Guest Bloggers | The Canary Report

Guest Blog: A message from Kikilani about her initial experience with Gupta’s MCS recovery program

Dec 042011

As a certified traditional naturopath, I know every part of the body is connected to every other part. So if I “fix” one part, it spills over to all other parts. I have always taught that we only need to get in balance, not be perfect, in order to be well.

Kohala, a favorite spot in Hawaii.

By guest blogger Kikilani, a certified traditional naturopath and one of The Canary Report’s “Mother Hens.”

When Susie told me about her progress on the Gupta Multiple Chemical Sensitivity recovery program I thought she was nuts, maybe delusional. Ha ha. I thought, “Yah, she is better today, but when she crashes (don’t read this, Susie, or if you do, say stop-stop-stop!) then she’ll see you can’t fully recover from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.” But I met her in person in Hawaii last month so I got to hear it and see it firsthand. She is well! Really well! Amazing.

My process with the Gupta program was a bit different than hers. She got the Gupta DVDs and intensely practiced the techniques for many hours, then saw results. I watched Ashok Gupta’s YouTube videos while I was communicating with Susie and reading other posts about the program. I was soooooo skeptical. I was really negative, so sure MCS could not go away. But once I watched all three hours online, I understood the concept behind Gupta’s treatment. I have a degree in psychology and have meditated for 40 years. I also am a certified traditional naturopath (ND). All this education and practice made it obvious to me what Gupta was getting at. He helped me observe and recognize my inner dialog that was so negative. It was incessant. I was always looking for the next “hit” and figuring out how to “flee,” classic amygdala thoughts. I also was a Science of Mind minister in my youth, so am well versed in “positive thinking.” But I still was sick. The first in-bed experience I had was at 35 years of age after a few years of intense pressure in my life. It has never totally gone away since then.

After listening to Ashok Gupta’s videos and looking at my thinking, including my fears, I realized I just needed to tell my brain I am safe, I am ok, I am cared for, I am protected, etc. I would hold my hand over my kidney meridian (the seat of fear) and affirm these statements from a quiet inner place. I kept doing this for hours until my emotions calmed down. Within days, my MCS symptoms calmed down. Within a week I was able to take a trip on a plane to Hawaii (a trip I had been dreading) and I didn’t get sick! There is vog in Kona from the active volcano and I didn’t get sick from that. Then I noticed the diesel on the highway wasn’t making me sick and then a friend hugged me and she had perfume on and I didn’t get sick.

After I arrived in Hawaii, I ordered Gupta’s DVDs. When they arrived my fiancé and I watched them together each night. We’d discuss them and I practiced the main amygdala retraining technique incessantly, like Susie, for hours at a time. Within a week I noticed my negative thinking reduced by a lot, maybe half. With Susie’s example of taking time off work, I took off from my work and any obligations so I could practice. By the end of my second week, I had very few negative thoughts about symptoms. I was getting good at interrupting them. This has been such a blessing because my mind has about driven me mad at times in spite of my best efforts. As Ashok Gupta writes, “The amygdala will also over-stimulate the brain, causing repetitive negative thoughts and feelings about the reactions, which themselves become hardwired into the brain. This reinforces the vicious cycles.”

I am now on my 5th week and I have now tackled the non-symptom thoughts. This is much more of a challenge for me because it is a bigger chunk of my thinking.

It has helped greatly to be able to disconnect from life to work on this. I have even had to interrupt discussions with people where I could start to feel my amygdala/adrenals going off. I offended a few people at the beginning by telling them to “stop.” It is totally out of character for me. This has created a safe space for me to let my nervous system calm down.

It has also been very helpful to have my partner’s help and support and Susie’s support. We have laughed over the fact that this is such a huge life changing event that there is a re-integration time. None of us are very good at being healthy. It has been outside of my experience for over 30 years. And even before that, as a girl, I had lots of problems because they sprayed our farm with DDT often and I got doused.

I am not sure how to proceed with communicating my Gupta experience to the MCS community. I want to honor everyone who is doing all those creative things we have all done to get better. I have no intention of making anyone wrong. At the same time, I want to celebrate being well, to grow in my understanding, to accept of a new life, and continue my commitment to service to help others become as well as possible.

To say there is anything wrong with a protocol, any protocol, is not what we are here for. I made the same remarks to myself when Susie first said she was better! If my partner had not insisted I get the Gupta DVDs and do the program with him, I might not have tried it.

I also would never tell someone to quit their supplement protocol (I am still on mine) or stop being cautious with chemicals. An over exposure can kill a person. So that is a reality check. At the same time, I want to live a free and happy life with a brain that works and is not fogged out all the time. I also want a body that is not in pain constantly, and energy to do the constructive things I need to do. The past few years, I have been so ill that my businesses have suffered greatly. I need to get my life back in order.

I’d like to add that I think my background has contributed to my quick success with this program. It didn’t take much of a stretch for me to put the pieces of training I have had together with Gupta’s process.

I cannot say I totally understand what has changed in my body. As an ND, I know every part of the body is connected to every other part. So if I “fix” one part, it spills over to all other parts. I have always taught that we only need to get in balance, not be perfect, in order to be well… like there is a “tipping point” we need to get on the other side of.

I don’t see the amygdala issue as being psychological. It is hard wiring. It is how our nervous system has been conditioned to work. Calming the amygdala is perhaps essential, I would guess, in all diseases. Of course it would be over stimulated when one is chronically ill. Makes me think of a friend who is a special effects designer who has been contracted to design peaceful environments in surgical rooms so the doctors, staff, and patients have a more positive experience.

I want everyone to know how much I appreciate your sharing. It has made a huge difference in my life. I just hope now that I am better that I can still be of some help.

