Another Work Day

Had to work today, Saturday, with most of my team. We're swamped with work now and even working long hours during the week didn't solve the problem so it was just another work day. One thing I enjoyed about working today (did I actually say enjoyed?) is that with only a few scattered people, there were no toxins from scent so no headache, nausea, erratic heartbeat, or fatigue from MCS to deal with. First work day since Christmas that I was MCS symptom free and therefore I got a ton of work done in a short period. Just think how much more productive I could be at work if my company would just put a little effort into convincing people to leave there scent for non-work occasions. The toxins affect me severely but others must be affected also and just don't realize it. So making the work-place scent-free would probably increase productivity in general and thus would improve the bottom line.

So what's keeping companies from doing this? Offices have been rendered smoke-free so why not scent-free? Is the scent industry influence so strong (no pun intended) that the government can't do anything about this problem let alone individual companies. I've been reading some of the blogs and web-sites listed on the right and with no regulation on the scent industry's use of known toxins you'd think people would be a lot more careful about using highly scented products. Canaries (people with MCS) aren't the only ones affected, just the ones who get dangerously ill from it.

Funny how people think about this. I have a friend who's knows I have MCS and wouldn't dream of wearing scent when going somewhere with me but thinks nothing of wearing an outfit she laundered that day that reeks of highly scented fabric softener (one of the biggest culprits in my opinion). There's been a lot of discussion about the effects of these toxins on our health and the alarming increase in recent years of people with severe health problems that have to be connected to the toxins. Here's a really frightening stat for you, one in every 150 children is autistic. The odds are even worse in Georgia where I live. WHY? Has to have something to do with our increased exposure to toxins.

Well I need to get off my soapbox 'cause my daughter is bringing over my severely autistic granddaughter and she's faster than lightning and into everything but still doesn't know her own name at two years old. So sad. She's so cute that you just want to pick her up for a hug but can't since she doesn't like to be held and won't look at you. She sees what you're doing though and the other night her hand snaked out as she was walking by and grabbed a muffin off my plate of food. She just kept walking and made the rounds (den, hall, living room, dining room, kitchen, then back to the den) and grabbed another handful of food off my plate. At this point I told my daughter to get off the phone and computer and come FEED HER DAUGHTER! Grayson had just been fed about an hour before so really wasn't hungry. She just helps herself to whatever is handy and EVERYTHING goes in her mouth, even the pebbles from the gas fireplace (which my husband had to disconnect for this reason). Gotta go! Grandmother duty calls, lol.

Symphony Night and No Headache, YAY!

Came home last night from the Symphony with only a minor headache and this is a first for me since we frequently have to change seats and I still get really sick from all the scent (toxins). Wouldn't you know that on the one evening I could have enjoyed the music, the program was BORING! Had a hard time keeping awake. The musicians were really good but the music choices weren't.

Anyway I just purchased/downloaded La Tua Simplicita , a duet by Placido Domingo and Josh Groban from Placido Domingo's new album Amore Infinito. It's beautiful beyond words. Sometimes it's hard to tell which one is singing but they both have such fantastic voices that there's no way a duet couldn't be wonderful.

MCS and Meetings - Not a Good Mix

Had an early meeting in a relatively small room today and spent the entire time with my eyes tearing and my head feeling like it was going to explode. Add to that my pounding heart and the mixture is fairly lethal. Trying to get my point across when I could barely see let alone think coherently was not easy. The day didn't get much better since the exposure to so many toxins gave me a really pounding headache and everyone on my team seemed to need my expertise in some form or another all day. Fortunately the further I got from the toxins the better I felt so by the time I arrived home, poof - no headache.

Tough Choices

Did everyone get perfume for Christmas and feel compelled to wear it to work? Feels that way to me. A friend once said to me "growing old 'aint for sissies". Well she should try it with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity on top of arthritis and hot flashes. It takes a lot of courage to face going into an office every day when I know I'll have a splitting headache within thirty minutes and have to work that way all day. I've been having to take alergy meds to aleviate a bit of the headaches and lethargy caused by my body's reaction to all the toxins in the air then have to take an energy booster to combat the drousiness caused by the meds. I feel like a walking science experiment about to explode and this is just so I can get some work done. I spoke to the HR person at work about requesting that employees refrain from wearing scent to work and she said that you can't do that because they have a perfect right to wear perfume if they want to and that I'll just have to get used to it. Tried to explain to her that MCS is not a preference but a health problem but it made no difference. This is the same person who expounds diversity in the workplace. Go figure!

