DETAILS).
I hope you are all having a great spring with as much clean air as possible and things that bring you joys - great or small.
March 16, 2009
After Recovering From MCS, Irish Woman Puts Out Meditation CD
I'd like to share an inspiring story with you today.
Derval Dunford, an Irish beautician, was mostly housebound and unable to work due to MCS.
As part of her healing journey, she developed a meditation practice for herself that she feels played a big role in her recovery.
She has now returned to working part time as a beautician as well as running meditation classes and putting out a double CD of guided, relaxation and unguided meditation!
The CD is available here and you can listen to a sample track here (click the link just above CD TRACK DETAILS).
I have listened to the sample track and encourage you to check it out! I really enjoyed it. By the end, I felt relaxed and peaceful (something rare in my mind filled constantly with jumbled thoughts).
Here are some press articles you can read about Derval if you like.
Independent.ie
Mayo Advertiser
Sunday Business Post
You can also view my favourite article - the one in the Irish Mirror - at the Sui.ie site by scrolling down to the very bottom of this page and clicking the link mentioned in the final sentence. In this article, she says, "...I know that detoxing my mind played a big role in my recovery."
I had asked Derval how much she has recovered from MCS and she shared, "I feel I have recovered from MCS but I still steer clear of chemicals as much as possible & certainly wouldn't stay in an enclosed space for any period of time with a strong chemical smell. I use all natural products where possible. Having said that, I can go about my daily life as everyone else does, travelling on trains, planes and socialising Thank God!"
Thank you Derval for the inspiration and permission to post your words here!!!
Derval Dunford, an Irish beautician, was mostly housebound and unable to work due to MCS.
As part of her healing journey, she developed a meditation practice for herself that she feels played a big role in her recovery.
She has now returned to working part time as a beautician as well as running meditation classes and putting out a double CD of guided, relaxation and unguided meditation!
The CD is available here and you can listen to a sample track here (click the link just above CD TRACK DETAILS).
I have listened to the sample track and encourage you to check it out! I really enjoyed it. By the end, I felt relaxed and peaceful (something rare in my mind filled constantly with jumbled thoughts).
Here are some press articles you can read about Derval if you like.
Independent.ie
Mayo Advertiser
Sunday Business Post
You can also view my favourite article - the one in the Irish Mirror - at the Sui.ie site by scrolling down to the very bottom of this page and clicking the link mentioned in the final sentence. In this article, she says, "...I know that detoxing my mind played a big role in my recovery."
I had asked Derval how much she has recovered from MCS and she shared, "I feel I have recovered from MCS but I still steer clear of chemicals as much as possible & certainly wouldn't stay in an enclosed space for any period of time with a strong chemical smell. I use all natural products where possible. Having said that, I can go about my daily life as everyone else does, travelling on trains, planes and socialising Thank God!"
Thank you Derval for the inspiration and permission to post your words here!!!
*UPDATE*
1. there is a great interview of Derval on Planet Thrive (to read click here).
2. I ended up buying the CD and I love it (I have no financial interest)
March 13, 2009
Sharing Inspiration
Since my 'retreat', I haven't felt much like writing.
I've noticed that I'm very possessive of my energy - selecting carefully what I spend it on.
So I think that, for a while, I'll focus on sharing things here that are inspiring me in some way.
I'd like to share a video with you that recently made a huge impact on me.
It's a fascinating, passionate 18-minute talk given by Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist.
Many years ago she had a stroke and her description of the experience was amazing and, interestingly, spiritual! At the end of the talk I felt moved, inspired, full of joyful tears and so lucky to be a human in such a miraculous body! I hope you'll check out the video.
It took her 8 years to relearn how to walk, think and talk and she sees the entire experience as a positive thing! She is a strong advocate for the possibilities of recovering from strokes - or even being stronger than before they happened.
Her stroke stimulated the right/creative side of her brain and she now sings (advocating for people to donate their brains postmortem for research) and makes stained glass brains in addition to being a scientist!
My apologies to readers who are on dial up speed who have a hard time with videos. You could check out her book or website. Although I haven't read it yet, I've heard her book is incredibly inspiring.
You can view the video here. It's on the TED site which is inspiring all by itself! There are a plethora of inspiring, interesting talks given by people in fields of Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED for short).
**Note**
There is a real brain present for short time during the video - heads up for anyone who gets super grossed out by stuff like that :)
I've noticed that I'm very possessive of my energy - selecting carefully what I spend it on.
So I think that, for a while, I'll focus on sharing things here that are inspiring me in some way.
I'd like to share a video with you that recently made a huge impact on me.
It's a fascinating, passionate 18-minute talk given by Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist.
Many years ago she had a stroke and her description of the experience was amazing and, interestingly, spiritual! At the end of the talk I felt moved, inspired, full of joyful tears and so lucky to be a human in such a miraculous body! I hope you'll check out the video.
It took her 8 years to relearn how to walk, think and talk and she sees the entire experience as a positive thing! She is a strong advocate for the possibilities of recovering from strokes - or even being stronger than before they happened.
Her stroke stimulated the right/creative side of her brain and she now sings (advocating for people to donate their brains postmortem for research) and makes stained glass brains in addition to being a scientist!
My apologies to readers who are on dial up speed who have a hard time with videos. You could check out her book or website. Although I haven't read it yet, I've heard her book is incredibly inspiring.
You can view the video here. It's on the TED site which is inspiring all by itself! There are a plethora of inspiring, interesting talks given by people in fields of Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED for short).
**Note**
There is a real brain present for short time during the video - heads up for anyone who gets super grossed out by stuff like that :)
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