Kikilani

~~~

“Kikilani” is a certified traditional naturopath (ND). Naturopathic medicine is based on the belief that the human body has an innate healing ability, and naturopathic doctors teach their patients to use diet, exercise, lifestyle changes and natural therapies to enhance their bodies’ ability to ward off and combat disease. Arriving to Our Canary Report community in great need of support for her own MCS challenges, Kikilani found the camaraderie of like minded canaries made her feel less alone. She enjoys paying it forward by connecting with and helping others on Our Canary Report forum (now on hiatus while Susie does the Gupta program).

This post was originally published on the forum at MCS News Australia.

Guest Blog: Working to change policy about the use of toxic chemicals at my son’s daycare facility

Posted by Guest Blogger

Sep 252011

Following a presentation about toxic cleaning products I made to the board of the daycare, they decided to adopt the Toronto District School Board’s Scented Products Awareness Program. But there is still more change needed to make the facility a truly nontoxic and safe place.

By guest blogger Nancy in Toronto.

When my family toured my son’s new daycare at the end of the summer 2010, I spied dryer sheets in the laundry room attached to the preschool room. At the time, I figured that if the daycare stopped using the dryer sheets, I would be comfortable sending my child to the program.

But after the dryer sheets were taken out of the classroom, my son still came home with so much chemical fragrance in his hair and on his clothes that it literally made me sick to have him sit on my lap. I was worried about what the health risks were for him being in that environment all day.

After some mostly promising and then progressively colder back-and-forth emails, the president of the board of the daycare asked me to speak to the board about my concerns about chemical cleaning products and personal care products in the classroom.

I decided to do a presentation and in my research, I learned that the science was already there identifying the risks that chemicals pose to children (including cancer, learning problems and aggression problems). As well, it was a surprise to learn that 100% plant-based products designed for the commercial/institutional setting are already available and that they cost less locally than the products currently in use at the daycare.

There was no quorum at the board meeting where I was asked to speak, but I spoke informally to the people that were there. I was not provided with the date of the board meeting where the matter was finally discussed, however, as a result of my presentation, I was informed that the daycare board made the decision to, as they phrased it, “go green.” They tasked the daycare director to choose a brand for the first four target products and, within a few months, an order was placed for Ecomax Laundry Wash and Hand Cleanser.

Despite the changes, my son was still on occasion coming home with fragrance in his hair and on his clothes, and on some days the classroom still had a heavy smell. Sure enough, one day I asked about it and let my nose sniff around and it turned out that one of the teachers was wearing perfume. The conversation deteriorated quickly and soon enough I got a nasty email. I replied by drawing their attention to the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) Scented Products Awareness Program, the Environmental Working Group’s 50- page report on perfume and toxicity , and a one hour lecture on childhood cancer:

In response, the daycare decided to adopt the TDSB’s Scented Products Awareness Program. This program promotes voluntary compliance with scent reduction, including avoiding scented products and scented laundry products. The board members told me very clearly, however, that this may not be the daycare for my family. I was also aggressively told at the same meeting that for this board, “green” means the adoption of the products I focused on in my presentation, and that they would not be doing anything more. I proposed they make use of an environmental health checklist put out by a reputable group based in Toronto and they said very quickly “no” without putting the matter to a vote.

The board also advised me they would not be spending any time on the matter, would not form a committee to look at environmental health issues (which I’ve been asking for since my first communication and offered to lead), and would not make the landslide of decisions that would be necessary on the “green” path, simply because it would involve a lot of work. They stated flat out that for the most part people don’t care (they said most certainly people don’t care about preventing cancer or learning problems). They said that this is not “that kind” of daycare, and that I am the only parent who has ever expressed any concern like this.

The daycare has elected a new board and I have now asked them to reduce the chemicals in the daycare menu:

Step one: eliminate food colouring.
Step two: eliminate other additives.
Step three: reduce pesticides by avoiding the Dirty Dozen and taking advantage of resources such as purchasing organic food in bulk from the Ontario Natural Food Coop and Foodshare.

This time I did as much research as possible in finding economical alternatives before raising the topic and I have received an enthusiastic response from the very person who seemed least supportive last time around. I am sure this wave of change will take several months, but I feel good about lessening my own child’s risk of developing disorders like Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder and diseases like cancer and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

Click here to view a PDF of my presentation to the daycare board about cleaning products.

Nancy in Toronto

Photo by Kirsten Jennings.

Guest Blog: More camping tips: safe tents, potties, and showers

Posted by Guest Blogger

Sep 232011

Here are a few more tips about what I use and what I’ve learned about tents and camping.

By guest blogger Jen.

Wenzel tent

Susie posted my first blog about camping tips on The Canary Report a few weeks ago: Camping tips for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. I got feedback and am here adding some further insight and tips.

A friend with mold illness and MCS has gone camping, and writes me the first week: “I love the meadow I am in… I feel so very good there… so happy… I literally wake up all through the night just to breathe in the magnificent air… it is clean, so very clean and pure. I can feel it in my lungs and body… I forgot how clean air is supposed to smell and feel.I could heal here…”

This is the point, isn’t it? We’ve forgotten the magnificence of beautiful, clean air, our birthright, air so good we want to wake up just to breathe it in deeply before going back to sleep. We are living in a very unnatural way, imo. And if a person with mold illness and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is in a tough situation, they will 1) feel very depressed, by virtue of the toxic chemicals they are being exposed to actually physiologically affecting their brain function and 2) feel very sick, and really not believe they could get so much better… fear and disbelief are two barriers.

