The Canary Report

Celebrating new life and healthy choices

Posted on May 12, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Franny Armstrong, Healthy Living

I’m much too young to be a grandmother, so I am Nanny Franny. And with it comes responsibility to life and good health.

By contributor Franny Armstrong.

Me with my new grandson Brock William Daniel, born April 22.

For the first time since I became ill with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, I feel there is light at the end of the tunnel and it’s not a train barreling towards me. Keep up the faith and WILL yourself to be well. I, for one, envision myself celebrating good health and happiness. This has begun with the birth of my grandson. I’m now Nanny Franny (because of course I’m much too young to be a grandmother at 39).

My daugher Christina with Brock just moments after he was born.

Pepsi or Coke? I get asked that question a lot as an author. It’s just one of the interview questions people like to ask. I have been drinking Pepsi for decades and sometimes Coke when the other isn’t available. My hubby always says, “It’s bad for you.” Yet, he doesn’t think twice about eating chicken wings while drinking beer. Hmmm…high cholesterol and high blood pressure mixed with toxins?

We all make choices to better or harm our health. I believe it’s called “free will.” I’ve decided once again to give up pop and any alcohol then keep working one day at a time to continue on the road to wellness.

I’m happy to say that I’ve begun to react less harshly to fragrances and other contaminants after nearly ten years of “avoidance” and eating healthy. I live in the country next to a golf course but hubby doesn’t want to move. After calling the clubhouse to ask for a warning a day or two in advance of when they spray the FUNGICIDES to keep their lawns beautiful, I never received a reply.

Brock with his sister Alexis.

The first time I became ill, I dropped like a rock into poor health and could barely talk, shook like a leaf all the time, and slept nearly TWENTY HOURS A DAY! I was diagnosed as Bipolar II, yet my psychiatrist, who by the way says I’m NOT crazy (whew), agreed that moving away from pesticides that affect the brain neurologically, not to mention cause cancer, was a great idea in improving my health.

Alas, if you have an “alpha male” like I do, it’s like trying to move the Rock Of Gibraltar with a toothpick. Most of the time I stay indoors typing on my beloved laptop, pouring out the stories from my overactive imagination in the world of paranormal romantic suspense. I even write about environmental illness but those particular books are taking a long time to create. It’s difficult to write what you live, while at the same time also writing about what other people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity live, too.

Joy goes a long way in promoting good health. My daughter is thoughtful to make sure the baby and I are not exposed to toxic chemicals. No baby powder, no Ivory Snow, no other fragrances either. She’s a gem.

TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH!

NEVER SURRENDER! NEVER GIVE UP!

Hugs,
Franny Armstrong-ParaNovelGirl

Come visit me at ParaNovelGirls and my website.

~~~

Franny Armstrong is a writer of “paranormal romantic suspense” novels filled with private investigators, police, and even Royal Canadian Mounted Police who use their amazing psychic abilities to catch the villains. Franny also uses her technical and journalistic skills to create helpful, upbeat stories and articles to enlighten and motivate people.

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Tags: Children's Health, Healthy Living, Home, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

A canary’s vacation to the Dominican Republic

Posted on Feb 20, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Franny Armstrong, Leisure, MCS

Our trip to the Dominican Republic was wonderful, but along the journey we sucked in a ton of diesel fumes.

Post by Franny Armstrong.

Not as pretty as it looks; boats give off fumes.

My trip to the Dominican Republic was wonderful. I’m paying the price now but in the long run, I believe it was worth it. Even I have to come out of my cave now and then.

