Face mask elicits
‘strange looks’ from public.
Aug 19, 2009 - 04:29 AM
By Moya Dillon
BRIGHTON -- Unlike reclusive writers such as J.D. Salinger, Brighton author Franny Armstrong had no choice about her life as a “shut-in.
“It’s a lot like living in a cave,” Ms. Armstrong
said of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), which causes her to
have severe reactions to nearly all chemical substances. She first
noticed symptoms of the disorder in 1995, but it wasn’t until about
2001 that it became so intense she couldn’t leave her house without
becoming ill.
“You have to change so many things in your life,”
she said, displaying the carbon-filtered face mask she wears to go
out in public. “Most people don’t like change, but with this it’s
change or die.”
MCS is a fairly new disease that is still being
studied. It is characterized by extreme reactions to chemicals found
in the environment, such as petrochemicals from manufacturing and
vehicle exhaust, as well as those found in average household
products such as fragrances, deodorants, detergents, household
cleaners and many hair care products.
Since most sufferers don’t test positive for any
allergies, some doctors have concluded the mysterious disorder is
neurological or psychological, but as yet there is no strict
definition, which makes treatment frustrating for many sufferers.
“Most doctors tell you to just avoid chemicals, which is much easier said than done,” Ms. Armstrong said, describing symptoms such as coughing fits, flu-like illness, lack of focus and concentration, trouble speaking and skin rashes.
“I can’t go out in the environment without
getting sick,” she said, explaining how staying in the house for so
long has made her “a bit of an eccentric.”
Her family life has also suffered. At one point
her husband admitted most people thought he didn’t even have a wife,
because she could never accompany him to other peoples houses for
fear of a reaction.
“I felt like such a failure, like I couldn’t do
anything,” she said. “That’s a big part of having this illness, it
limits you so much that you feel useless.”
To counteract these feelings and take back some
control in her life, Ms. Armstrong turned her passion for writing
into a career. She recently sold her second romance novel, which is
the first in a nine-part series, is in the midst of a non-fiction
book about living with MCS titled “The Toxic Tango,” and is a
regular contributor to The Canary Report, a web site about living
with MCS.
“All these negatives that hit you, you have to
turn it around into something positive,” Ms. Armstrong said. “The
fact that I can’t go out in the workforce made me focus on my
passion for writing. And somehow, someway, I hope my writing can
help someone else.”
Ms. Armstrong recently began going out in public
regularly for the first time in nearly eight years, venturing out
almost once a week to run errands and visit family, always while
wearing her carbon-filter mask.
She decided to speak out about MCS because of the
“strange looks” she gets wearing her mask in public. She hopes to
raise more awareness about the disease so that doctors, governments
and even the public will realize the amount of chemicals they
encounter everyday.
“We’re killing ourselves,” she said. “I hope the
government will acknowledge the fact that people like me are
becoming so sensitive to the environment and they’ll batten down the
hatches against these chemicals. We think we’re so progressive, but
we’re progressing ourselves into an early grave.”
For more information on MCS or to read Ms. Armstrong’s blog, visit www.thecanaryreport.org.
SINCERE THANKS to Brighton Independent Photographer Bill Tremblay and Reporter Moya Dillon for this wonderful article. I truly hope that with it people like me can find answers and help for this debilitating illness. You are not alone!