Another friend with mold illness and MCS/Electromagnetic Frequency Sensitivity (EMF), who has been on the road in search of safe housing for about a year now (unable to find any yet, even so-called MCS-safe housing advertised as such to our community), and often as not sleeping in his car, writes, “Your Northface idea was spot on! I bought one… I can’t believe how I am tolerating the tent… it is really not too smelly! Thank you!!!! A visiting MCS friend was so impressed she went out and bought one too!” Until then he was convinced he could not tolerate a tent. I had recommended the Northface backpacking tent with all mesh uncoated walls (the Flint).

This is very encouraging—and yet, I also heard from EI’s saying they could not find a safe tent, that they had tents they had tried to offgas for years and could not tolerate a tent and that was that. They were either staying in unsafe housing and remaining very sick, or sleeping in their vehicles. This is not always such a good idea. The possibility of contamination or mold is higher, if you sleep in your vehicle. You are going to have to maintain complete purity of your clothes, make sure to keep windows open with mosquito netting or your moisture and body heat could possibly get high enough to create mold in the ventilation system. A tent can be cleaned with soap and water. A vehicle is not so easy to clean, it’s a big job, but if you’re living in your vehicle some folks recommend at least a monthly thorough cleaning. You can’t use a space heater in a car but a very low watt infrared heater can be used with care in a tent. There are all kinds of issues with sleeping in a vehicle, especially if it’s parked in the wilderness, including critters wanting to sleep in there too… and a vehicle also generally has more toxic chemicals than a good tent anyway.

Safe Sleeping

Northface tent with mesh walls, or Mystical on a Wenzel pad, or bake and air out the Wenzel tent.

I want to report that Kristin used Mystical (a product that many people with Environmental Illness like, but we have no idea what is in it in terms of MSDS, so I’ve never used it) and soaked her Wenzel tent and it was fume-free after that.

Northface

Here’s the NorthfaceI have. It sets up in about two minutes literally.

I should note the rainfly may bother some, and might need to be baked out, but it’s pretty good as rainflies go. Obviously if you’re just going to sleep in the mesh the weather needs to be decent—with a good sleeping bag you could probably go down to the 40’s at night comfortably. Otherwise you are going to have to use a rainfly so you can keep in warmth.

If a rainfly really bothers you until it’s well baked out, or you want to sleep with the mesh in good weather but it rains occasionally, set up an a-line version of the silnylon tarp I mentioned in the last post. These tarps cost about $80, made by Equinox. Once again, nylon in general is a pretty good material as it doesn’t fume much. To set up an a-line tarp, you will need to string a nylon line between two trees, hang the tarp over it, and fasten the tarp. Here is one typical Youtube tutorial:

For those who don’t want to spend the money on a silynylon tarp, which scrunches up small when traveling, a walmart tarp does just as well, you just need to air it out first for a while.

There are other northface mesh tents as well. Big Agnes makes several too but I found them much more smelly than Northface. Even REI’s quarter and half dome are smellier though they are very nice tents (these are mesh tents).

Safe Potty

Folding toilet

Some EI’s said, “Well I can’t go camping because I can’t use campground bathrooms. I would get sick and be incapacitated.”

You don’t have to use campground bathrooms.

When a bathroom is stinky, I use an inert, hard plastic folding loo that folds up small, unfolds easily, and carries up to a 300 pound person. Reliance Products Fold-To-Go Collapsible Portable Toilet. I use it because it folds up small. If you are just going to use it quickly in your tent (with the rainfly on, or if you are in a private area), then I find that two regular black hefty garbage bags work fine. I use two just in case. Then tie them and dump them in the dump or garbage.

If you are going to use it longer, for instance setting up a privacy shelter and using the loo over a few days, you can also buy Cleanwaste WAG BAG Waste Bags – Package of 12.

Each degradable kit contains a WAG BAG waste bag, zip-close storage bag, toilet paper and hand wipe Disposal bags contain Poo Powder™ which quickly turns waste into a stable gel for easy transport and safe disposal Uses odor neutralizers, not perfumes, to eliminate unpleasant odors; decay catalyst initiates decomposition Environmentally friendly, landfill-approved WAG BAG waste bags can be disposed of in trash with regular garbage. Permitted by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for use.

There are other portable toilets as well, such as a bucket, or if you can’t tolerate plastic, Texspro makes a folding steel loo. Another option is Store-A-Potty 72-Hour Emergency Toilet which when not being used as a toilet can be used as a bucket to wash clothes, or to store stuff in.

Privacy Shelter

Privy

There are all kinds of privacy shelters for your portable toilet. I wanted one that folded up really small. There is a cheap one on Amazon. I got a more expensive one that has pockets in which you can put sandbags or bricks, to hold it down if it’s a windy day. This is what I got: Outback Porta Privy. It folds up very small into a flat round case. It doesn’t smell horrible, it isn’t perfect either, may need some baking and airing if you’re super sensitive, then again, you’re only going to be in it for a short time. On the other hand, it is just polyester or nylon, not vinyl, so it isn’t really smelly.

Showers and Safe Washing

So, now you have a place to sleep and a toilet. What about staying clean?

One person also said they couldn’t use regular campground water because of chlorine (some are chlorinated, some are not, depending.) I prefer a filtered shower, but can handle regular water. Again your level of sensitivity will predict your needs.

Another person said spot bathing with a gallon of water in a bucket was her preferred method but she found it so exhausting she could not do it very often.

So here is my recommendation for the water sensitive—buy some filtered water (if you refill a gallon jug at Walmart or at other supermarkets, it’s about 35-37 cents a gallon. If you’re super sensitive to plastic and can’t possibly have water that was in plastic at all, then get yourself some glass jugs), and take a shower every few days, or filter water from your campsite if you have water and or water and electric. Two gallons is enough to take a nice shower the way I am going to explain it. A shower every few days, and a sponge bath the other days should be enough to keep you clean. Especially if you are sleeping in a tent, not your vehicle.