~~~

The Dominican Republic is a beautiful island full of lush green grasses, trees, and greenery that takes your breath away (literally). The poverty was stunning, yet the people were kind, happy, and welcomed you with a smile or an “ola, mi amiga.” A twenty year old man sat next to my husband and I as we drank a beer each. Hubby bought the man one and I conversed with him, me with my minimal Spanish, he with his minimal English. It was fun to chat with him. After he told Dan and I we were old enough to be his parents, he gave me his phone number. LOL I guess I’m like a fine wine or an old cheddar, still kicking! HAHAHA

Smoggy street

~~~

Along the journey we sucked in a ton of diesel fumes. There is no monitoring of exhaust in DR. Dan was told not to drink from the bottles of beer along the roadside as they use them to refill and sell new and used fuel. Sometimes they siphon it out of vehicles.

[...]

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Tags: Air, Chemicals, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Toxic

Never surrender, never give up!

Posted on Jan 11, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Franny Armstrong, MCS, Susie Collins

Our very own Franny Armstrong, contributor at The Canary Report and author of steamy romance novels, is interviewed by Antonia Tiranth.

In the interview, Franny talks about what leads an author on the road to success when battling illness:

I have a chemical brain injury (called Multiple Chemical Sensitivity or MCS) that causes my body to react violently to simple things like fragrances, body products, cleaning products, gas fumes and much more. Since leaving the safety of my chemical-free home wasn’t possible, I became addicted to the Internet and to reading, however this wasn’t always possible due to the “mushy-brain-fog” I suffered which made it difficult to concentrate.

At the same time I was diagnosed with MCS, I was also told I had BiPolar II Disorder. Though the doctor assured me I wasn’t “nuts,” I was devastated, feeling like I’d just been given a death sentence since neither of the two illnesses had a cure. For years I could barely speak a sentence or remember a simple word. “I want tea,” though only three words, was difficult to say. I also slept up to twenty hours a day!

After losing so much time, I decided to do something with my life because I refused to allow illness to beat me! My motto became, “NEVER SURRENDER! NEVER GIVE UP!” and believe me, it worked. To date I have become a published author [with] my first book SMALL PACKAGES–A CHRISTMAS STORY released from Red Rose Publishing in December and what a feeling that was! I’d finally climbed past the limits of illness and accomplished what I’d never thought possible until now.

Author’s Demise comes out in March. Brava, Franny!

Link

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Tags: Art, Fragrance, Healthy Living, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Work

Franny Armstrong’s new e-book featured in local paper

Posted on Dec 17, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Franny Armstrong, Media/Videos, Susie Collins

Northumberland News reports on Canary Report contributor Franny Armstrong’s new e-book Small Packages.

Author Franny Armstrong hopes to bring some Christmas cheer to her readers with her new novel Small Packages.

The story, about a woman who becomes a recluse after the death of her husband, was an easy one for Ms. Armstrong to write. The author, who suffers from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Disorder (MCS) rarely leaves the house for fear of encountering fragrances and other chemicals, which cause severe reactions.

“Writing has been so healing for me because I have focus and drive now where I never had before,” she explained.

To read an excerpt from ‘Small Packages: A Christmas Story’, visit www.paranovelgirls.com. Complete e-books can be purchased for $3.99 online at www.redrosepublishing.com

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Tags: Art, Books, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Apples and oranges: Do I or don’t I get an H1N1 vaccine?

Posted on Nov 06, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Franny Armstrong, MCS

Should people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity get the H1N1 vaccine?

Post by Franny Armstrong.

Adding insult to injury doesn’t make a lot of sense when you think of the turmoil in our already compromised bodies. MCS doesn’t leave much room for playing around with the assumption that the H1N1 vaccine is okay for us.

It contains mercury, but not the BAD Mercury? Hello! Mercury is dangerous. No matter whether it looks like an apple or an orange, it’s a fruit, isn’t it?

Specialists all over the world have their opinions about the situation. “THEY SAY” that it’s safe, then “THEY SAY” that it could be more dangerous than the pandemic. Who exactly are “THEY”?