Good Day in the New Year

Believe it or not, my grandson actually remembered to come by and take down the garlands over my living and dining room windows so I'm a lot further along with removing all the Christmas decorations. You might wonder why it's taking so long but I literally decorated every room in my home except the "junk room" 'cause we entertained 27 people on Christmas Eve. First down were the three Christmas Trees and now I'm slowly but surely removing the rest.

Also today Linda left a comment on a previous post leaving me three web sites to check out for info needed by those with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) like me. Here's her comment quoted.

Here are some great sites for checking what is in your products. But remember that "fragrance" can mean a concoction of hundreds of carcinogenic, neuro-toxic, endocrine disrupting, respiratory irritants, untested and undisclosed.

Household Products Database (2005) from National Library of Medicinehttp://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/

CHE Toxicants and Disease Database from The Collaborative on Health and the Environmenthttp://database.healthandenvironment.org

Cosmetic Safety Database by Environmental Working Grouphttp://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

I'll be checking these out in the near future and report on what info I've gleaned from these sites. Thanks a bunch Linda for leaving this info.

Humorous Medley on Emmys

Last night on the Emmy Awards Josh Groban did a wonderful humorous medley of snippets from 26 old TV show themes including the voice of Animal from Sesame Street (hope he didn't hurt his vocal cords). He was so cute and did an amazing job of imitating a dozen different voices and singing that many or more different singing styles. Don't know how he did it, especially since he was in Boston three days earlier appearing with the Boston Pops for the taping of Chris Botti's PBS special and singing with Sting. Josh's voice is way too powerful for an effective duet with Sting even tho Josh wasn't singing full voice so the engineers will need to make adjustments on the CD/DVD.

Josh has been really busy this year which is not surprising since he was the top selling artist of 2007 and had the top selling album of 2007. In addition to the events already mentioned he also played the Russian in the musical Chess at the Royal Albert Hall in London (hear Anthem and Where I Want to Be), sang La Boheme on Charles Aznavour's new CD, and recorded a duet on Placido Domingo's new CD as well. But that's Josh for you, he's multi-talented and also very funny and fun-loving.

Well enough of rapsodizing about Josh, it's late and I need to get to bed. It's been a good day...no one wore overpowering scent to the office and I was able to get a ton of work done. It's amazing how much more you can get accomplished when you don't have to battle the fatigue and headache caused by the toxins from scent. Guess only someone else with MCS would understand what I mean but trust me, it does make a difference. Even tho we're like the canaries in the mine and are affected more than others, the toxins have to be affecting everyone to some extent, they just don't realize it.

Can't believe I was seduced by a TV ad

Family and friends know I don't watch much TV so it's a wonder I even saw the ad in the first place let alone fell victim to it....but I did. On a whim I bought Spray 'n Wash with Resolve Power and boy was I sorry. If you have MCS like me, DON'T BUY SPRAY 'N WASH 'cause it's loaded with scent and will make you sick. Oh, it works...but so does Shout and without all the scent. What possessed the manufacturers to go to the extra expense of adding a ton of scent to a stain remover? Obviously you're going to wash the item and use detergent and fabric softener (both usually scented) so why would you need scent in stain remover. It boggles the mind. Anyway it took five washings to get the scent out of the item my husband used it on and then he just thru the whole bottle away so no one would use it again and give me another three-day migraine.

Symphony

We went to dinner with friends Saturday night and then to the symphony (Columbus Symphony Orchestra or CSO for short). The Eroica Trio played with the CSO and were really good. Hear them if you get a chance. Of course it seemed as if everyone there took a bath in perfume, cologne, strong-scented deodorant or hair products, or used a ton of smelly fabric softener. Maybe I have a different perspective since I have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and the toxins emmitted by these chemical scents cause me to be ill. Had to take medication to make it through the event and by the time we got to our friend's home for after-symphony desert & coffee, I felt like a zombie. I love music and we have season tickets but boy, sometimes I wonder if it's worth the pain.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Sick today. Bummer but I have MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivity) and someone who's cube is close to mine wore perfume yesterday and triggered a migraine. Could definitely do without that lol. Felt a little better this evening after the toxins emmited by the scent had time to work out of my bod so hubby and I went out to dinner and to buy some cute end-of-season clothes for our youngest grandchild. She's almost two and will be going to a special school beginning in a few days and needed clothes. She's cute as a button but has some health problems that prevent her going to a regular nursery. Anyway it's late and I'm tired so that's it for now.

Nite nite,
Jan