MSR Miniworks

For backup, or if you can’t get to Walmart or the supermarket to get the refill machine super purified, ozonated, reverse osmosis water (it’s good quality water), then get an MSR Filter, made by Cascade Designs, praised by campers everywhere. “MiniWorks EX microfilter is the worldwide best-selling microfilter, delivering long-lasting, field-maintainable water filtration in demanding environments. Engineered for frequent and heavy use, it utilizes our workhorse Marathon™ EX carbon/ceramic element to ensure clean, reliable and taste-free water.”

Okay, now you’ve got water. How do you take a shower?

Dromedary

Get a 10 liter MSR Dromedary bag. That’s 2 ½ gallons, and it’s black nylon with a food grade coating inside. You might not want to store water for days, but you will probably be able to tolerate a shower after the water has been in there a few hours. That is, if you want a hot shower. Because you just set it out in the sun, and since it’s black, the water will warm up quickly. In fact, water can get so hot as to burn you if you leave it out too long, so test the water before your shower. This bag is very tolerable right out of the box. It is so resilient it will last decades, supposedly. It also folds up small when not in use.

You will get the shower attachment as well. Any online place (campor, REI and other outlets) sells this dromedary bag in various sizes and the shower attachment as well. It can also be used to pour water in to do your dishes, other washing, or you can also get a smaller one as a hot water bottle. You’ll need to hang the bag from a tree, or a hook, or hold it up in your privacy shelter while sitting on your portable loo bucket inside, or a chair or stool.

So. You have a safe tent, safe shower, safe toilet, and safe water.

A final note: Safe Laundry

I do have a portable wonder washer and a portable countertop spin dryer. But over time I’ve just taken to simmering clothes in a large enamel Le Creuset pot (I don’t like stainless steel at all. It just isn’t high quality enough not to leach the metals into the water, and I can’t stand it). The pot is also useful for boiling new clothes that need to be detoxxed. A five minute simmer to clean clothes, then dump the water, and put in fresh clean water, with fresh lemon juice. That’s all I use.

If stuff is really dirty, then I will handwash with some Biokleen detergent (unscented). Generally, though, detergents tend to stay in clothes so I only do that every few weeks. If clothes get really grotty (one person said, her clothes got grotty living outside and made her look like a disenfranchised homeless person) I detox new clothes. I have a bunch of Maggie’s Organics tops, shorts, and cotton pants, and American Apparel sweats and hoodies as these detox pretty easily. If something gets really gross, I take a few sunny days when I have time, and detox a few new outfits. It does take time, but not that much “effort”—and then I just use a nylon laundry line that costs $2.99 at walmart, hang between trees, and sun dry. Nothing smells as good as clothes simmered in good water, with a lemon juice rinse, and sun dried. Once you have clothes that smell so good you like to bury your nose in them, you won’t really want to use detergents and washers.

Safe Energy

I will do another post later on energy. If you are off grid, you need solar. I have been advised about a folding solar panel and a nontoxic marine battery, but haven’t bought or tried them yet, so will advise later on. Generators are generally too smelly (gasoline) for people with Environmental Illness. And going off grid will allow you to get to really good, healing wilderness with very low EMF. Even those of us who do not consciously think we are EMF, will find it amazing how kinks melt out of the body and how deeply relaxed you may feel in low EMF wilderness. Then you will realize there is a low-level EMF reaction going on constantly, stimulating and overstimulating you in ways you had never suspected. What happens is the body gets used to it, and filters it out as “noise”—not useful information. But it affects us all nonetheless.

Guest Blog: Camping tips for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Posted by Guest Blogger

Aug 172011

Here’s what I use and what I’ve learned about tents and camping.

By Guest Blogger Jenn.

Side view of Wenzel tent.

Here’s what I use and what I’ve learned about tents and camping. The sources for the products I use are generally: amazon, rei.com, or campmor.com

Wenzel. This is a cheap tent. For longer term buy better.

Wenzel brand tent. This is a cheap tent. For longer term buy better.

I go light. I recommend the Wenzel black and yellow tent on campmor.com for $44.95 to start because you may not like camping so why spend more. It offgasses fairly quickly as there’s so much mesh. The rainfly takes longer.

I just bought an even smaller Northface 2 person backpacking tent, all mesh. Has a very good rainfly. It really doesn’t fume much at all. Haven’t used it yet though, just sunning it from time to time. It takes about 3 minutes to set up. It’s so easy. You aren’t going to put much in it. If you want a tent you can have a chair, table, etc, that’s a whole different thing. To me, setting up easily is key.

Get 02cool plastic fans (assuming you tolerate normal plastic which I do), battery operated, small, at Walmart. Two D batteries. Get a few. It’s not that you won’t have electric at some sites but it’s nice to have those to carry around anywhere like a picnic shelter if you want to get on your laptop.

Alps mountaineering inflatable seat rolls up small.

Get Alps mountaineering inflatable “seats.” They roll up very small. You can put them on anything–a picnic table bench, a rock, the back of a hard chair. Very comfy. I use them as “tables” at night in my tent. Carry a few with you. They seem nontoxic to me but everybody is an individual with their own sensitivities.

Get a few blue/silver tarps from Walmart, sun them for a while (for me its only a few hours) to get the fumes off. These can be useful for lots of things. For tarping a tent against rain. For placing over stuff to protect it from rain. For using under your tent if you don’t have a footprint.

Equinox silnylon tarp airing out.

Get an Equinox silynylon tarp. Needs some sunning/airing but not too fumey. They squinch up very very small into a sack. These have grommets ties and everything and have multiple uses from shelters of all kinds to anything even a picnic talbe cover. They are expensive.

Get a really good insulated cooler with a drainspout for draining water so everything doesn’t get waterloged with melting ice. We have a Coleman extreme marine cooler from amazon. If you are going to be away from ice for a few days, buy some dry ice, put it on the bottom, then put the ice on top, then put plastic on top of the ice, and then your food. The dry ice will freeze the ice. Less air in your cooler, better refrigeration also.

Osceola national forest Florida