How do we know if the vaccine will affect the fetus or instill some future disease in children, or perhaps shorten the lives of countless others?

Perhaps I’ll just hide in my cave until spring. That seems like a much safer option than forging out into the crowds of hackers and sneezers. WASH YOUR HANDS PEOPLE. STAY HOME IF YOU’RE SICK. Give us all a break.

Hugs,

Cavewoman Franny Armstrong-ParaNovelGirl

Come visit me at ParaNovelGirls and at my MCS site.

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Tags: Chemicals, Children's Health, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Products, Toxic

The problem of naysayers

Posted on Oct 06, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Franny Armstrong, MCS

If Horton hears a Who, can we view a molecule?

Post by Franny Armstrong.

Sitting by my window the other day I was enjoying the sun rays streaming through when I noticed all the dust particles floating around. Now, I’ve seen this before but have to wonder, since I don’t see dust particles without the sun rays, are they really there?

Many people in my life either don’t believe I’m truly ill with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, or think it’s in my imagination. What is it we have to do to prove to these people that we are ill and our illnesses have to do with things you can’t see? Can you see an air molecule? H²O molecules? Gas molecules? How about a mycotoxin? Not likely without some pretty high-tech equipment.

I think the hardest part of being ill with an invisible illness is the fact that other than coughing, choking, sneezing, having severe sinus attacks, and the endless list of common effects from contact with chemicals, there isn’t much we can do to prove they exist. Sure we can hand out lots of information on MCS, and it’s no problem to explain what it is for the umpteenth time to a stranger, but family and friends tend to not want to hear about what ails us. Have you ever asked someone, “How are you today?” then been sorry you asked? I’d love to say “I’m excellent, thank you,” but I’d be lying. I can always say, “I’m perfect from the shoulders down,” but would that suffice?

I had to go to the drug store earlier which is about fifteen minutes drive from my home. Not only do I have to dodge construction zones, but gas stations, vehicles, a paper mill (dioxins and furans and boy do they stink, even through my mask) and then products and people in the stores who are loaded with toxic scents.

I’ll admit that it can be overwhelming at times, but if Horton can hear a Who, then Who will listen to us when we tell our stories?

How do you deal with naysayers?

To your good health,

Cavewoman Franny Armstrong-ParaNovelGirl

Come visit me at ParaNovelGirls and at my MCS site. And enter the Trick or Treat Scavenger Hunt at Red Rose Publishing (publisher of my novels) for some fun prizes!

Editor’s note: For those deprived in their youth, here’s a bit on the reference of Horton: In the Dr. Seuss story Horton Hears a Who, Horton the Elephant (pictured above), hears a small speck of dust talking to him. It turns out the speck of dust is actually a tiny planet, home to a city called ‘‘Who-ville,’’ inhabited by microscopic-sized inhabitants known as Whos and led by a character known as the mayor. The Whos ask Horton (who, though he cannot see them, is able to hear them quite well) to protect them from harm, which Horton happily agrees to do, proclaiming throughout the book that ‘‘even though you can’t see or hear them at all, a person’s a person, no matter how small.’’ In doing so he is ridiculed and forced into a cage by the other animals in the jungle for believing in something that they are unable to see or hear.

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Tags: MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

On babies and husbands

Posted on Sep 25, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Franny Armstrong, MCS

A grandchild is on the way and a husband is staying put.

Post by Franny Armstrong.

Yes, Nanny Franny’s having a grandbaby in the spring. Thankfully, I don’t have to carry it until AFTER it’s born. LOL.

The first concern that crossed my mind was about baby powder, baby oil, Ivory Snow and so on. With all those chemically, fragrance enhanced products, will I get to hold him? (I’ve decided it’s a boy…for now.)

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity doesn’t allow you to choose if you will react to chemicals from birth, but does it start in the womb? Perhaps it will eventually link to genetics, this sensitivity that others don’t seem to get. Who knows?

It isn’t all about making sure the house is childproofed with locks, small toys for the correct age groups, and even keeping pennies out of the way of small hands and mouths (my nephew seems to have misplaced one… ahem) yet what about the chemicals in the locked cupboards? Do they vaporize from their containers and fill the tender lungs of infants to start the whole process?

