Kelly Preston is nothing short of inspirational!

[Guest guest]

Kelly Preston is nothing short of inspirational. Warm, generous and funny,

Preston is a mom with a heart that beats to the rhythm of the world's children.

 

Preston's personal life has been equally exciting. Briefly married to actor

Kevin Gage in the 1980s, she's had relationships with actors George Clooney and

Charlie Sheen. But it was in 1991 that she wed her true love, actor John

Travolta. The two had their first child, Jett Travolta, in 1992, and their

second, daughter Ella Bleu Travolta, in 2000. The children changed her life

personally and professionally.

 

" I've wanted to have babies since I was 11, " Preston says. " I always babysat. I

was making thousands and thousands of dollars doing commercials and still

babysitting for $2.50 an hour. "

 

A Health Crisis Gives Birth to a Cause

Her love of children - her own and other people's kids - shows in everything she

does. But it wasn't until her own child, Jett, went through a health crisis that

she put her love to work. " Jett's whole immune system shut down, and he got

really sick with high fevers, 104 and 105, " she says. " I kept taking him into

the doctor and they didn't know what was wrong with him. He developed a rash on

his body, swollen lymph glands - it was horrible. " Preston kept taking Jett in

to the doctor's office every couple of days, but he was not getting better.

Finally, the doctor did some research and came up with a preliminary diagnosis:

Kawasaki's Syndrome. According to the Miller-Keane Medical Dictionary,

Kawasaki's is " an illness of unknown etiology affecting primarily children, and

characterized by high fever, macroerythematous rash, cervical lymph node

swelling, and pain. "

 

Preston took Jett to Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, where the diagnosis was

confirmed. " And lo and behold, they don't know how you acquire it, and lo and

behold, there were tons of kids in the ICU with Kawasaki's, " Preston says. " I'd

never even heard of it. And they give you a questionnaire with about 50

questions on it. I went and talked to everybody - every single parent - and

everyone had cleaned their carpets in the last couple of weeks. That was one of

the questions. So I don't know what the correlation is . I'm just saying we need

to know more. "

 

Jett's recovery was slow, but steady. " We went through a really touch-and-go

period, then he ended up getting better [after a few months], " she says. " But he

has lots of allergies, and has had an asthma attack before. Lots of

sensitivities. " Because of these issues, the Preston-Travolta household became a

chemical-free zone. " We don't have any chemicals in the house. We're 90 percent

organic, though there's some canned foods, a little bit of junk food here and

there. "

 

But the cleaning products are all organic - especially when cleaning carpets.

Preston had just cleaned her carpets prior to Jett's illness. " I'm a big

proponent of not chemically cleaning your carpets, " she says. " When Jett was

little . he would drop food on the carpets, the carpets would get dirty. You

need to clean the carpets like you're taught, so that it's safe for your baby.

They say that once the chemicals dry, that it's no longer a risk - and that's

not true. They continue gassing off for months and months and months. " And this

gas, she notes, is bad for babies. " Their crawl zone is within a foot from the

carpet and even if they're walking, they're short, so they're breathing it in.

It's very dangerous for young children and the elderly, is what I've researched

and found out, and those with weakened immune systems. Any chemical cleaning. "

 

So what are you supposed to do if you have chemicals in your carpet? " You can

clean your carpets, get the same people, and have them empty their tank and only

use hot water, " Preston says. " It's brilliant. Or you can use a product called

Mystical, that is also brilliant. It's a nontoxic cleanser that gets everything

out. It's genius. "

 

 

 

 

Working on Behalf of the Children

Because of her frightening - and enlightening - experience with Jett, Preston

became committed to informing other parents of potential health hazards in the

environment, and protecting other children. Her work with the Children's Health

Environmental Coalition (CHEC), a national non-profit organization dedicated to

educating parents and caregivers about environmental toxins that affect

children's health, allows her to spread her message in a powerful way. For the

past three and a half years, she has helped raise funds and awareness by being a

board member and media representative.

 

" This aligns with my purposes and goals for helping people, " she says. " The more

you learn, the more you need to help. The more you find out, the more you're

shocked. The funny thing is that then the tides turn, and the less you're

shocked. The more you're told, you're like, I totally believe it. I'm not

surprised. "

 

Parents contact the organization constantly, worrying about what they may have

unknowingly exposed their children to. " You can't worry about what you may have

already exposed your kids to, " Preston says. " You have to think: 'Now I'm armed;

I have knowledge; knowledge is power; and I'm going to create change. I'm going

to protect my kids as well as protect other kids.' The goal is to inform and

protect. "

 

Preston notes that CHEC is a grassroots organization that can only survive

through the help of parents. " Young parents, or older parents, just anybody who

cares about children. And everybody does, " she says. " Children are our future -

literally. It's such a cliché but it's so true. "

 

 

 

 

A good starting point to learn more about the space in which your children live

is CHEC's HealtheHouse, an interactive resource for information on environmental

health risks children face in the home. Preston also stars in a video, with

fellow CHEC board member Olivia Newton-John, titled Not Under My Roof:

Protecting Your Baby From Toxins at Home. In the video, Preston and Newton-John

discuss what you need to know about the hidden toxins in your home. " They really

wanted to do it where it wasn't going to scare people, but I also wanted to make

sure that people realized that this isn't something that's just a little issue, "

Preston says. " There are really important things you need to do to safeguard

your kids. There are things to do to protect your kids and their well-being so

they don't get sick. "

 

Ana Gazawi

" Cleaning our environment starts at home "

 

Is your home a healthy home?

Are you putting yourself or your family at risk?

Email me for a risk assessment now!

 

 

 

 

SBC DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!