A safe house is key

Posted on Apr 09, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, MCS

When faced with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, the key to surviving well is nontoxic housing.

CBS 21 introduces you to a woman who has learned how to live well with chemical sensitivities, a disability that for some, keeps them secluded from life.

The answer was in the form of a house. Her “Health House” is considered the most stringent in the nation for health, durability and energy efficiency–with a certificate to prove it.

“It was designed for this disability to minimize chemicals and have high level of indoor air quality,” says Nancy.

Nancy’s house is filled with carefully selected products—solid woods, metals, organic cotton bedding.

At night, when the body does its best detoxifying, Nancy uses oxygen to help it along. With its complex filtration system, the health house is able pull air in, the window’s are sealed tight, the entire home pressurized—keeping all the bad air out.

Nancy lives on a very specific diet of all organic, fresh products because it’s very healing for the body. She rids organic fabrics of any chemical residue by soaking it in powered milk. It’s a complete life-style adjustment; one that allows her, to finally live.

“I wouldn’t be able to live well with a disability and be as productive as what I am,” says Nancy. “This house has helped me move from really having very little function in my life to being able to be out now and become part of the community.”

Link to full story at CBS 21.

Thanks, Linda!

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Tags: Environmental Health, Home, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Support

4 Responses to “A safe house is key”

meg

09. Apr, 2009

My relatives live very close to her, and called me up as soon as they saw the story. I think she is very lucky top be able to live in such a house! I also think it was very nice of her to let the reporters in her home, even though they were told not to wear anything at all and to wash their clothes in special detergent, you know they still smelled awful. Those scents simply do not go away. But but letting them do the report, it certainly helped get the word out, like to my relatives that need to see things like that to even begin to get it.

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meg

09. Apr, 2009

Oh, and the first thing that struck me when they told me about this news story? The fact that is was done. Not in a sarcastic way, but in a this-is-how-it-is-for-people-with-MCS-a-disabilty. No mention that is in her head, nothing like that. It was part of a series called “Living with Disabilities”. So even though they are still many, many people that say it does not exist, there are more and more that are accepting it as fact.

Why would you assume it was not fact, anyway? There are lots of other “invisible” health problems no one questions, with good reason, so why MCS? Why would anyone live like that, anyway?

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linda

09. Apr, 2009

I've noticed more and more people and articles about MCS accept the reality. With so many news reports about harmful chemicals in our bodies, products, and in the environment, the chemical industry has lost a lot of credibility, and they were the ones pushing the idea that MCS was impossible.

It is really hard to invite folks into your safe space, if you even have one, since the fragrance chemicals are designed to last so long. Several showers and umpteen clothes washings are not enough to detox someone who uses regular products.

Hopefully it didn't take too much out of Nancy to do this.

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Leslie

11. Apr, 2009

Having a safe place is totally key- sometimes i think even more important is the larger environment that you live in too, like the air quality of the town, so that fresh air can be breathed and windows opened. In reality there is barely a non toxic place to live in these days because of the way housing has been built for the last 50 or so years – but if someone can have fresh air, house plants, open windows, clean water I think it really improves the chances of reducing symptoms. (That is if you don’t have the $$$ to build a safe little eco hut!)
I lived in the woods for 5 years, then moved into the city for two years – although in some ways my health improved while living in the city other things like breathing, stress, seizures, and ability to be social all got shitty over time. Now that i have moved back out into the rural clean area I can tell that my tolerance for little exposures is alot stronger because the majority of what i am exposed to is so clean that my body isn’t in a cycle of always being beat down. I really believe in the power of fresh air, fresh food and clean water as the most basic, first step in improving our health.

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