Living with a chemical sensitivity

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Living with a chemical sensitivity

Posted By Dan Schell

http://www.bancroftthisweek.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1259018

Most of us go about or daily routine blissfully ignorant of the chemicals around

us. Our bodies have adapted to them. But, for people like Peter Haynes, who has

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, they have to be very careful of the atmosphere

around them.

Dan Schell

 

Peter Haynes has been living in a tent since mid September. But, as the air

chills, Haynes can still feel safe in the only place he has ever felt safe; open

air.

 

When Haynes arrived at his local apartment he found that the lawn had been

sprayed with pesticide. Lawn sprays are something that most human bodies have

learned to adapt to, but not Hayne’s.

 

Haynes has a rare condition known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) that

makes him susceptible to the multitude of everyday chemicals that fill the air

each and everyday; saved only by a surgical mask that filters the air he

breathes.

 

“If it wasn’t for this mask, I could be dead right now,” says Haynes about his

condition.

MCS is a rare disease, only found so far in 2.9 per cent of the Canadian

population in a number of different levels. The definition of the disease states

that it is a chronic, reoccurring disease that is caused by one’s physical

inability to tolerate an environmental chemical.

 

This can impact many people in different ways and varying degrees. Some may just

suffer nausea and fatigue from everyday perfumes, but for Haynes, simple

exposure to any chemical can result in muscle paralysis and brain damage.

 

“At first, doctors didn’t even know what I had,” recalls Haynes of his difficult

time trying to find out what could be wrong with him. In 2003, he started

showing symptoms of the disease which became progressively worse over time. But,

due to the rare nature of this condition, Haynes like many others went through a

variety of doctors and tests with little success towards a proper diagnosis.

 

“I was getting fed up, so I called a friend in the States who is a doctor in the

navy to see if he could help,” tells Haynes. “It was him that told me I needed a

toxicity test, which was the first big step towards treatment.”

 

In 2004, he was diagnosed at the Women’s College Hospital in Toronto with MCS

and immediately treated for the condition. However, the damage was already done.

“I still suffer from the disease everywhere I go,” he says. “It has left me weak

due to muscle damage and inflammation from chemical exposure and my mind not the

same as it used to be.”

 

Haynes used to work as a parts and service technician at a number of different

car dealerships, including time in Bancroft and Orangeville. It was in

Orangeville that he began to show signs of the disease that has impacted his

life completely.

 

His everyday routine has to be factored in with the chemicals that he encounters

everywhere he goes in places that many people consume in form on a regular

basis.

“I can’t use laundry detergent because there are too many chemicals in the soap,

so I have to use baking soda,” describes Haynes. “I even have to find special

deodorant that is chemical free so it doesn’t impact my body.”

 

“It is tough to find anything these days that doesn’t hold a chemical that is

dangerous to me, but common for everyone else.”

 

This even applies to something as simple as food. Haynes says that he tries to

stay on a purely organic food diet when he can. With most processed foods found

in the cupboards of an average person’s kitchen that are enjoyed by entire

families, hold these chemicals that can be close to lethal to Hayne’s weak

immune system.

 

“My reaction is so severe, it cannot even be considered an allergic reaction, it

is poisonous,” says Haynes.

 

This is the danger of having MCS, the world can be a poisonous place if not

careful. If the chemicals are exposed to sufferers of MCS, the impact on their

bodies is devastating.

For Haynes, it can lead to his ability to walk being impacted due to muscle

damage. And has led in the past to permanent brain damage that has effected his

ability to focus on everyday activities.

 

“I find it hard to read now due to the damage that these chemicals have had on

my body,” says Haynes.

 

One of the most devastating impacts on the sufferers of MCS is not only the

medical condition itself, but also the impact on everyday life.

 

“I haven’t had a job in years,” says Haynes, who says he now relies on whatever

welfare he can receive to make it through every day.

 

At one time a respected worker in the automotive industry, a recreational

motorcycle rider and mechanic, now finds himself limited due to the chemicals

involved in his favorite activities that can now severely hurt him.

 

And with one of his 21-year old twin daughters showing signs of the disease, MCS

now impacts Haynes’ family even more than it already has due to the need to keep

a chemical free household.

 

But, despite the pain and suffering caused by this disease in himself, Haynes

uses MCS to inform others in the community of the condition and the environment

people live within. For Haynes, it is easy to do, as he wears something that

defines him as different which raises questions everywhere he goes.

 

“I always have children ask me ‘Why are you wearing a mask?’” says Haynes.

“Rather than reacting, it is just an opportunity for the kid and the parent to

learn about my condition and the environment around them.”

 

“Because, the same chemicals that hurt my body, are in the bodies of everyone in

society, their bodies have just adapted where mine has not.”

 

“It has certainly opened my eyes, and others around me to what is out there.”