If you decide you really are going to camp for a while or use it frequently for detox, and have the money, get an Engel freezer. They run around $700. They seem very nontoxic, I think I got a 24 quart or something like that. Fits on a seat in your car/truck. Works off the cigarette lighter for as long as 36 hours. Also works on electric. Very low amp doesn’t seem to have much EMF. Being able to shop at a good health food store for all you need and freeze it is great. I still have pastured grassfed beef frozen in there from a store that was unusual in carrying that locally. Best tasting meat I’d had in a long while.

You might also get a Vitamix. I don’t regret it. I make green smoothies and freeze them and put them into the Engel. So I get a bunch of dandelion, parsley, romaine, spinach, all organic, put in some fruit too, and make some green smoothie and freeze a couple small glass containers. It’s really healthy and very appreciated on the road when you don’t have time or energy.

Evening sky seen from inside tent.

I use Thermarest mats and find them nontoxic. To roll them up you kneel on them folded one way then the other then you can even suck the air out. You can roll them up very small, or if not do the best you can they come in a good sack. I used to use two now I use one.

For pillow, I actually use an alpaca/wool pillow.

I bought a sleeping bag that was hanging in Dick’s sporting goods and already toxed off. I also use wool blankets. I use Sierra Trading Post wool “throws” that are from Johnston’s of Elgin on sale now, about $50 each.

I didn’t have a sheet, now at REI I bought a silk “sleeping bag” liner sheet that seems pretty nontoxic but will need a boil, haven’t had time.

I have a 400 watt quartz infrared space heater I have used, though in the northface it’s so small I don’t know if that will be safe. Have used in the winter. Really made a big difference. Could sleep comfortably in 25 degree weather.

I have always used microwavable rice filled “bed buddies” (I empty out the store rice and put in my own rice as the bed buddy comes with chemically soaked rice) as I like heat to relax me to go to sleep. Instead of that, I use Thermacare for back pain. They are in Walgreens, Walmart etc. About $6 for two. That means $3 a night. But it’s just an indulgence. They heat up on their own–metal rounds that are in some kind of gauze. It seems totally nontoxic to me. I will lay it on me at night to give me warmth and relaxation. That would also help keep you warmer in your sleeping bag. If you are camping in high altitude cold weather you will also want layers–wool and silk not cotton.

I tolerate plastic pretty well–plastic bags etc. I’ve made liberal use of plastic bags to wrap smelly things, seal things, etc. Something contaminated or cross contaminated is no fun. I also buy Uhaul 45 gallon bags. They are great for wrapping up important stuff.

$19 gizmo at walmart plays my iPod music on speakers.

AirCard.

Marpac sound machine to drown out other campers, noise, traffic, birds etc. Buy the battery pak in case you’re not around electric.

Clean water is an issue. I’ve given up worrying about bisphenol A at this time, and often buy spring water in gallon bottles to cook with. I also wash my clothes with that. I won’t use campground water–it can have chlorine or be too hard with minerals. I’ll use that to wash my dishes. I have also decided to drink aqua panna which I get at publix. Its expensive but its my concession to not having a water filter.

I have a Wonder Washer and a portable spin dryer. I did use these a lot at first, but I found it’s easier to just simmer my clothes in bottled water in a Le Creuset enamel pot. They range from $60-$100 depending on the size. A large one handles most stuff. Once it has boiled/simmmered for a few minutes I dump the water, put in fresh water which immediately heats up on its own from the hot pot, but doesn’t get boiling hot, and put in fresh lemon. I use fresh lemon for everything. On the very rare occasion I need to use detergent I still use Biokleen free and clear. I hate vinegar (the smell, I don’t think its necessarily toxic just hate the smell) and I don’t want to use baking soda on my clothes. If you don’t want to do what I do which is simplest the wonder washer is on Amazon and the spin dryer is from Laundry Alternatives. That gets out 95% of the water and then hanging clothes on the line will dry in about 30 minutes.

Get a laundry line–these yellow twine things with two plastic catches at either end, to make a laundry line around trees.

Get extra ties, bungee cords, and stuff just in case.

Buy a nylon hammock from Campmor–it seems really nontoxic, its parachute material. A bug net, and a hammock tarp so you can camp anywhere even uneven ground.

If ants are a problem get an Engel cooler it is so watertight–mine fell over in my truck yesterday upside down and not one drop of water came out and all the ice had melted. I got a small one for carrying around, Paul my partner carries our big Coleman.

Get numerous long extension cords, the heavy duty kind, and connectors.

Ozark trails chair folds up, back is adustable and clips to picnic bench seat.

For sitting comfortably at picnic tables either the Alps seat I mentioned, or you can get Ozark trail seats at Walmart–red or blue–seems nontoxic to me–it’s a kind of chair. It affixed to the bench–it’s a seat and a back, and you can adjust the back. Im sitting on one now. Ten times more comfortable than a bench.

I bought a mesh chair at Campmor that folds up small and has no arms. I couldn’t sand the fumey Walmart chairs and were cumbersome. I wanted something light and simple. Its great so I just ordered a second (spares are important in my life, if something breaks, I don’t have to worry). I also just bought two foldup stools, cloth seat, to use as tables, haven’t got them yet.

Birds in the shallows. Nature is inspiring!

Hammock ties are specially made and easier to use than rope which you have to knot correctly.

Water again–if you’re in the desert, be SURE you have water at all times.

Re: bears, we never really saw one, but one sniffed around our campground snorting away. We left . They want food. They are usually shy. Never run from a bear. I don’t think a whistle will help. Never look a wild animal in the eye either. If you see a bear, just stand for a moment, then calmly and slowly walk in the other direction. Generally bears do not kill unless something goes really wrong (starving?) or very scared.

Join this discussion on Our Canary Report network to read comments and contribute your thoughts!

Guest Blog: To conclude MCS Awareness Month: A blogger bares her soul

Posted by Guest Blogger

May 312011

As MCS Awareness Month concludes, please read my blogger friend Karyn’s terrific post about life with multiple disabilities, including Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

By guestblogger Sharon Wachsler.

Sharon is hugging her former guide dog Gadget. Both are looking straight at the camera. Sharon is smiling, wearing a purple top and Gadget is black with a "beard."

Sharon Wachsler, who blogs at After Gadget where she shares her life after the loss of her service dog Gadget pictured here.

