Hi All,
I recently had a conversation with my E/I doctor that made me realize that many MCS/EI people are sick all the time for a very simple reason; they don't have a safe place to sleep. He was telling me that I was lucky because I did have periods of time where I did feel OK. I told him what I am going to tell you now.
I got sick in November of 1991. My primary concern over the years since then was to find and maintain a safe place to sleep. My day is about something like walking through a minefield (can you relate?); trying to avoid the perfumes, cells phones, fabric softeners, computers, TV's, etc. that are everywhere. This is not an easy task. My x-wife and I were married for nine years but lived together for only four. This is probably why we stayed together so long. For most of those years I woke up every morning and started my routine of trying to find a place where my whole family could live. During one of those periods, about a year, I lived alone in the Santa Fe Residence Inn sleeping in the fetal position on a small couch; I could not get near the bed. OK. This can turn into a very long story and I don't want that so my basic belief is, if you are sleeping in a place that makes you sick you will probably stay sick most of the time. When I have a reaction it usually lasts for the remainder of the day and into the night but, usually, by the next morning I am pretty much recovered. So, for those of you who think what I am saying might fit you need to do the work. There is a protocol that I use in identifying places but I can tell you that in Santa Fe it was really difficult to find housing. I have a condo there now but can only be in one of the two bedrooms and not the walk-in closet. My kitchen and one bathroom are partially taped up to cover some of the invisible mold that got in there for various reasons. If I lost the condo I don't think I would look for new housing there.
Best of Luck; we all need it, Harry (4/21/08)