Hmmm, it makes me wonder if my parent’s smoking around me when I was growing up might have weakened my immune system and made me more libel to become chemically sensitive.

I’m unable to talk my husband into moving out of our mold infested house after twenty years of living here. My doctor said that since we live beside a new golf course (we were here first I tell ya!) it is possible that the pesticides started the whole ball of wax… uh… MCS. He highly recommends moving is all I’m going to say.

Hubby is replacing walls, spraying concrobium to kill the mold, and doing a number of things around the house that just never seem to get done. I suppose that’s his way of saying he doesn’t want to move. SIGH.

Health wise, as long as I remain at home and stay out of populated areas, including vehicles on the road, I’m doing great, from the neck down anyway. It’s nice to be able to breathe again this week after three weeks of setbacks. I’m back up to writing full steam ahead and look forward to finishing yet another book (paranormal romantic suspense).

I’m revving up for an online writer’s conference in October that will keep me spellbound to the computer for weeks on end, even though it’s only for one week. So much to learn.

To Your Good Health.

Cavewoman-Franny Armstrong-ParaNovelGirl

Come visit me at ParaNovelGirls and at my MCS site.

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Tags: Chemicals, Children's Health, Fragrance, Home, Indoor Pollution, Mold, Perfume, Personal Care, Stink, Toxic

Sometimes loving your family STINKS!

Posted on Sep 22, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Franny Armstrong, MCS

Since Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is an invisible illness, it must be all in my head… shouldn’t it?

Post by Franny Armstrong.

Sept. 7– I had to rewrite this post this morning after the emotional anger had passed from severe reactions during a family/friends visit yesterday. This morning, my brain fog is clearer, though my head and face are still pounding like drums during a war dance.

We had family and friends come for a visit on Sunday. I cleaned my home with my chemical free cleaners, vinegar, unscented, color-free… almost everything free soap, baking soda, and a large dose of elbow-grease (petroleum-free).

With that done, hubby and I sat out on the deck and shucked corn together and talked. My hubby called to caution everyone not to wear fragrances because I was “severely allergic” to them, bless his heart. Hey, it’s what people understand, the word ALLERGY.

One family member told me to strive for some “normalcy” and not talk about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity! Though I seldom see them, and listened to them talk about health issues such as cancer, I was stunned. It’s been my mission for the past year to let people know what MCS is all about so they will understand what they can’t see.

I don’t wear a body cast, nor do I use a walker or leg braces, or even a bandage around my entire head, face, and lungs. Since it’s an invisible illness, it must be all in my head… shouldn’t it? In a sense, it is. It’s in my sinuses, headache, sore throat, plugged ears, aching chest and muscles and so on…

The friends were interested in finding out about MCS; what makes me ill and what doesn’t, so I carefully explained, though stuttering over my words due to the “hit” of fragrances I got the minute they arrived (not perfume or cologne, they all assured me). I was glad that the woman was finishing my sentences for me because my brain had stopped functioning properly. I had thrown on my mask right away but the damage was already done. The “hit” got me outside in the so-called fresh air!

The final straw that sent me off to hide in my room with a migraine was when someone lit the birthday cake with SPARKLERS! Gee, who’d-a-thunk they were made from CHEMICALS! Since I was now too ill to even sing Happy Birthday, let alone eat cake, I didn’t have a chance to protest before they were lit.

Going for a short walk down the driveway to clear my head didn’t work, so off to bed I went. I didn’t even say goodbye, goodnight, or kiss my… um… cheek (it was hidden behind the mask after all).

Dealing with family can be even more painful than dealing with strangers who at least are interested enough to ask me WHY I wear the mask. I believe having to sit beside me wearing a mask was an embarrassment to some of my family members, though not all.

Someone asked, “Why not leave the mask off? We are all sitting outside, after all.” I rest my case…

Come visit me at ParaNovelGirls

Self-portrait photo by Franny Armstrong.

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Tags: Chemicals, Fragrance, Home, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Perfume, Pollution, Stink, Support, Toxic