It’s the last day of May, which makes this the final day of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity awareness month. Appropriately, my friend, Karyn, who usually blogs about her assistance dog, Thane, has written a terrific post about life with multiple disabilities, including MCS.

She writes about how every day begins with uncertainty as to which disability will do what, and how that has affected her decisions in training her guide/hearing/service dog. This is a topic I really relate to.

She also explains why she tries to keep a certain level of privacy about her disabilities, yet was compelled to speak out now.

Karyn’s blog is Through a Guide’s Eyes, and the post is Different Ways for Different Times.

I don’t talk much about my disabilities in my blog because frankly I just want a place where I am seen for the inside pages as opposed to the book cover of the physical shell. That all said, I am beginning to feel the need to let down my guard as others have done. Perhaps its because by letting down my guard, I can share with you the kinds of training that can truly prepare one for the unknown- so here goes.

When you wake up each morning, you probably know what you are going to feel like, how much energy you will have, how your limbs will function, whether or not you can get to point B without smacking into a wall from vertigo or any other myriad of functions that as an able bodied healthy person you probably take for granted. This isn’t the side of the coin that I deal with however.

I have multiple disabilities and have for more years than not. I am a deafblind individual living with incomplete quadriplegia, complete paraplegia, MCS (multiple chemical sensitivities), low kidney function as a reminder of my chemo days, asthma that can rapidly spike to a level of it being hard to communicate secondary to a variety of triggers from my MCS, and a problem that to this day no one has the answers to. It comes on with minimal notice and can affect me in a myriad of ways- feeling like blood sugar is crashing or I’m going to pass out without typical treatments of such bearing any changes on the sensation, vertigo, loss of where I am in space, episodes of complete deafness and at the least greater level of blindness, confusion of how I got where I am- like being in a daydream but not having any daydream of thoughts to cause it. Its believed its linked to the cause of my blindness and to the cause of the further deterioration of my deafness but not the initial cause of that condition. I’ve accepted that possibility since it is viral in nature and the cause of my GI system roller coaster ride.

Please read it and share it. While her experience is unique, there are aspects of it that will resonate with people with many disabilities, and hopefully raise a little awareness for everyone about the disabilities they don’t share with Karyn.

Thank you, Karyn, for this excellent post.

~Sharon, the muse of Gadget (who also had chemical sensitivities), and Barnum, SDiT

P.S. Don’t think that just because May’s over I’m going to stop blogging about Lyme and MCS awareness. As far as I’m concerned, having Lyme, CFIDS, and MCS means hardly ever meeting deadlines. So, June is just an extension of May in my world. (Also because I have no sense of time.)

Sharon Wachsler is a freelance writer who blogs at After Gadget, where she shares her life after the loss of her service dog Gadget and now life with her service dog in training, or SDiT, Barnum. This post was originally published at After Gadget, titled Signal Boost: Guide Dog Partner with MCS.

Guest Blog: Creating a fragrance- and chemical-free public restroom… the first in my neighborhood!

Posted by Guest Blogger

May 182011

We are living in South Whidbey, Washington, becoming part of a community that makes room for others in meaningful ways. My work: bringing fragrance-free practices and products to a public space in my neighborhood.

By guest blogger Mokihana Calizar.

Mokihana

Here’s the GOOD NEWS…

For the second Sunday in a row, no chemicals or fragrances were used to prepare public restrooms in our neighborhood. I swept, mopped, wiped and swished out the bowls with white vinegar, baking soda and squirts of Planet dishsoap. An important job? Oh, yes. How good this feels to be part of the solution.

How did it happen? Plan “BE”: BElieve it could be, BE positive and without resistence, BE prepared for what it takes to allow it.

This sign is now posted in the two restrooms at South Whidbey Tilth:

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This is a Fragrance & Chemical Free Restroom

The Hand Soap is:

Planet

-unscented

-coconut oil based cleaner, salt,

sodium bicarbonate(baking soda).

The Freed-up and Green Cleaning Process:

White distilled vinegar and baking soda.

“taking steps to Fragrance Free in 23″

www.fragrancefreein23.blogspot.com

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It was raining, the ground soggy. Our favorite neighborhood gathering place, The Sunday Farmers’ Market at the Tilth, was happening soon.

Prescott stopped for a moment, and introduced me to a man who was there before the market’s opening, “This is Mokihana, she’s taken over the bathroom clean-up.”

“That’s an important job,” the man said.

Yes, it is … and what a success it is.

Later in the day, [my partner] Pete returned to the Tilth to help clean-up. I was back in the forest making soup and relaxing. While he was there Pete stopped Prescott, “Thanks so much for letting Mokihana take care of the bathrooms. It’s making a difference for at least one more person.” (One of our friends who lives with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity had a chance to use that restroom … a big positive step!)

We are living here in South Whidbey, Washington, becoming part of a community that makes room for others in meaningful ways. In the year since we’re settled into the forest with Eileen, MK, the nine ducks, three chickens, two dogs, three cats, hundreds of trees, and countless huckleberry and wild blueberry bushes, the vibrational reality of good/hope/abundance has lined us up to believe and allow health and happiness.

The journey has been so worth the experience. Knowing what we don’t want, the opposite experiences are now moving in as replacement.

“Mokihana, you get anything on my menu for your work,” Ed said as I spread the table cloth over one of the wooden tables.

“Thanks, Ed.”

What a deal! My work: bringing fragrance-free practices and product to a public space in my neighborhood is another example of BEing and BEcoming the vibrational good-win in my real life. The unfolding was easy, there was no stuggle only a being present with no resistence with the solution.

Looking forward to more good, it feels wonderful to post “…the first one!” and know the second, third, fourth, next is in the making … somewhere!

Got a plan that needs BEcoming? Would you like to be our next? We’d love to work together and add to our list of successfull Freed-up spaces in our neighborhood.

Thanks and congratulations to South Whidbey Tilth for being “the first one!”

~~~

This post was originally published at Mokihana’s blog Fragrance Free in Twenty-23.

Guest Blog: The importance of activists

Posted by Guest Blogger

May 112011

No matter how bad you think the state of the world is now, it would be so much worse without the change agents who’ve invented better ways and stepped up to make them happen.

By guest blogger Patricia Dines.

Patricia Dines

In today’s column, I want to change up my format a bit and talk about who activists are and the important role we play in the survival of a culture. I bring this up because, in talking with people over the years, I often feel that mainstream folks, while vaguely valuing activists’ contributions, also see us as social oddities who stubbornly refuse to conform to mainstream career paths and insist on annoying people by bringing up dark issues that most folks would rather not see.

Certainly, when I was younger and imagining my life, I never expected that I’d fall into the activist category — although I should say that I don’t usually use that term for myself, preferring instead something more like “change agent” or “community educator” or ”on the team of people seeking to prevent worldwide disaster and the collapse of all life on earth.” Yeah, but that last one is hard to fit on a business card.

And, absolutely, at times I’ve questioned my own sanity for taking on such enormous and frustrating challenges for little or no pay. Who would make such a crazy choice in this individualistic, materialistic, self-centered culture?

But then I remember how horrified and hopeless I can feel when I see the looming collective crises, knowing the pain and descration that will occur. I compare that to how joyful and satisfied I feel when I help us steer in a saner, less painful direction. Yes, indeed, action is the antidote for despair!

So that’s why today I want to speak up for my team, my fellow activists by whatever label, to help folks better understand and value what we do.

First, I want to describe the reason that most of us act. Contrary to the firey opinionated image that people can associate with the term activist, I find that the core motivation of most of my peers is usually a deep sense of caring and responsibility, a desire to stop enormous suffering, now and in the future, as soon as possible. We are truly first responders, willing to sacrifice our own time and material comfort so that others and the larger community will benefit.

Which leads to my second point: no matter how bad you think the state of the world is now, it would be so much worse without the change agents who’ve invented better ways and stepped up to make them happen.

However, I rarely see our collective contribution noted in our current identity (or pay scale!). Instead, those of us who act for the community’s interests are usually marginalized, seen as just another special interest group, another voice in a cacophony of competing consumer offerings, and not the sexiest one at that.

Which gets me to my key point: I think that a smart culture warmly welcomes its change agents, treating them with respect and appreciation for the vital service they offer of balancing, protecting, and helping evolve the shared community organism.

Because if a culture doesn’t have some people who take the time to step back and look at the big picture, question the status quo conventional wisdom, consider different ways of being and behaving, and encourage folks to learn and grow in new directions – well, then a whole culture of people can confidently and collectively like lemmings march straight off the proverbial cliff. Which, frankly, I think happens quite often nowadays, as my people yell from the sidelines, “Wait, stop! There’s a better way!”

Of course, it’s vital for activists to be responsible in how we stir up trouble, to not just complain with fatalistic cynical assumptions nor avoid conflict by propping up convenient, simplistic, but insufficient remedies. We’re more effective when we instead speak for constructive change in ways that are both accurate and heartfelt, logical while also connecting with people as human beings, and respectful of other viewpoints while revealing our heart just a little bit.

But I also know that, even when we’re behaving respectfully, simply bringing up these issues will tend to annoy those who follow the dominant culture’s desire for only current pleasure with little concern for future pain or the suffering of others. Sometimes speaking up is inherently disruptive, and needs to be.