Asphalt ASSAULT!

Posted on Aug 31, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Franny Armstrong, MCS

Is asphalt carcinogenic? Yes! Does it cause breathing issues, skin burns, and redness/burning of the eyes? Yes! A petroleum based product? Absolutely!

Post by Cavewoman Franny Armstrong-ParaNovelGirl

Yes, my new nickname is now Cavewoman! Nope, not like Batwoman or Catwoman, but Cavewoman because it’s nearly IMPOSSIBLE to leave my cave at ANYTIME OF YEAR where I don’t run into SOMETHING that makes me ill! Jeesh!

Today I drove to visit family and ran across a construction/upgrade of kilometers (miles) of highway with freshly laid asphalt (aka bitumen) and much more being laid while I waited in line to pass the area. Quickly slipping on my not–so–trusty carbon-filtered mask (which doesn’t filter out much, believe me) I continued to watch while blue–grey clouds of thick smoke billowed around the workers and large construction machines, wondering how long I could hold my breath!

It crossed my mind that neither of the workers were protecting their lungs from the toxic morass of chemicals and decided that since I was so ill by the time I arrived home and crashed in my bed for most of the rest of the day, that it was time to research asphalt!

Is it a carcinogenic? Yes! Does it cause breathing issues, skin burns, and redness/burning of the eyes? Yes! A petroleum based product? Absolutely! Hmmm…Strike, strike, strike…And so I continued to gather this eye-opening, sinus–attacking, breath-stealing, head–splitting info.

Okay, that was enlightening .Now, the question: Is it a pesticide? YES! A neurotoxin? You betcha!

It’s a product created with hydrocarbons and contains small amounts of metals such as iron, nickel, and vanadium (to name a few). Crude oil is distilled to separate raffinate (solvents used to separate an original liquid from other components, like oil from petroleum refining processes) from residual oil process called de–asphalting or carbonization. It might then be further processed by ‘air blowing’ ‘solvent precipitation’ or blending with other refined materials to create a product that will have the correct elasticity (if you will) to move with the constant expanding/contracting of the surface for the climate the product is made for. In Canada, for instance, we have harsh, cold winters, then hot, wet summers which can wreak havoc on paved roads leaving potholes, cave ins and cracking. Save a car, suffer illness.

Asphalt is also used on roofing projects, to coat electrical wiring, insulate for sound, and corrosion protection in municipal drinking water reservoirs. Yum! I can taste the results already…

So, what else is in this volatile mixture? How about: clarified slurry oil, organic antistrip agents, silicone oil, elastomers, polymers, antioxidants (oh, maybe that’s a good one?) kerosene and diesel fuel. Sounds like something I’d prefer to stay away from. Oh, give me back the days of rutted dirt roads!

Well, I could go on, but just having been in contact with the smog of despair today, I’m off to bed again with a severe headache. Hope I can get back up again tomorrow. We’ll see.

The best thing to do in this case is to AVOID CONSTRUCTION ZONES AT ALL COSTS!

Sigh

CAVEWOMAN!

Come visit me at ParaNovelGirls

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Tags: Air, Chemicals, Environment, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Pollution, Stink, Toxic

Canary Report contributor featured in local paper

Posted on Aug 19, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Franny Armstrong, MCS, Susie Collins

Northumberland News reports on Canary Report contributor Franny Armstrong.

“I can’t go out in the environment without getting sick,” she said, explaining how staying in the house for so long has made her “a bit of an eccentric.”

Her family life has also suffered. At one point her husband admitted most people thought he didn’t even have a wife, because she could never accompany him to other peoples houses for fear of a reaction.

“I felt like such a failure, like I couldn’t do anything,” she said. “That’s a big part of having this illness, it limits you so much that you feel useless.”

To counteract these feelings and take back some control in her life, Ms. Armstrong turned her passion for writing into a career. She recently sold her second romance novel, which is the first in a nine-part series, is in the midst of a non-fiction book about living with MCS titled “The Toxic Tango,” and is a regular contributor to The Canary Report, a web site about living with MCS.

Link to the full Northumberland News article here.

I’m so happy to have Franny with us here to share her stories. She has the ability to describe our plight with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity while at the same time never losing her sense of humor. Franny’s Canary Report posts are here.