And so, dear readers, I encourage you to understand this dynamic and be a loyal ally for those activists who are nurturing wise change in the world. Because, when you make sure that we pioneering, innovating, risk-takers are supported as we take on society’s collective challenges, you are joining with us in helping to create a happier tomorrow.

~~~

Patricia Dines is a freelance writer, editor, public speaker and graphic artist specializing in environmental and community topics. She writes the syndicated eco-advice column Ask EcoGirl. She is the author of The Organic Guides, and editor and lead writer for The Next STEP newsletter.

Guest Blog: May is Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Awareness Month; get your FREE Planning Kit!

Posted by Guest Blogger

Apr 262011

MCS America provides a free MCS Event Planning Kit for those who would like to share information during the month of May: letter templates, ideas for displays, how to submit a request for a proclamation, how to write a press release and more!

By guest blogger Lourdes Salvador, MCS America.

MCS Event Planning Kit

Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a toxic chemical injury that affects over 48 million men, women, and children of all races. Even though MCS is of widespread epidemic prevalence, public awareness of the toxicity of common environmental insults and ways to manage and accommodate MCS remains limited. Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Awareness Month, May 2011, bestows upon us a great opportunity to work towards increased public awareness of MCS.

Organizations around the world have put forth great effort to establish May of each year as either Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Awareness Month or Toxic Injury Awareness Month. Many are working to improve awareness and appropriate healthcare around the world. Activities are organized around the month of May and continue throughout the year. MCS America plays a special role during this time and is committed to promoting awareness of toxic chemicals which may cause MCS and trigger reactions in those already injured by toxic chemicals.

This entire month of May is dedicated to planning for individuals and organizations in the U.S. to hold local events during Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Awareness Month and beyond. You will find numerous ideas for promoting awareness, educating others, increasing recognition, and planning community events. There are many editable sample materials which may be downloaded and used locally.

Thousands of multiple chemical sensitivity awareness events are expected to take place across the United States this May. MCS America provides an MCS Event Planning Kit and a Spanish Evento SQM Planificación Kit to help you plan both small and large awareness events. MCS America can help publicize your event on news feeds, blogs, newspapers, their newsletter, and other venues. Submit your event to admin@mcs-america.org. They value your feedback on the usefulness of the sample materials and welcome suggestions for future materials.

MCS America thanks the community for any and all efforts towards increased awareness in your locality. They look forward to assisting you in any way needed. Working together, we can help America to take control of toxic chemicals and eradicate multiple chemical sensitivity.

For more information on MCS America, visit http://www.mcs-america.org

Guest Blog: Want to help? Teresa Carrero needs funds to move to a safe location

Posted by Guest Blogger

Mar 282011

Teresa Carrero has been asked to leave her family’s home but she has no resources to make the move. She must be out of the house by April 2. Want to help? Teresa needs funds to rent a vehicle to move from Madrid to Andalucía.

By guest blogger María Zambruno.

The purpose of my column here at The Canary Report is to connect people who have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and limited resources to people who can provide needed goods, services and funds. This post is about Teresa Carrero. I encourage you to please support Teresa however you can. Thank you!

Teresa Carrero

Teresa Carrero

For years now, Teresa Carrero, who has no means of supporting herself financially, has been the subject of abuse from her family, on whom she depends for protection because of her Multiple Chemical Sensitivity disability.

Her doctor and her family, who insist that MCS is not real and that Teresa is basically a mental case, have gone so far as to try to convince a judge to force her treatment at a psychiatric clinic. Her case has been reviewed by a forensic psychiatrist who has reported that there is no justification at all for her to be admitted into that type of institution.

The situation, with her family denying her basic care and items required to treat her condition, has made her symptoms worsen dramatically, as you can see from the photos video above (in Spanish).

It has now been agreed to by both Teresa and her family that she is to leave the family’s home. She does have her own place, in another region of the country, and she will move back there. This way, she will be able to start creating a safer place for herself, with the help of other MCS sufferers and associations in the area. Individual members of patients’ associations have already proven to be the best and only support she has had until now. And at this moment, she needs all the help she can gather.

She must leave by April 2. This is only a few days away.

Urgent needs:

Funds for the rental of a suitable vehicle to drive her and her belongings from Madrid to a new home in Andalucía
Funds for providing her with organic food and paying the basic bills
Funds for helping her with her lawyer’s fees
Air purifier
Volunteer work: paperwork, assistance with house cleaning, shopping, driving her to appointments, etc

Contact:

Dolors and Minerva are two fellow MCS sufferers who are leading the volunteer work and facilitating all the information regarding how to donate and about this case in general. They can be contacted at:
ridolet[at]terra.es
mima[at]nodo50.org
(Please replace [at] with the @ symbol when typing in the email address, this is done to prevent spam.)

How to donate:

By transfer or cheque to the following Triodos Bank account (please state it’s for “Caso SQM”).
Bank account number: 1491 0001 20 2003996622 (within Spain).
IBAN: ES14 1491 0001 2020 0399 6622 (from outside Spain).

Thank you for your help!

~~~

María Zambruno

María Zambruno blogs at Practical Support for People with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, where this post was originally published.

She also blogs at Desde el ático: Vivir con SQM (From the attic: Living with MCS) in Spanish, Against all Odds (interests, likes, passions) in English and Spanish, and One Year Through my Windows (a photolog). Her online shops are here and here, all profits of which benefit people with MCS in need. You can view her photography here.

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Guest Blog: Want to help? Dennis Wright needs air and water filters, warm blanket

Posted by Guest Blogger

Mar 232011

Dennis Wright’s day-to-day life with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is especially difficult due to the lack of clean air, which causes extreme cognitive impairment and fatigue among other debilitating symptoms. Want to help? His number one need is a HEPA air filter.

By guest blogger María Zambruno.

The purpose of my column here at The Canary Report is to connect people who have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and limited resources to people who can provide needed goods, services and funds. This post is about Dennis Wright. I encourage you to please support Dennis however you can. Thank you!

Dennis Wright

Dennis Wright

Dennis Wright, 34, lives in Florida, USA, with his elderly parents.

He has been severely ill with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity for a number of years now, and he has barely left his room in the past five years.

His day-to-day life is especially difficult due to the lack of clean air, which causes extreme cognitive impairment and fatigue, among other debilitating symptoms, and also because of his extreme food intolerances. He has been living on basically rice and chicken, and he cannot afford the organically grown food or supplements that he needs.

He also suffers from extremely hyper-reactive skin and cannot tolerate anything but organic, untreated cotton in direct contact with his body. He especially has trouble with the material used on the elastic bands of underwear.

He does not receive any income or benefits at all and is totally dependent on the help of his parents, who try to help, but whose health is failing due to the limitations that come with age. The family income is by no means enough to cover all the expenses.

Needs:

Air purifier, preferably with HEPA filter (powder coated steel such as Austin Air) that can also handle VOC’s.
Water filter, both for drinking and personal hygiene (because of his especially sensitive skin). He has, for instance, a KDF and carbon block filter that is not working well enough for him, so he needs something more efficient, like perhaps a full reverse osmosis system.
100% cotton, chemical, scent and dye free, pajamas without elastic.
Heavy cotton blanket for winter.
Indoor shirts, also chemical and scent free, preferably with tags, as tagless ones use some sort of printing ink which he reacts to.
Funds for organic grown food and supplements, as he cannot afford any of those.
Funds for urgent dental work. He needs a holistic dentist who understands how to treat people with chemical sensitivities and the adjustments that these imply.

Like Dennis says, he “lives on bare minimums at most.” That alone sounds bad enough, but for someone with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, no income, and in need of all the articles mentioned, just the effort employed in keeping oneself alive in a toxic environment can be, in itself, too much to bear.

How to donate:

Dennis’s Paypal address: comfortably_numb[at]cfl.rr.com * – verified. (Please replace [at] with the @ symbol when typing in the email address, this is done to prevent spam.)

Thank you for your help!

Dennis Wright’s profile page on The Canary Report network is here.

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María Zambruno

María Zambruno blogs at Practical Support for People with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, where this post was originally published.

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