Learn more about Franny’s novels at Paranovel Girls.

Thanks, Franny!

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Tags: MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Cave dwelling with MCS: A life of avoidance

Posted on Jul 21, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Franny Armstrong, MCS

For eight years, I’ve done a cave dweller dance: Staying at home, avoiding people, places, and even nature.

Post by Franny Armstrong.

(Editor’s note: Please help me welcome Franny Armstrong as a contributor at The Canary Report! Franny is a writer of “paranormal romantic suspense” novels filled with private investigators, police, and even Royal Canadian Mounted Police who use their amazing psychic abilities to catch the villains. Franny also uses her technical and journalistic skills to create helpful, upbeat stories and articles to enlighten and motivate people. She’ll share at The Canary Report her life with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and other adventures. Read Franny’s full bio here.)

.

Having Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) truly limits your life. The best advice that my doctor, allergist, ear-nose-and-throat specialist, and even psychiatrist had for me was to avoid running into fragrances. Yeah, right, like I couldn’t figure that one out! LOL. Easy to say. Sure. Easy to do? Not so much.

For the past eight years, I’ve done a cave dweller dance and stayed at home, avoiding people, places, and even nature! I seemed to be allergic to EVERYTHING! The allergist tested me… no allergies found. He sent me for asthma testing… perfect lungs (non-smoker). He even sent me for a cat scan, but by that time I was too ill to travel the one-hour distance to my appointment to find out the results. I was just plain ill, so ill that I couldn’t drive myself anywhere.

For me, MCS meant extreme fatigue, mass confusion, loss of mental focus, irritability (who wouldn’t be grumpy in this shell we live in?) and so many other symptoms I can’t even list them all. Yet, was I safe in my cave? Nope!

My loving family, though supportive, didn’t truly understand what was happening to my body. They’d buy scented laundry detergent, fabric softener sheets for the dryer, scented shampoos for themselves, deodorants, cleaning products, and so on, bringing these harmful chemicals into my cave, leaving me nowhere to hide.

To live in a cave as a family, we have to learn to compromise. For instance: I won’t squeeze the toothpaste in the middle of the tube or leave socks rolled into balls, if hubby doesn’t leave his newspapers in the middle of the room, on the floor, or beside the bed and toilet… grrrr!

In the case of fragrances and other chemicals, since I couldn’t do the shopping, I had to depend on my loved ones to buy the products that didn’t make me choke, cough, have sinus infections, or make me hit my pillow for up to twenty hours a day. It’s a never-ending learning experience.

Change is not a four letter word, yet that’s what must happen in order to allow us cave dwellers to survive in this toxic environment.

Today, I feel better than I have in years. I’m taking vitamins and minerals that don’t harm me, cleaning with only scent-free, color-free, soap and vinegar, and use lots of petroleum-free elbow grease. FREE, FREE, FREE!!!

Just the other day, my hubby wasn’t even thinking about it when he oiled the hinges on the squeaky door using a spray that sent me into a massive coughing fit. He was stunned, completely forgetting about MCS since he uses the product for work every day (and he’s an asthmatic, too!).

As cave dwellers, we must educate not only ourselves but our families, friends, and even strangers who come to our doors (a “Caution: Severe Reactions To Fragrances” sign in the window might help.)

Many people don’t even realize they are wearing a scent when they come near. I tend to hold up my hand before they get to close, halting their approach, then ask if they are wearing a fragrance. This is very unsettling for some, not a problem for others, when you explain you’re allergic to them. (You and I know that “allergic” doesn’t describe the difference between MCS and allergies.)

Education is the key. That’s why blogs like The Canary Report and other MCS websites are key forces in making others aware of this debilitating illness. It took many years before governments and medical associations acknowledged Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia, so take hope. Teach those you live with or who walk in your door about MCS, since knowledge is the best defense against it.

I wish you health.

Photo of and by Franny Armstrong.

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Tags: Chemicals, Fragrance, Home, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Perfume, Products, Support